8 Causes of Vapers Tongue

Did you ever wake up one morning and suddenly your vape juice didn't taste the same? You're sure it's not the bottle because you recently bought it and the equipment is new. As baffling as this experience could be, it is something that most vapers go through, and it's called the vaper's tongue.

The vaper’s tongue is a condition where you lose the ability to taste vape juice. The condition happens suddenly and without warning and might occur several times through your vaping years. For some vapers, this nagging condition lasts only a day while in others, it can extend to several weeks.

Most vapers describe the experience as a feeling that feels like a thick coat that blocks the ability to taste. However, while you can’t taste your e-liquid, the condition does not affect the production of vapour or the absorption of nicotine.

Is there anything you can do about your vaper's tongue condition, or are you doomed to vape tasteless vape juices forever? 

What Happens When You Have Vapers’ Tongue?

On average, the human tongue has about 8,000 taste buds on the higher side. The taste buds fully regenerate after every ten days.

The taste buds require saliva to keep the gustatory sense (the sense of taste) working efficiently. Because vaping can cause the tongue to get fatigued and also has a tendency to cause dry mouth, the lack of saliva can affect the performance of the taste buds and consequently affect the sense of taste. 

A dry mouth is not the only culprit behind your inability to taste. Vapers’ tongue can also be caused by prolonged exposure of the same smell to the olfactory senses.

The ability to smell plays a critical role in tasting. In fact, smell makes up to 70% of the perceived flavour. It's an essential component when deciphering different flavours considering that the taste buds can only discern five primary flavours which are bitter, sweet, sour, umami and salty.

Unlike the taste buds, the olfactory sense loses its perception of smell the longer it is exposed to a compound. This can contribute to you having the vapers’ tongue.

If you smoke and vape or you recently stopped smoking, you can also have a problem your gustatory senses. Smoking causes severe damage to oral health and affects your ability to taste and smell.

Once you quit, both senses can recover over time. However, there’s no specific timeline to how soon the two can fully recover, but often, it takes about a month.

Causes of Vapers Tongue

Given how vital the ability to taste when vaping, most vapers who are experiencing vapers’ tongue for the first time are left wondering if there is something they can do to improve the condition.

Luckily, there are a few things you can try that can help get rid of vapers' tongue and also reduces the chances of it happening again.

Drink a lot of water

Staying hydrated is key to your health and also in saliva production. If you’re a vaper, it’s essential that you increase how much water you drink to avoid having a dry mouth and boost saliva production.

Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake

Drinks containing alcohol and caffeine cause dry mouth on contact. They make you urinate more frequently, which requires substantial amounts of water and can cause dehydration. These drinks are more likely to cause vapers' tongue or aggravate and prolong the condition.

If you’re experiencing the vapers’ tongue, it’s highly recommended that you limit the consumption of alcohol or caffeinated drinks to improve the condition.

Try oral hydration products

When suffering from vapers’ tongue, your first goal is to get your mouth hydrated as fast as possible. While water will help, it’s more of a long-term solution. Short term solutions include taking products like Biotene that will provide a temporary alleviation of dry mouth.

There’s a wide range of products you can choose from. Some are sprays, overnight gels and even some types of toothpaste. What’s more, products containing Biotene are made from PG and VG, which are the same ingredients found in e-liquids.

Clean the tongue

Don't let your taste buds suffocate under tons of plague and leftover foods. By keeping your tongue clean, you can maximise surface area and improve taste. When brushing your teeth, don’t leave the tongue behind.

You can also use tongue scrapper if you want nothing short of excellent results — this helps to remove that film of dirt that can compromise the sensitivity of your taste buds. 

Stop smoking

When you stop smoking, you’re not only doing your taste buds a favour but also your general health. Smoking wreaks havoc to your oral hygiene and severely affects your ability to taste. If you’ve just quit smoking, give the taste buds some time to fully regenerate after which your sense of taste will return.

Why not also read: Does Vaping Stain Walls?

Take long breaks between your vaping sessions

Vapers’ tongue is especially common among chain vapers. Constant vaping take s a toll on your taste buds and the prolonged exposure to olfactory senses messes up the sense of smell as well.

If you’re struggling with your taste buds, you can improve this by reducing the frequency of vaping. Take longer breaks between vaping to help your mouth recover.

If you vape nicotine, you can adjust the nicotine concentration upwards to prevent cravings from the longer breaks. This will give your taste buds a much-needed rest.

Try a different juice

Some times, all your system needs is a break from the old. New vape juice can give your smell and taste sense a much-needed jolt that will revitalise them and get them working properly again. Once you roll back to your normal vape juice, you will notice that your taste is back.

Trying a new vape juice helps to fight flavour fatigue and light things up a bit. This also presents you with the perfect opportunity to experiment with new flavours.

Go unflavoured for a while

It might not sound enticing, but it’s worth the try. Going for unflavoured vape juices is an excellent way of taking a break without actually taking the break. Even though unflavoured, these types of e-liquids have a slight sweetness to them so you won't have to deal with complete tastelessness. 

This approach will give your mouth, and the smell and taste sense a chance to recover without depriving you of the experience of vaping.

What if it doesn’t go away?

There’s a small chance that your vapers’ tongue might not go away even after trying all the above tips. If that is the case, it’s a sign there are other medical issues that could be affecting your ability to taste.

If the problem persists, the best approach is to pay a visit to a physician to get tests done to determine the root cause of the problem. There are other conditions like depression, colds, allergies and anxiety that can also cause a dry mouth and compromise your ability to taste.

Once the underlying condition is treated, your ability to taste should come back. It’s also possible to experience dry mouth if you’re currently on medication. If that’s the case, the symptoms should subside once you complete the medication.

Why not also read: 6 Reasons Why Your Vape is Hot and How to Solve