The Cause of a Pepper Smell Inside the Nose

By Lorra Garrick | Last updated 05/23

Does an annoying pepper smell seem to be coming from inside your nose?

You’ve made sure there’s no pepper around; you haven’t eaten anything with pepper; and yet you often keep getting this odor of pepper coming from inside your nose. It happens even at the workplace, perhaps at the gym or outdoors.

You’ve concluded that there’s definitely something going on with your nose.

What you’re experiencing is called phantosmia.

“Phantosmia, or olfactory hallucination, is smelling something that isn’t in your environment,” says Inna Husain, MD, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Community Healthcare System of Indiana.

“One reported smell is that of pepper,” adds Dr. Husain.

There is no known reason why, for some people with phantosmia, the odor manifests as pepper rather than some other odor.

For others with an olfactory hallucination, the smell from inside their nose – or what even seems to be in the external environment – can be described as something burning, such as rubber, tobacco or toast.

The smell may also be metallic or stale – something that can’t quite be described.

Sometimes the odor is described as something more putrid such as rotting food or garbage.

But the type of description is not indicative of the reason behind the phantosmia.

Phantosmia is not a disease itself; it’s just a name for a symptom that can have numerous possible causes.

What causes phantosmia?

Dr. Husain explains, “This can be caused by a head injury or an upper respiratory tract infection.

“Aging, sinusitis, brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease can trigger this by damage to the olfactory nerve.”

If you’ve been smelling pepper from inside your nose, or just in general, with no explanation – you should be seen by an ear, nose and throat physician to rule out a serious cause.