You might have heard the term Vape tongue at one time or another if you enjoy using electronic cigarette, you might have even experienced it yourself. The dreaded vape tongue can certainly be an unpleasant experience and is unfortunately almost ubiquitous with vaping.

If you’re looking to understand more about what it is, what causes it and how to treat it then read on below.

What is it?

Vape tongue is a common condition where Australian e-cigarette users will lose the ability to taste e-juice flavouring. Almost every regular e-cigarette user will experience this at one time or another. Symptoms usually involve loss of taste, reduced ability to taste or a distortion of taste, some people will experience numbness or a thick film on their tongue.

Why it happens?

Vape Tongue doesn’t have a single cause; in fact there are a number of things that can cause it, or a combination of factors. Here are some of the most common reasons that e-cigarette users will experience Vape tongue;

Taste Bud Burnout

There are a lot of things that can damage your tastebuds or lead them to become less sensitive reducing your ability to taste your vapour. Hot, cold, spicy or overly sweet foods and e-juice flavours can cause your taste buds to burn out or become desensitised. This will usually resolve on it’s own but you might need to give your taste buds a rest.

Using one flavour

A lot of e-cig user’s will find an e-liquid flavour that they like and stick to it. The problem is that your brain gets used to it and can tune out the flavour, especially if you’ve been vaping all down long. Switching it up occasionally and changing flavours can stop this from happening as it keeps your taste buds on their toes and stops them from becoming desensitised to one flavour.

Dehydration

Dehydration is one of the top causes for experiencing vape tongue. The e-liquid vapour created by e-cigarettes absorbs moisture from the mouth when inhaled and can create a film over the tongue which prevents taste. You should ensure that you drink water regularly when using e-cig’s.

You’re sick

Illness can affect your sense of taste and smell, especially if you have the flu or a cold and are congested.

You haven’t cleaned your coil

Residue can build up in your e-cigarette, if you haven’t cleaned it for a while that might be what’s causing it to taste funny or like nothing at all.

How to cure it?

So now that you know what causes it, what exactly should you do to prevent it or fix it once it happens?

Good oral hygiene

Brushing your teeth and washing your mouth out regularly will help to strip the e-liquid out of your mouth or remove any film or build up on your tongue.

Rotating flavours

Regularly switching out e-liquid flavours will ensure that your taste buds don’t become desensitised and that you can continue to enjoy the flavour when smoking e-cigarettes.

Cleansing your palate

Sometimes, especially after a prolonged vape session, your taste buds just require a shock to the system. Having a citrusy fruit, a bit of ginger or sniffing the coffee grounds can prevent your sense of taste from becoming dulled and renew your sense of flavour.

If you’re a regular e-cigarette user the chances are you will experience vape tongue at one time or another. Whilst it can be scary and unpleasant to experience it is not usually dangerous and will usually resolve fairly quickly (within 1-3 days) on its own. If symptoms persist then seek out medical care.