The Complete Guide To Vapers Tongue

Whether you’re new to the vaping game or you are a veteran vaper chances are you will have experienced vapers tongue, or more appropriately named flavour fatigue.

But what is vapers tongue and why do you get it?

Why Do I Taste Food?

The human tongue is coated in 2000 to around 10,000 taste buds. These taste buds have life cycles, dying and re-growing in a timeframe of around 10 to 14 days.  Your tongue has the ability to decipher between five varying sensations, these include:

1. Sweet
2. Sour
3. Bitter
4. Salty
5. Savory

BUT DONT FORGET ABOUT THE NOSE!!! What has the nose got to do with taste? Well its is the olfactory sensors that are located at the top of your nasal passage that allows the brain to decipher different flavours.

Have you ever tried to taste something whilst holding your nose? I am sure everyone has tried this at one point during their lives but if not you find that your sense of taste is significantly reduced.

Causes of Vapers Tongue

There are actually quite a few reasons you may be experiencing vapers tongue. Below we will go over the most common causes:

Variety Issues

If you have been vaping the same flavour over and over again then it’s possible for your olfactory sensors to become desensitized. People unaware of vapers tongue can wrongly assume that the problem lies with the eliquid itself.

New To Vaping After Giving Up Smoking

This one is debatable, but it is believed that once a smoker quits smoking and starts vaping their olfactory system can go into overload, causing it confusion or it can simply just shutdown.

Dehydration

When you vape you can become dehydrated as the moisture from your mouth is removed. If too much moisture is removed via vaping then a very thin film can form on your tongue and nasal passages limiting sensation.

Illness

As seen above the nose plays a big part in our ability to taste and if you are suffering from a cold or even just have a blocked nose it will affect how you taste.

Other things that can be related to vapers tongue include gingivitis, zinc or Vitamin B12 deficiency and injury to the facial area (i.e. mouth & nose).

Medicines

There are a number of medicines that can lead to a loss of taste. If you are experiencing vapers tongue and are taking medication it could be worth having a chat with your GP and seeing if your medication could be the problem.

Stress

Even though it is not completely understood being stressed can cause your taste buds to change limiting your taste senses.

Unclean Atomiser

It has been suggested that a dirty atomiser can be accountable for vapers tongue. If all else fails then try cleaning or changing your atomiser and see if this helps.

Ways To Beat Vapers Tongue

Above we have discussed ways in which you can get vapers tongue now we will look at how you can solve the problem.

Mix Up Your Flavours

One of the simplest of solutions is to try and change your flavour and see if this helps. After a couple of weeks or so go back to your old flavour – hopefully it will taste as great as it did before.

Drink More Water

As vaping can dehydrate you by removing the moisture from your mouth it is a good idea to try and drink plenty of water to rehydrate yourself. Also in addition to this drinking water has a cleaning effect that will cleanse your palette.

You can also try and use a mouth wash to give your mouth a deep cleanse.

Give Your Senses A Shock

Sometimes all you need to do is give your senses a shock by vaping on strong, potent flavours such as menthol.

Smell Coffee Grounds

This one is an industry favourite for wine tasters – the grounded coffee interacts with chemicals in the olfactory sensors hard resetting them.

Lemon Sucking

In a similar fashion to the above sucking on a lemon is said to reset the taste buds.

If you have currently experiencing vapers tongue don’t worry, especially if its only short lived.  As mentioned above taste buds can take around 14 days to recover so give them time. If the problem persists then try some of the solutions mentioned above will which hopefully sort out the problem.

I am sure there are other tips that vapers have come across over the years. If there are any that I have missed out or you have a top tip you would like to share please leave it in the comments below.