Picture the scene. You're vaping your favourite flavour, be it chocolate shake flavour or strawberry and banana flavour or whatever, and you suddenly notice you're not enjoying it the same, you don't like the taste anymore. Maybe you can't taste anything and your tongue feels numb. Well, you've got vaper's tongue.
What is it?
Vaper's tongue (or vaper's fatigue) is a name associated with many taste related ailments, ranging from going off an individual former favourite flavour to losing taste of all food and drinks. The first example is a lot more common, but the second one is a lot more serious, leading to dehydration and illness. In most cases this is temporary and will sort itself out, but we will soon tell you a way to get it fixed quicker.
What Causes Vaper's Tongue?
There are many different causes of vaper's tongue.
Illness
One thing that determines flavour is your sense of smell. Your nose sends messages to your brain along with your taste buds to create the flavour you get when you eat, drink or vape. When your sense of smell is blocked, perhaps because of a cold, you lose an integral part of taste, meaning your e-liquid will taste different.
Other illnesses that can affect your taste include injuries to the mouth, nose or head, as well as gingivitis (swollen or inflamed gums), zinc deficiency or Alzheimer’s. Unless the problem continues, there is no reason to worry.
Sometimes, vaper's tongue can be caused by medicine you are taking. There are several medicines that can cause this, and they are:
- thyroid drugs
- captopril
- griseofulvin
- lithium
- penicillamine
- procarbazine
- rifampin
- some cancer drugs
Anxiety and stress can also be a cause for vaper's tongue. Strangely, this can even happen when you don't think you're anxious. While there isn't a known reason why anxiety causes this, we can make suggestions. Being anxious can cause a change in your taste buds, as they rebel when you are stressed. When you are anxious, you seem to breath out your mouth, which can lead to you getting different tastes. Sometimes when you are stressed, you can be more sensitive to bad tastes. Anxiety can also cause acid reflux.
Damaging Taste Buds
Taste buds can get damaged, and this can lead to vaper's tongue. Taste buds can be damaged by a number of things, like smoking, alcohol, infections, sour foods, spicy foods and some medications. These taste buds do heal themselves after at the most 2 weeks, though they do get weaker as you get older.
Smoking can damage both your taste and your smell, though it is only temporary. Vaper's tongue is a sudden change, so unless you have recently started smoking, you shouldn't be affected.
Dehydration
Being dehydrated can be a cause for vaper's tongue, but remember, even though a glass of water can help, dehydration also causes a loss of salts. If you have a dry mouth, caused by lack of saliva, this can also lead to a loss of taste.
What are you vaping?
There is evidence of people getting vaper's tongue after vaping the same flavour for too long. Also, as e-liquids age, flavours can degrade, leading to a peppery taste, so you may not have vaper's tongue, you may just need to change your e-liquid. Read here for more about how long your e liquid should last. Vaper's tongue can also be caused by dirty atomiser contacts, so be sure to clean or replace your atomiser.
How to Cure Vaper's Tongue
As we have mentioned, Vaper's tongue usually goes away after 2 weeks, but if you want it done quicker, try these tips.
Change the Flavour
If your flavour isn't tasting right, try a different flavour for a short time, and come back to it later, when it will be just as you remember it. You can try using a stronger flavour than the subtler flavour you're used to and see if that helps. Also, try steeped e-liquid, so you can get more taste, and a smoother taste too.
Try Other Things
There are other foods/drinks that you can use to make the vaper's tongue go away.
Drinking water has been shown to be very effective, it cleans your palate and helps to rehydrate you. Many people suggest using mouthwash as well, but some people suggest this causes Vaper's tongue instead of getting rid of it. Still, it's worth a try if nothing else works.
Some experts in the field of wine tasting and perfume sampling say that inhaling the scent of fresh coffee beans can reset your sense of taste. This has been shown to work with vapers too, as a cure for vaper's tongue. Like coffee, sucking on a lemon has also been shown to help. Try lemon sorbet if regular lemons are too sour for you.
Stop Dual Vaping
Dual Vaping is a term used for people who smoke and vape at the same time. Try just vaping for a couple of weeks and see if this helps. Who knows, you may end up quitting smoking for good after this.
Conclusion
Hopefully this will help you avoid getting Vaper's tongue, know how to deal with it if you get it and know there is no reason to worry about it. Happy Vaping!