Care Provider: Zara Patel (ENT, based in 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, California, USA)
Rating: 5 / 5
Original review from user @Salvatore Mattera (view profile) on 27 Mar, 2025
She helped restore my sense of smell
When I first saw her in 2023, Dr Patel's wait list was 11 months long, but she was the only doctor I found who could treat my Long COVID smell loss. She prescribed 2000 mg of fish oil per day, 6 months of daily smell retraining sessions, and twice-a-day rinses with budesonide. But the cornerstone of her treatment protocol is PRP injections in the nasal cavity. Over the course of a few months, I had three rounds of injections which cost me around $5000 and was not covered by insurance, but which improved my smell tremendously. Although there were still some scents I could not smell after her treatment, my ability to smell things at a distance was restored (e.g. food cooking in the kitchen across the house). Dr Patel was also very knowledgable about Long COVID and was willing to answer all of my questions in detail.
