E-cig and tongue problems

[Helios_Rose]

I've been vaping for about a year now. Recently, I noticed the tip of my tongue is numb and the tastebuds are gone. I vape with a Joye510 and it seems that the vapor stream is hitting that spot on the tongue repeatedly. Has anyone else experienced this? Does it go away if you change how you inhale or take a break from vaping?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tallmaan84]

Ive noticed the hitting of the tongue on the intial inhalation, although if i don't like it i just move my tongue. Also, you might try changing flavors as that has been contributed i think to the loss of taste, try swapping flavors. I lost my taste for about two days, which wasn't all that bad since my wife was experimenting with new foods lol. It will come back, drink more water.

 

[Danielsuzuki]

Howdy! What nic strength are you using? This might be a factor. I dropped to 10 - 12 mg and got better flavor in trade for a bit of throat hit.

 

[denali_41]

are you using any type of aftermarket drip tips ???

do you rub you tongue against the PV when you vape ??

 

[tatt]

maybe it's a hardware issue...... i've been vaping for about 2 months now and recently got a couple rough spots on the inside of my lip - not really sores (yet) - it happened right after i switched from using the clear and easy tanks to the ce2 clearomizers - guessing it's from not using the rubber drip tips that came with the ce2's (i didn't like them - too small) - the clear and easy tanks have a larger diameter rubber tip (the steam don't hit that area of my lip when taking a puff)......

 

[JakeTheV&pe]

I can understand the taste buds going... but being numb? that is kinda worrying to be honest =/...... Iv notice my tongue has been a little sore since only vaping ironically same as OP that its were the vape initially hits

 

[Briar]

I haven't had that exact problem... However, I did notice that if I inhale with the steam hitting the tip of my tongue, said tip get irritated. I get a slight burning sensation and maybe an occasional sore. I don't know if it's from nic, or from the temperature of the steam, or what.

So I vape with my tongue tip out of the way. The tip seems to be the most sensitive part of the tongue, so when I move it away I get absolutely no taste on the inhale, it's all on the exhale. I don't really mind that, though, since I'm used to it.

My suggestion would be, rather than stop vaping, simply move your tongue so the steam hits the middle of it rather than the tip. I've had no ill effects from doing it that way. Use that method for awhile, and see if the tip "heals". It probably will - I bet you are just overloading the nerve endings or some such.

Or, you could lower the nic, too. Or the heat. Are you using LRs?

Of course, this is not coming from any kind of an expert - just another vaper. Just an opinion based on personal experience. FWIW.

 

[ruet]

As a former chewer/smoker of tobacco and current vaper I'd say I have pretty broad experience with things that can damage the inside of your mouth. I would look at three things. Nicotine levels, vapor temperature and repetitive stress. Nicotine is an irritant; try a lower concentration. Excessive heat can damage tissue; try a higher resistance atty/carto, lower PV voltage or a combination of both. Exposing an area of tissue to heat/irritants can cause tissue damage over time; try systematically vaping from different locations around your lips to ensure that vapor is not hitting the same spot in your mouth. Give those a try and see how it goes.

 

[dormouse]

1 - don't use 100% PG juices. 100% PG lets through nicotine's skin irritation the best. I recommend 80PG/20VG or even 90PG/10VG would help. If you are using atomizers, you could use 30% VG or more, tanks 30% or less, stuffing cartos I like 20% or less (VG makes juices thicker and some methods of vaping don't like thick.)

2 - Use cartomizers like Boge 3 ohm (slim 510 can use 2.5 to 3 ohm) and put a simple plastic or delrin drip tip on the end of the cartomizer instead of the endcap. The wider hole in the drip tip brings in a more diffused wider stream of vapor and the shape of the drip tip should bring the vapor in at a different place.

3 - clean your stuff - if there is congealed liquid stuck in the end of a drip tip or on the end of a cartridge, that is continuous irritation. And with cartomizers, if you don't clean up overfilling and loose liquid well, then that liquid will end up being shot as hot little droplets right at the tip of your tongue, causing blisters.

The brief version of how I fill and clean up cartomizers
--
The carto has a 1ml capacity. You need to aim towards putting 1ml in. I hold a tissue on the threaded end hole, tilt the carto and drip in 18 drops (waiting longer for the first few to soak in), Then I wait 15 seconds. Then I see how many more it will soak in easily (usually 3-6, occasionally more). Then I clean it up - clean threaded end, tilt open end down into tissue and puff into threaded end to clear the air channel, then while still pointed down I just touch a soft bit of tissue to the top of the stuffing to sop up excess (to help prevent leaks). Then I let the carto settle. I use juices with 20% or less VG so 15-20 minutes of laying it on different sides is plenty of time for every bit of stuffing to get damp.

While vaping - any time the vapor seems light, dry, or tastes the tiniest bit off or loses flavor, or if the caro is getting abnormally warm, I add liquid. I also occasionally look at the stuffing (especially before putting a fresh battery on or before going out) and if the top of the stuffing looks white, I add some juice. No settle needed when just keeping the carto damp. And if you do not keep it damp or if you use juice that is too thick (too much VG) you will singe the carto and that adds a bitter taste. I use a simple plastic or delrin drip tip in place of the end cap so it is easy for me to remove that to look at the stuffing or add juice.

 

[mycarsifarst]

I had a similar issue, there must have been something in the juice. The effect was that I tasted butter all the time, and it lasted for about a day and a half. I think I got some juice on my tounge from dripping. Every time I try to vape that juice, I can pick out that specific flavor.

 

[meems]

I'm leaning towards it being juice related, how many mg & what flavors are you using?

 

[Littlegiles]

I noticed a problem with numb spots on my tongue when I do more menthol. Also my 901 has a bad habit of getting juice in my mouth and that really creates numb areas. YUCK!

 

[dormouse]

Nicotine is a skin irritant. Even nicotine patches warn of skin irritation.

Also cinnamon can be very irritating

I mentioned several ways on the previous page to remove causes of irritation

 

[Helios_Rose]

Thanks for all the helpful advice!!! I'm using 24mg nicotine from Totally Wicked in a lot of flavors (cherry, apple, dunhill, menthol, camel, watermelon). I think a drip tip is something I'll try--I often get the nicotine in my mouth (especially happened when my atomizers were almost dead and I was waiting for new ones). I've been moving my tongue for the last few days and the taste on exhalation is good.

 

[WVvet]

I vape a strong peppermint and I get the numb tongue thing sometimes too. A glass of water usually restores sensation...

 

[Barryg41]

I had problems with my tongue also. I started with a 510 startup kit, then bought a 510 VV pass through (battery). I also changed to a clearamizer type tank. Then started to use 70/30 PG/VG ejuice, the new setup is a dream so far for me. I have gone back and tried some old early bought juice and now can vape it with satisfaction. It took me eleven months to find the right combination of hardware and juice.


Barry Gautreaux (IPad)

 

[36tinybells]

That happened to me with cinnamon. I quit all cinnamon vapes, no problems with that since!

 

[jj2]

I noticed a problem with numb spots on my tongue when I do more menthol. Also my 901 has a bad habit of getting juice in my mouth and that really creates numb areas. YUCK!

Just about to say that. Menthol also made my mouth break out in little bumps that were really sore---PG does the same thing.
Another flavor that can do this is cinnamon.

 

[Michael Curry]

Ask a pipesmoker what causes "tongue bite". You will get as many varied answers as you see here - because it's the same phenomenon. The only real difference is that in vaping we have the added variable of PG irritation.

Redirecting the stream so it doesn't hit your tongue can help if it's heat related. Peterson pipes sought to do that with a different stem configuration, and in many cases it worked. If the problem was heat, anyway.

People hit on flavors, and that's a big one. Some people did a fair bit of research on pipe tobacco and found that a major culprit in 'tongue bite' was the pH of the smoke. Different flavors would certainly dovetail into that quite nicely. Some people are simply more sensitive to some things than others are.

The suggestions here have been great. In the meantime, Biotene mouth rinse is your friend. It's available most everywhere, it's cheap, it promotes healing, and it helps with dry mouth symptoms. I keep some on hand all the time.

 

[MollieA]

My tongue has gone numb from time to time when I would chain-vape a single flavor and forget to keep sipping water whilst vaping. I don't think it's so much as the taste buds being numb per se, but from dryness which can make the tongue feel numb. At least that has been my experience. I did have a flavor-loss episode, but thankfully it lasted only a few days. I made sure I kept hydrated whilst vaping, or even had a piece of hard candy in my mouth to keep it moist. That seemed to do the trick, aside from changing flavors constantly. Just my two cents... ;-)