Until you lose it, you don’t realise what you’ve got. What are we talking about? Loss of taste – otherwise known as vaper’s tongue in the vaping world.
Before we go more deeply into what is vaper’s tongue, and how to get rid of vaper’s tongue, let’s understand a little bit more about how our sense of smell and taste can be affected.
Outside of vaping, the loss of taste and smell can be caused by a number of different issues. It became a hot topic of conversation over the last few years as it was listed as one of the main symptoms of a covid infection, which attacks the olfactory receptors. However, there are a number of other issues that can affect your ability to smell and taste.
Your age and hormonal changes can also cause loss of taste and smell. After the age of 50, taste buds start to die off, and studies show that 25 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women in their 60s have been affected by a change in their overall senses – purely as a result of the ageing process.
For women, oestrogen and progesterone are linked to the olfactory system. As they go through the menstrual cycle and then into menopause, their sense of smell can change quite significantly. Pregnant women in particular, find that their sense of smell and taste can change profoundly during the early weeks of pregnancy.
Some medical conditions can impact your olfactory system, and if you are in any way concerned, you should get this checked out by a professional. Also, if you are on medication, loss of taste and smell is a common side effect.
Vaper’s Tongue Symptoms
There are two key symptoms to look out for if you believe you could be suffering from vaper’s tongue. These are a white coating on your tongue and a complete inability to taste your usual flavour of vape.
How long does vaper’s tongue last?
Fortunately, vaper’s tongue does not last for longer than a few days, and there are things that you can do to speed up the process of recovering your sense of taste. Your tongue has on average, anything between 2000 to 8000 taste buds, which regenerate every few days. So, if you find yourself affected by the onset of vaper’s tongue, do not despair, just follow some of the advice below and you’ll soon be back on track and tasting your favourite flavours.
Vapers Tongue Quick Fix
Biologically your sense of smell and taste are designed to protect you against anything harmful. So, if something is not right – maybe it is poisonous or rotten. The olfactory receptors send warnings to stop you from putting that object in your mouth (this is also why ‘disgust’ is displayed by a lift of the side of the mouth and nostrils, indicating a bad smell).
One school of thought is that if you vape one flavour too often, your brain registers this as something safe and harmless and no longer produces the receptors signals that identify the taste.
Use this time as an opportunity to experiment with new flavours. Try something that is completely the opposite. So, if you are keen on vape flavours that are quite sweet and pungent, swap them in for different flavours that are slightly sharper.
Look After Your Oral Hygiene
Our mouths take a lot of stick during the course of the day. This is because we are constantly pouring in hot and cold drinks, full of sugar, fats, spicy foods, and chemicals. If you are vaping a lot, this can also affect your oral hygiene.
Ensuring that you rehydrate consistently during the day is crucial to maintaining good mouth health and ridding yourself of vaper’s tongue. When you vape, it can cause your salivary glands to reduce the amount of saliva they produce – and this saliva is crucial to the overall functioning of your olfactory system. Make sure that you are drinking plenty of water to stimulate saliva production.
In addition to this, reduce the amount of caffeine and alcohol you are consuming. Both are diuretics, which add to the prevalence of dehydration. More water and less alcohol and caffeine will help to eliminate vaper’s tongue.
Though we are sure that you are regularly brushing your teeth, make sure that you also brush your tongue. One of the symptoms of vaper’s tongue is a white powdery residue on your tongue that affects the speed at which your taste buds are regenerated. The cleaner your tongue, the quicker you will rid yourself of vaper’s tongue.
Check Your Vaping Equipment
While vaper’s tongue is rarely caused by either the vaping juice or the equipment, you might want to check that it is not too old or worn out. If the vape juice is particularly old, its taste strength can deteriorate. If you’ve been limping along using a vaping system that is well past its sell-by date, then invest in some new kit and fresh new flavours. You’ll probably find your vaper’s tongue symptoms disappear almost immediately.
If you need some help and guidance to overcome your vaper’s tongue while still enjoying your vaping habit, then drop us a line, and we’ll put together some personal suggestions for you.
