Is Vaper’s Tongue a Thing When Vaping CBD?

Have you ever enjoyed a nice, long, and simply sensational CBD vaping session, and then suddenly, you lost the ability to taste the flavor of your e-liquid?  If the answer is yes, there’s no need to panic or think that there’s something seriously wrong with your taste buds.  What you’ve experienced is known as vaper’s tongue, and it’s a pretty common sensory phenomenon that many vapers report from time to time.

What Exactly is Vaper’s Tongue?

Vaper’s tongue is a term used to describe the sudden inability to detect what it is that you’re tasting when you’re vaping.  While we are focusing on vaper’s tongue in terms of vaping CBD, this experience can happen no matter what it is that you’re vaping. 

Basically, vaper’s tongue is a response to your taste buds and olfactory glands becoming fatigued.  For your senses to pick up on stimuli, they must exert a certain amount of effort.  If you’re constantly exposing your taste buds and olfactory glands to an intense flavor, they’re going to get fatigued after a while and take a break.  This means that they will no longer be able to perceive flavor at all.

It’s important to point out that vaper’s tongue is temporary and tends to go away within 12 hours or so.  It’s not a reason to rush to the emergency room or see a doctor.  Still, that doesn’t mean that it’s not annoying.

Another thing to note about vaper’s tongue is that it’s not the only case of our senses becoming overwhelmed and essentially taking a break from their job of picking up a sensory experience.  In fact, all of our senses are capable of losing the ability to perceive information after they’ve become fatigued by constant exposure to something that requires a lot of effort to process.  For instance, at a concert, your ears may lose the ability to detect unique frequencies because they’ve become exhausted by constant exposure to loud noise.  This happens to a lot of us when we cook as well, as after hours of tasting our dish and smelling it repeatedly, we suddenly can’t perceive the flavor of what we’re eating.

The reason why vaper’s tongue can happen when we vape a CBD e-liquid is because of constant exposure to a particularly strong flavor profile.  If we’re always hitting our vape pen, our taste buds and olfactory glands don’t get a chance to rest, and eventually, they can just give up altogether.  And, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using bottled vape oil, a pre-filled cartridge, or a CBD vape pen.

Can CBD Vaper’s Tongue Be Cured?

Now that you know what vaper’s tongue is, let’s discuss what you can do if it happens to you.  Vaper’s tongue tends to resolve itself on its own, but if you want to get back to vaping as soon as possible, there are some hacks to getting rid of it.  Remember, while there is no "cure" for CBD vaper's tongue in the traditional sense, there are several strategies you can try to alleviate it or prevent it from happening, such as:

1. Taking a Tolerance Break: The most effective way to reduce tolerance is to take a break from using CBD or cannabis-based products. A tolerance break allows your body to reset, and when you start using CBD again, you may experience its effects more strongly.
2. Trying Different Strains or Products: Different strains of cannabis or CBD products can have varying cannabinoid profiles, which can affect your tolerance differently. Experiment with different strains, CBD-to-THC ratios, or delivery methods to see if you can find one that works better for you.
3. Reducing Consumption: If you've been using CBD frequently, consider cutting back on your usage to help reduce tolerance. Use it only when needed rather than on a daily basis.
4. Staying Hydrated: Staying well-hydrated can help improve your taste perception and overall well-being, which may indirectly help with the sensation of vaper's tongue.
5. Cleaning Your Mouth: Brushing your teeth, tongue, and using mouthwash can help remove residue from CBD vape products, potentially improving your ability to taste and detect flavors.
6. Using Flavorless E-Liquids: If the issue is specifically related to the flavors in CBD vape liquids, you can switch to flavorless or unflavored e-liquids.
7. Trying Other Hacks: Other hacks we’ve come across are sucking on a lemon and smelling coffee grinds. Again, it seems that their potential effectiveness has to do with the intensity of the taste or aroma.

Can CBD Vaper’s Tongue Be Prevented?

There are also ways to minimize the chances of experiencing vaper’s tongue.  One thing is avoiding chain-vaping, which stops the senses from having a break.  Another option is to go with flavors that are simpler in nature, such as a single fruit as opposed to a complex dessert with a multitude of flavor notes.

Because vaper’s tongue seems to be caused by constant exposure to particularly strong flavors, it makes sense that these two things could work to prevent it from occurring.  Pay more attention to how often you’re vaping your CBD e-liquid and the flavors that you’re going with.

Prevent CBD Vaper’s Tongue from Becoming a Problem Today!

While CBD vaper’s tongue can be annoying and even unpleasant, it’s almost definitely not a cause for medical concern.  Our senses are a lot more complicated than we give them credit for, and vaper’s tongue is one example of our senses regulating themselves.