If you have seen the adverts on television for air fresheners, claiming that people can get nose blind and can’t smell some of the things they have in their houses over time. Like teenagers' bedrooms, dogs and animals and other bad musky smells, you become so familiar with them you don’t smell them anymore.
Well, it is the same for vaping. If you vape the same flavour for very long periods, you get what the vaping community calls Vapers tongue. This simply means you have become so accustomed to a flavour you no longer get all those beautiful tastes you originally liked so much - which in many instances helped you successfully give up smoking.
You are not alone and many or most vapers will experience this at some point.
Your taste buds on your tongue regenerate every 10 days, and you have between 2000 to 8000 receptors for taste. Your gustatory sense which controls taste requires saliva to keep your taste buds optimised, and on occasion vaping can cause a fatigued tongue which then leads to a dry mouth, which will cause a lack of saliva which then dramatically affects your ability to taste well.
There are a variety of ways to combat this issue.
- Get hydrated! We often don’t drink enough, and the recommended amount of water per day is 2 litres. If you don’t drink enough fluids like many people, we would suggest giving it a try… And this is beneficial to your health anyway. Keeping hydrated reduces the dry tongue syndrome which should help with your taste buds.
- Prime your coil very well. Occasionally if you don’t prime the coil properly you might find the flavour depletes faster, and also your coil can die sooner than expected.
- Clean your tongue. As bad as it sounds this may be necessary, just make sure you clean or brush your tongue when you brush your teeth as this may help.
- Stop Smoking. If you are still smoking this will really dull your taste buds, and will affect your flavours so we would highly advise you to give up smoking to get the full flavour experience from your vape liquid.
- Change Flavour. You can get over accustomed to some flavours, and as a result you go flavour blind. We have seen many instances ourselves whereby you can’t taste anything on your vape but someone else has a go and thinks it is amazing. To fix this if you try a different type of flavour. This can refresh your palate, then after 10ml of something else your all day vape flavour should come through again. If we can guide you to other types of flavours that might suit you we are here to guide you, please just get in touch on enquiries@vapetime.co.uk or call 0203 3718184.
- Try a Menthol flavour. Even if menthols aren’t your thing, this might be just what you need to get your flavour back. Menthol doesn’t need taste or smell to be perceived. You activate your thermoreceptors with menthol, which is why you sense menthol in your eyes and on your skin. Menthol can reset your taste buds, so even an occasional go on a menthol can really help. There are so many different types of menthols, from peppermints, to fruity, Koolada types, and just straight strong menthols.
- Take longer breaks in-between vapes. If you chain vape you may have worn down your taste flavour and smell receptors slightly. One easy way to cut down is to increase your strength a bit, therefore you are more satisfied and vape less. If you can’t do this just have wider gaps in-between vaping.
- Vape Flavourless Eliquid. To do this you can use a nicotine shot (these normally come in 18mg) then buy a small bottle of VG or PG from a DIY vaping store and add your nicotine into the plain flavourless base. It will have a very slight touch of sweetness but generally will be very bland. This should give your taste buds a bit of a rest, and then when you go back to your favourite flavour you should be able to taste this.
If none of the above works and you are still experiencing vapers tongue, this could be down to prescription medication, as this can cause a dry mouth combined with vaping. Commonly prescribed medications used to treat depression, anxiety, allergies, colds and many other common illnesses all can cause a dry mouth. In these instances we would recommend you speak to your GP or your dentist. Please also be aware: asymptomatic COVID sufferers may warrant a Covid test to double check prior to calling a doctor or dentist. One of the longer lasting COVID symptoms is loss of taste and smell for a considerable amount of time, so this can be possible in a very small number of people.