Adenoids Affecting Pipe Smoking?

[molach95]

Hi there, I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this but I wanted to run a question past you guys. Would the adenoids (or lack thereof) have an effect on tasting tobacco?
I ask because I had mine removed at a young age along with my tonsils and I sometimes find I can't taste things as well as other people; I always describe it as tasting things in 2D while others seem to be able to taste in 3D. If I smoke a pipe I always need to retrohale constantly to get any clear flavour as I can't get very much at all from just having the smoke in my mouth or on the aftertaste. I tend to like strong tasting tobacco for that reason e.g. lakelands, Condor, 1792 flake and so on because it's easiest for me to taste. I also enjoy nasal snuff and again I seem to need to take quite large pinches to get much flavour.
It's not a problem for me, this is all I've known, but I was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.

 

[bluto]

Anybody got hemorroids, ´cause that would be bad too ..

 

[piper64]

Al least you could use your check tool if they got itchy bluto :rofl:

 

[haparnold]

I'm texting my brother (an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor) to ask now. I'll let you know what he says.

 

[bluto]

I once knew a guy who didn’t know prep H was a suppository
It really tasted weird

 

[molach95]

@bluto Haemorrhoids? That depends on what end you're smoking from. That's a pretty novel technique though, I'll give you that; I mean, I've heard of the "breath method" but...
@Hap Arnold Wow that's great, thank you so much!

 

[crashthegrey]

Your brother hasn't gotten back to us yet? Geez, it's like he has an important job or something. I am definitely curious about his reply.

 

[olkofri]

@bluto Haemorrhoids? That depends on what end you're smoking from. That's a pretty novel technique though, I'll give you that; I mean, I've heard of the "breath method" but...

...never about the 'butt method'?

 

[haparnold]

Your brother hasn't gotten back to us yet? Geez, it's like he has an important job or something. I am definitely curious about his reply.

Right?! I tell him all the time how inconsiderate it is to not text me back right away just because he's busy with something trivial like surgery. :lol:

 

[bluto]

Texting while suturing , bad form .

 

[haparnold]

Ok, so big brother says adenoid surgery shouldn't affect your sense of taste. Here's a couple of thoughts from yours truly (who is on no way a medical professional, beyond earning my First Aid merit badge in the Boy Scouts many moons ago):
1. Having a very sophisticated sense of taste is, like most other attributes, a mixture of genetics and work. Some people are born with a very sensitive palate, and some people aren't, just as some are born with the ability to do math, and others have to work hard at it.
2. It's easy to read tobacco reviews that say things like "based on the spicy top-notes of this blend, I can tell the Burley was grown on the north slope of a hill in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and harvested by a left-handed farmer" and feel inferior for not getting that sort of complexity out of a blend. Some of this is innate, and some of it comes from years of work to develop a taste for tobacco. Just because guys like JimInks taste things I never will doesn't mean I can't enjoy tobacco too. Don't feel like you have to have a sensitive palate to be a 'real' smoker.

 

[npod]

Adenoids (tonsils, lymph nodes, etc) have no effect on taste. Having them removed would not effect your ability to sense flavor in tobacco. Interestingly, smell is involved with perceived taste. Although most of us don’t think of it in this way, the related senses of taste and smell help us interpret the chemical world. This is especially important for pipes and cigars. And smell definitely waxes as we age.
Oh, and hemorrhoids, definitely not involved in taste. But interesting fact, hemorrhoid tissue can indeed absorb tobacco and nicotine!

 

[transpose]

Oh, and hemorrhoids, definitely not involved in taste. But interesting fact, hemorrhoid tissue can indeed absorb tobacco and nicotine!

So let’s say someone elected to get their nicotine hit via hemorrhoid tissue, which type of tobacco would be the least irritating? Something like a chunk of Virginia Flake with some age on it? A goopy aro? Or am I way off track here and it’s more of a soothing smokey English blend?

 

[olkofri]

Fully concur with Hap Arnold. Personally, I was endowed with a very sensitive and discriminating sense of smell; I'm easily bothered by smells that hardly ever bother other people, and not even when I have a cold do I lose my sense of smell.
Note that taste or smell or any other sensorial thing is probably gonna be affected if the nerves carrying sensorial signals are messed up with.

 

[mso489]

Just an aside, but tonsil and adenoid removal was a standard remedy for childhood health problems in the 1940's and 50's, but went out of fashion and favor and now is relatively infrequent, maybe because antibiotics solved a lot of the problems addressed by the surgery. There was a similar flurry of retinal detachment repairs in the 1990's, and while that is no joke and critical when needed, I think it was done a lot simply because the means became available. Medical trends weave in and out of practice, sometimes for the benefit of the patient, and sometimes not. I hope you had the benefit when your adenoids were removed.

 

[jaytex1969]

So let’s say someone elected to get their nicotine hit via hemorrhoid tissue, which type of tobacco would be the least irritating?

 

[eddiegrob]

I salute the OT as a true pipe smoker. You wrote your concern as adenoids affecting pipe smoking, not the other way around. I share your sense of prioritizing here. :worship:

 

[crashthegrey]

So let’s say someone elected to get their nicotine hit via hemorrhoid tissue, which type of tobacco would be the least irritating?

Asking for a friend I am sure.