5 causes of flavor fatigue
The thing about vaper's tongue is it's totally unpredictable. There are those who have been vaping for years and never experienced it, while a vaping newbie might feel the effects of flavor fatigue just days or weeks after switching to e-cigs.
Before you get too panicky wondering why vaper's tongue is happening to you, you should know that it is not a medical issue at all – rather there are some simple explanations as to why this phenomenon occurs:
Quitting Smoking
New vapers who recently stopped smoking traditional cigarettes are prime candidates for vaper's tongue. As you probably know, smoking dulls your sense of taste, so when you start vaping your olfactory senses can get overwhelmed by the intensity of flavors, causing your taste buds to take a break for a little bit. This can happen several times as your body transitions to being a non-smoker.
Dehydration
The process of vaping will dehydrate you. The solutions in e-liquid (PG or VG) attract and draw out moisture like a sponge, which means not drinking enough water while vaping can dry out your mouth and a thin film might form on your tongue. This film acts like shield that blocks flavored e-liquid from reaching your taste buds.
Not Enough Variety
Do you have a favorite flavor that you vape all the time? It's hard not to when you find something you really like. However, too much of the same ol' same ol' can desensitize your taste buds to a particular flavor. Basically, your brain gets so used to the taste of the e-liquid that it starts treating it like white noise and tunes it out.
Cold or Allergies
When you get sick, often the first thing to go is your sense of smell, which in turn renders your taste buds practically useless. Having a cold or sinus issues makes it nearly impossible to taste anything at all—vaping flavors included.
Just Because
Sometimes e-liquid exhaustion has nothing to do with any of the reasons listed above—sometimes it just happens for no reason at all. This can be the most frustrating cause of flavor fatigue. It's like your taste buds randomly decided not to show up for work. With no rhyme or reason, it's best to just move onto the remedies.
vaper's tongue treatments & cures
Once you figure out the possible cause behind your vaper's tongue, oftentimes the solution for curing it is obvious. For instance, if you are getting mildly dehydrated when vaping then drink more water. After all, there's never really a time when drinking water is bad for you anyways, right?
Here are some other tips for getting rid of flavor fatigue:
Rotate e-liquid flavors. Mix up your repertoire of e-liquid every once in a while to avoid getting desensitized to a certain flavor. Plus, there are plenty out custom blended flavors there to choose from, so why not?
Brush your teeth. Oral hygiene is always a good idea, especially since build-up on your tongue can block vapor from reaching your taste buds. Yet another reason to listen to your dentist and brush those teeth!
Give your senses a flavor shock. Sometimes all your senses need is jolt to get working again. Try vaping strong flavors like mint, menthol or cinnamon and see if that does the trick.
Rinse out your mouth…not because you used foul language, but because sometimes your palate needs to be cleansed. See if a strong minty mouthwash like Listerine helps.
Smell some coffee grounds. Taking a whiff of coffee grounds is a trick commonly used by wine tasters and perfume experts. The smell of coffee can cause the olfactory senses to reset, which may help revive your taste buds.
Lastly, if nothing else works, just wait it out.
don't give up yet…give it time
"Wait it out" might not be the answer you were looking for, but sometimes vaper's tongue is inevitable. Don't worry, though—eventually you will be able to enjoy the flavor from your vapor cigarette again. Flavor exhaustion is not permanent. With a little time and some fine-tuning when needed, your favorite flavors should return to the intensity they once had.
Hope this helps!
