Vaper’s tongue and how to overcome it

Vaper’s tongue and how to overcome it

Vaper’s tongue (or vaper’s fatigue as its sometimes referred to as) sounds like something that’s been made up, but it is in fact a genuine problem that most vapers will encounter.

Vaper’s tongue is a taste related ailment, and you may find you can’t taste your favourite vape juice flavour, or go off it completely. But fear not, this ailment is normally temporary and soon resolves itself, but we will give you some handy tips and tricks you can do to try and speed up the process if you vaper’s tongue strikes you.

Getting technical with the taste buds

Your tongue will be covered with anything from 2000-8000 taste buds, or if you’re above the norm, up to 10,000 taste buds which will give you the moniker of “Super Taster”

Everyone has different taste buds, and explains why some people prefer certain foods or drinks compared to others. This also relates to vape juice as well, which is why some people prefer specific flavours of vape juice compared to others.

Your taste buds are on a constant cycle, where the cells within the taste buds die off and then regrow back. This cycle can take anywhere from 10 days to 14 days.

As you may or may not know, your taste buds are primed to taste five different flavours. They are;

• Sweetness – usually derived from fructose or lactose
• Sourness – found mostly in acidic solutions like lemon juice or organic acids that taste sour
• Saltiness – found in salt crystals which contain sodium and or chloride
• Bitterness – From an evolutionary standpoint, this can be explained by the many different bitter species of plants, some of which were poisonous. Recognizing which ones were indeed poisonous was a matter of survival.
• Umami – a savoury taste caused by glutamic acid or aspartic acid. These two acids are part of the amino acid family, and glutamic acid is normally found in ripe tomatoes, meats and cheeses

What causes vaper’s tongue?

There are a several different causes of vaper’s tongue. We will discuss them below before moving on to how to overcome it.

Vaping the same flavour for too long

Probably the least scientific reason behind vaper’s tongue, but arguably the most common reason for it happening.

Vaping the same flavored vape juice for too long can cause your taste buds to get too used to the flavour and soon you’ll not be able to taste it. We always recommend switching between flavours to avoid this happening.

Recently switched from smoking to vaping or being a dual user

If you are a dual user, which means you smoke as well as vape, this could constitute to vaper’s tongue happening to you.

As you may or may not know, smoking can damage your taste buds as well as your sense of smell, so if you’re doing both or recently transitioned/transitioning from smoking to vaping, this could be a huge factor in why you are suffering.

But fear not, the damage is not permanent and can easily be repaired with your taste buds regrowing as we spoke about earlier.

Damaged taste buds

As above, taste buds are prone to becoming damaged and this could be a factor in vaper’s tongue happening to you by losing the ability to taste.

The damage doesn’t only come from smoking, it can come from illness, alcohol consumption, spicy or sour foods, illness or some medications.

But the damage is not something that’s there for good. Taste buds will regrow, but just remember it can take up to two weeks for them to fully regrow and you to get your full sense of taste back and have the ability to taste again.

Old/Expired vape juice

As with most consumables, vape juice comes with an expiry date, and vape juice that has passed this date will tend to not taste right.

The nicotine within the liquids can start to weaken and give off a peppery taste and not taste like you’re used to.

If this kind of vape juice is vaped too often, it can lead to your taste buds being hugely affected, so we recommend to bin anything passed its expiry and stick to in date liquids.

Dirty/burnt out coils

Coils don’t last forever, and when they start reaching the end of their life, it normally gives off a burnt cotton taste and your vape juice will not taste like it should.

It is crucial you change your coil as soon as this starts happening, as vaping with a burnt coil could damage your taste buds and lead to vaper’s tongue happening to you.

How to cure Vaper’s tongue

As previously mentioned, taste buds regrow themselves within two weeks, but that’s a long time to wait if you have lost your sense of taste and want to taste your vape juice as normal. If you find yourself experiencing vaper’s tongue, we’ve got some handy tips to avoiding vaper’s tongue or overcome it if it happens to you.

Change your flavour

This may come hard if you’re a bit of a creature of habit, and tend to use the same flavor vape juice but it is the number one thing we would suggest to people who are suffering or wanting to avoid vaper’s tongue.

Changing your flavour up will keep your taste buds guessing and not let them get used to the same flavour. This doesn’t have to be for good, maybe just for a week or two and then when you go back to your favourite flavour, it will taste just as good and maybe even better than before!

A minty reset

If vaper’s tongue has got hold of your taste buds, reach out for a strong flavor like mint/menthol to refresh your palate.

Menthol flavors are normally quite strong in flavour, and can shock your taste buds into functioning back to their full potential as this is a flavour they are not used to.

Drink plenty of water

You should be drinking plenty of water daily to keep yourself hydrated, but this also hydrates and keeps your taste buds refreshed and could avoid vaper’s tongue from occurring. So ensure your water consumption is to the right standard every day.

Take longer breaks between vapes

If you’re a bit of a fan of chain vaping, this will definitely play a part on your taste and smell receptors being affected.

It might be worth considering upping your nicotine levels of your vape juice to satisfy your urges for nicotine for longer periods. If this is something you don’t want to do, take longer breaks between reaching for your vapes to give your taste buds a rest.

Inhaling the smell of fresh coffee beans

Probably the most abstract and out there suggestion within the list, but this method is commonly used by wine tasters and perfume smellers.

But according to experts, inhaling the smell of fresh coffee beans will reset your sense of taste. Having never tried this myself, I’m not sure it works but it seems a popular suggestion amongst the vaping community!

Stop dual using!

We touched on this earlier, but to reiterate it gain, stop smoking and vaping!

We know it’s not as easy as that but try leaving the cigarettes alone for a couple of weeks and just stick to vaping. If this makes a difference, this should be enough to give you that final push to fully converting to vaping over smoking.

Conclusion

We hope that this blog will help you or anyone you know suffering from vaper’s tongue. It is easily fixed if this does happen by using the above techniques.

Be sure to have a browse of our vasty array of e liquids with plenty of flavors to choose from to keep your palate refreshed.