Vaper’s tongue. Vaper’s fatigue, or the inability to taste e-juice after a certain time, is another name for this. You don’t need to be concerned. Vapers tongue occurs quite often among vapers. What causes it, and what to do about it?
Here is an analogy to explain this shared experience:
Do you have a friend whose home always smells a certain way, but your friend never notices? Your friend’s experience is similar to what happens when vapers vape the same flavor for a long time.
Do you know why this happens?
This is due to a condition called Olfactory fatigue. After prolonged exposure to a particular smell, you may experience olfactory fatigue.
You’re in the right place if you want to know what your senses of smell have to do with taste.
WHAT DOES SMELL HAVE TO DO WITH TASTE
Vaper’s tongue, like steeping E-juice or vape smoking, is a misnomer.
Some people falsely believe that the delicious glazed donuts you eat in the morning are all down to your taste buds. Your olfactory sense or nerve cells in the nose are also involved in the ability to taste flavor.
When you combine your gustatory system (tastebuds) with your olfactory (nose) system, you get a chemosensory process.
This means that your brain is able to interpret the different signals sent by the nerve cells in your mouth, nose, and throat. Transduction is the process that allows your brain to detect flavor.
You’ll be surprised at how bland your food tastes if you try eating with your nose closed.
What’s more, researchers found out that your brain can actually taste food even if the food is not on your tongue. The brain is a major factor in how you taste flavors.
Your brain can cause vaper’s tongue and vaper fatigue.
What causes the vaper’s tongue?
You may have noticed a change in the flavor of your vape liquid for many reasons. But let’s return to our smell analogy to see how it can affect your ability to taste e-juice.
When your E-juice’s flavor is diminished by constant exposure, this is called Taste Fatigue. The same thing happens when smokers become accustomed to the smell of smoke and can no longer detect it on their clothing.
When you taste food, the sensory receptors in your mouth send signals to the brain, allowing you to register the flavor.
After constant stimulation, the brain will adapt to the stimulus, and the intensity of smells or tastes will gradually decrease.
As your sensory receptors adjust, they will reduce the rate at which signals are sent to the brain. This causes the taste or smell to fade with time.
Why do our brains behave this way?
The science does not understand sensory adaptation. Researchers have suggested that our brain may do this as a form of survival. We need to use our sense of scent, for example, to detect dangers like smoke, rotten foods, or changes in the smell in our surroundings.
We stop identifying the scent if our brain determines that it is not a threat. This reduces the amount of information we receive. We can then concentrate on other environmental changes that could be harmful.
Researchers found that a nose made more sensitive by being too cautious about certain smells allows you to adjust more slowly to smells that are threatening.
You may get a vaper’s mouth if you vape the same flavor of e-liquid. This is due to sensory adaption.
A variety of factors can cause a vaper’s tongue.
What are the other causes of vaper’s tongue?
What other factors besides sensory adaption may contribute to vaper’s fatigue?
Taste Disorders
A loss of sense of smell and taste can characterize a taste disorder. Up to 15% of adult sufferers have this condition. The majority of taste disorders develop after an illness or injury.
Three main types of taste disorders exist:
- Hypogeusia refers to a partial loss of taste.
- Ageusia causes a total loss of flavor. It is extremely rare. Losing a sense of smell is much more common.
- Dysgeusia distorts the sense of taste and smell.
These disorders can be caused by chemotherapy, zinc deficiency, or side effects from different medications.
Damaged Taste Buds
Everyone is born with 10,000 taste buds. They can all recognize five different tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. However, not everyone will perceive the signals in the same way. You may experience a temporary taste loss if you damage your taste buds. Taste buds regenerate about every 1-2 weeks. When you age, your taste buds will not restore as quickly.
Reduced taste can also be a result of being sick. You may experience a loss of taste and smell due to the following conditions:
- Remember that your nose can affect your taste in a significant way
- Strep throat
- Respiratory infections
- Dental problems such as tooth loss, gum disease, and bad dental hygiene.
What are some remedies for a vaper’s tongue?
You might wonder how to treat your vaper’s tongue now that you know the cause.
There is no way to fix this completely, but it is important to know that the effects are only temporary. This is a common problem among wine tasters, coffee testers, and perfume testers. Let’s see what remedies are available to fix vaper tongue.
Keep it fresh by adding different flavors to your rotation.
After a certain time, sensory adaptation will occur, and you won’t be able to taste different flavors. Add other flavors to your rotation. It is important to have different flavors, such as fruit flavors, custard flavors, and menthols, to prevent getting too used to one. To avoid taste fatigue, wine tasters often begin with white wines that are dry and then move on to stronger flavors.
Stay Hydrated and Drink Water
Dehydration will reduce the ability of flavor to reach taste buds. The chemical interactions between saliva and the food you eat are crucial to your sense of flavor. Dehydration is a result of vaping. Drinking more water will be necessary.
VAPE STRONG FLAVORS
Many vapers have turned to pure menthol flavors in order to shock and refresh the palate. Some vapers have stated that it takes longer for the taste receptors in your mouth to adjust to menthol flavors. This is one of many reasons why they love menthol.
DENTAL HYGIENE
Poor oral hygiene can affect your ability to taste vape juice and cause a bad mouth taste. Brushing and flossing your teeth will reduce the risk of infection and ensure healthy gums. Some vapers report that a tongue scraper and mouthwash can help them taste their e-juice more. Mouthwash can refresh your palate, but there might be a temporary taste loss.
Take a Break
Allowing time to run its course is one way to avoid sensory adaption. Vaping constantly will cause your taste receptors to become accustomed to the flavor and vaper’s exhaustion. Wine tasters eat crackers between tastings to clean their palate.
PALATE CLEANSING METHODS AND OTHER METHODS
Here are some other methods of palate cleaning that vapers may have tried if the methods above have not worked. Note: These methods may or may NOT work. Some people have claimed that they used these to taste again.
- Inhaling or smelling the aroma of coffee beans can be a good way to reset your palate.
- Pickled ginger is used to cleanse the palate when eating sushi. Pickles of any kind should work.
- In the wine-tasting community, unsalted cheese and crackers are used to enhance the taste of the wine by increasing your palate’s sensitivity.
- You can cleanse your palate by sucking on a grapefruit or a lemon. Some vapers have used this method for years, so it’s worth a try.
- Raw honey may also soothe the throat, as well as cure the vaper’s tongue.
- In French cuisine, sorbet can be eaten as a palate cleanser between meals. Lemon sorbet can reset your taste buds.
- Perfumists jump jacks in between sniffs. I’m not sure how this would apply to vaping, but hey, it can’t harm.
- Perfumists will do this to return to their baseline. Try it in your own home!
It’s important to find out what works for you. There are many ways of doing this, but it doesn’t hurt to try them all!
What are some other reasons why your vape juice tastes off?
It may not be the vaper’s mouth that is causing your e-juice to taste differently. Other factors may be at play.
Here are some more possible reasons that could affect the flavor of your e-juice!
- Burnt Coils – If you haven’t replaced your coil for a while, it could be the reason why your juice doesn’t taste as good. Coils can burn due to a buildup of gunk or becoming dry. This is not a pleasant flavor, and it can affect the sharpness.
- Steeped e-juice – If you have left your juice for a long time, it could result in a change of flavor. When you store your juice in a dark, cool place, the nicotine can oxidize, giving it a spicy taste. Steeping the e-juice can improve the taste of complex flavors such as Custards.
- Different Temperatures and Airflows of Your Vape– Airflows are important when it comes to flavor. The more restricted the airflow is, the more concentrated the flavor will be. Your e-juice will change in character if you set your vape mod to different settings.
