Vaper's tongue is the term generally used to describe a condition that suddenly renders a vaper temporarily unable to taste their e-liquid.

For many vapers, the principal enjoyment they derive from vaping is the flavour and not the nicotine. Few vapers ever give up nicotine completely, but most decrease the nicotine strength of their e-liquids significantly over time. Thus, flavour becomes the main reason for vaping. This means that it is incredibly disconcerting when they can't taste their e-liquid.

If you have vaper's tongue, you may find that you have difficulty tasting the e-liquid you normally use, or you could even find that you have difficulty tasting any e-liquid at all. Don't worry if this has happened to you or is happening to you right now, the issue will usually resolve itself within one to three days. Better still, there are steps you can take to prevent it from impacting you again.

What causes vaper's tongue?

As you know, your sense of taste is largely dependent on your sense of smell and so anything impeding either sense will cause the other to function poorly.

Vaper's tongue occurs because of the sensory adaptation that takes place to prevent your olfactory nerves from becoming overwhelmed. This adaptation is known as olfactory fatigue, odour fatigue or nose blindness. There are several reasons why your body may decide to make a few adjustments of the olfactory variety.

Dehydration or dry tongue

Saliva breaks down and washes flavour molecules around the taste buds on your tongue, in the rest of your mouth and in your throat. Healthy saliva production is therefore essential if taste buds are to be able to register the sweet, sour, bitter, salty or umami notes of anything you consume.

If your mouth or tongue is too dry, your tongue has a white coating, or you have other symptoms of dehydration, it's likely that you're not producing enough saliva to taste your vape flavour properly. Symptoms of dehydration include dry eyes, unusually dry skin, headaches, or dark coloured urine. If you could be dehydrated, you should rehydrate immediately and the best way to do that is to drink water. Remember that alcohol is dehydrating and will make the situation worse.

Always vaping the same e-liquid flavour

Do you have a favourite e-liquid flavour that you tend to vape to the exclusion of all else? This can desensitise your taste buds and so reduce the impact of that flavour. In other words, you get too used to the taste of your juice.

The best way to address this situation is to switch flavours. Choose a blend that is completely different to the flavour that you usually vape. There are thousands of flavours to explore and so you will never run out of great choices.

Smoking

Smoking dries your mouth and dulls, or even kills your senses of smell and taste. When you stop smoking, your taste buds, olfactory epithelium (the patch at the top of your nasal cavity that detects smells) and sinuses soon start to recover from the impact of smoking.

If you vape but continue to treat yourself to the occasional smoke, it could be the cigarettes that are ruining your sense of taste.

Illness and medications

A variety of ailments can impact your sense of taste. These include colds, gingivitis, ear infections, hypertension (high blood pressure) and nutritional deficiencies. Medications may also reduce your ability to taste.

Your case of vaper's tongue may not be related to vaping and could have resulted from a health problem or the medication you are taking to treat it. You may find that you simply need to wait for your ailment to resolve itself.

How do you prevent a case of vaper's tongue?

In most instances, a case of vaper's tongue will clear up on its own after just a few days. But you can speed up the process by taking a few simple steps.

• Maintain good oral hygiene to create a healthy environment in your mouth.
• Keep hydrated throughout the day.
• Invest in a tongue scraper as some vapers find that limiting any coating of their tongue helps.
• Cleanse your palate. Coffee beans and lemon are said to help but science suggests that taking deep breaths of fresh air and drinking water are better options. It is also said that smelling yourself is like pressing a reset button for your senses.
• Switch flavours as you may have desensitised your palate to the flavour you are vaping.
• Try to vape a variety of flavours each week to ensure that your taste buds are never desensitised.
• Some vapers find that vaping a plain menthol flavour for a while can perk up their taste buds. Others say that menthol makes matters worse!
• Check the age of your e liquid as the flavour of e liquids deteriorates over time.
• Stop smoking as there's nothing worse for your taste buds than cigarettes.

Always exercise a little patience. The process of regaining normal senses of smell and taste can take as little as a couple of days. However, a case of vaper's tongue could linger for months.

Talk to your doctor

Please remember that if you are worried about any health issues and experience any symptoms, it always advisable to consult your GP. Minor ailments are sometimes symptomatic of more serious issues. You should only seek advice from a qualified medical professional.

Is coil gunk vaper's tongue?

Have you noticed the flavour of your e-liquid improving greatly when you replace your coil? Over time, the e-liquid that you use leaves a layer of residue on the coil in your tank and this is often referred to as 'coil gunk'.

If you vape an e-liquid that contains no added sweeteners and that has a simple flavour profile, it can take a long time for residue to form. But if you use an e-liquid that's strongly flavoured and heavily sweetened, your coil can develop a thick layer of coil gunk in less than a day of vaping.

The sweetener sucralose is the e-liquid ingredient that is usually responsible for the formation of coil gunk, and when the layer of residue becomes thick enough, it can alter the flavour of your e-liquid by making it taste unusually sweet. It also ensures that the e-liquid's more subtle flavour notes are hard to detect.

Coil gunk is not vaper's tongue. If you find it easier to taste your e-liquid when your coil is new, that is completely normal, not a sign that you have vaper's tongue.

Vaper's tongue – conclusions

Vaper's tongue can temporarily ruin your enjoyment of your e liquids. But it is not a serious condition and will usually clear up pretty quickly.