Smoking Through Tongue Bite?

[anotherbob]

You know how to tell if it's tongue bite? Nothing tastes right for a little bit. If that's happening why would you even want to waste the tobacco. It's been a long time since I've had tongue bite but when I did one thing that was very noticeable was that smoking made it worse. I'd let it rest. The idea of smoking through it really is as silly as asking if you should keep picking your scabs off. It's really about the same idea. If you've ever cut your mouth or tongue one thing you'll notice is how quickly it heals, which should give you an idea that it's a semi serious injury if it takes a few days to heal.

 

[jmg81]

Wow, overwhelming consensus except manly @hawky454. Guess i wont be smoking anymore this weekend. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[sablebrush52]

Tongue bite? What's that?

 

[hawky454]

You know how to tell if it's tongue bite? Nothing tastes right for a little bit. If that's happening why would you even want to waste the tobacco. It's been a long time since I've had tongue bite but when I did one thing that was very noticeable was that smoking made it worse. I'd let it rest. The idea of smoking through it really is as silly as asking if you should keep picking your scabs off. It's really about the same idea. If you've ever cut your mouth or tongue one thing you'll notice is how quickly it heals, which should give you an idea that it's a semi serious injury if it takes a few days to heal.

I don’t agree with that analogy at all. It’s like when the tips of your fingers hurt when you first start playing guitar, you need to play through the pain to build up calluses, if you stopped to rest every time your fingers hurt you’d never build up the necessary calluses that it takes to really be a good guitar player.

OP, just do what you think is best, I’m sure you’ll find the way, regardless what path you chose. I smoke through it, if that’s silly well goddamnit, I’m just plain silly then. It’s very subjective, what I consider tongue bite could be excruciating pain for someone else, I dunno. Just do what you think is best for YOU.

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

Some stuff nips my tongue but it's fine within an hour so maybe I don't know bite as you do. It's kind of fun, like testing a 9 volt. Life is full of experiences, collect them all.

Hawky, when I first started playing bass I pushed through the blisters too, now my tongue is like leather...

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I believe there are three kinds of tongue bite, heat, chemical and allergic. If you've scaled your tongue from heat, not sure you could, or should, smoke your way through that. With the later two, it may be possible to condition your tongue. I suffer the chemical one from time to time. I'll smoke through it by avoiding VaOr and smoking more blends such as Old Dark Fired, Bold Kentucky and a few others that don't seem to bite me at all. Seems to work. If I smoke 5 bowls or less per day, I don't seem to have issues. 6 or more though, particularly if there's a couple of bowls of VaOr, can make my mouth tender.

If, like some, I smoked a bowl or two per day, I can't imagine ever having a problem.

 

[jmg81]

Thanks for the info @hoosierpipeguy . Wasnt aware of the 3 types of bite. Mine is def from heat. I can still taste food and baccy, to an extent but i know the feeling of when my tongue burned.

@hawky454 when i first asked this question, that was my train of thought exactly. To power through and build up calluses, per se. I'll wimp out and give it a rest for now. But if this happens again, my tongue be damned.

 

[mordy18]

I would imagine that oral cancer is pretty horrific. We all take that chance when we smoke. As my dentist said, you are playing Russian roulette. But seems to me it is especially foolhardy to keep doing something when your body is telling you there is a problem. Personally, I stop completely whenever I feel any discomfort and wait for that to go away and also try to smoke in moderation.

 

[Casual]

Hawky, when I first started playing bass I pushed through the blisters too, now my tongue is like leather...

I find this analogy useful, but in the opposite direction. When you get blisters from the bass, if you let them heal rather than bursting them by playing further, you get a thicker layer of callus faster. By bursting them you have a longer time healing and lose many layers of skin that would have formed callus.

 

[boston]

This hobby should not require an investment in pain. I used to play guitar and that's different, as is exercise (often but not always). Yes, finding the right tobacco that is scarce and spending $$ may be "a pain" for some. (G)

Your tongue is arguably quite important, and I've never heard of beneficial tongue calluses, or tongue conditioning, or things of that sort. If your body does not like this hobby...that's a signal. Slow down, change tobacco, and if those things fail...sell the pipes and take up guitar...

 

[BROBS]

You know how to tell if it's tongue bite? Nothing tastes right for a little bit. If that's happening why would you even want to waste the tobacco. It's been a long time since I've had tongue bite but when I did one thing that was very noticeable was that smoking made it worse. I'd let it rest. The idea of smoking through it really is as silly as asking if you should keep picking your scabs off. It's really about the same idea. If you've ever cut your mouth or tongue one thing you'll notice is how quickly it heals, which should give you an idea that it's a semi serious injury if it takes a few days to heal.

Agree. I seared my tongue and every blend tasted salty. It was quite odd.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My tongue is like a hard cured leather belt with bits if glass, and steel wool stuck in it. No complaints from Mrs Cosmic...

But really, when I started drying my tobaccos, I never really have bite any more. Of course, my tongue gets taxed from smoking too much sometimes, but that can happen with chain smoking cigars also.

 

[anotherbob]

I don’t agree with that analogy at all. It’s like when the tips of your fingers hurt when you first start playing guitar, you need to play through the pain to build up calluses, if you stopped to rest every time your fingers hurt you’d never build up the necessary calluses that it takes to really be a good guitar player.

OP, just do what you think is best, I’m sure you’ll find the way, regardless what path you chose. I smoke through it, if that’s silly well goddamnit, I’m just plain silly then. It’s very subjective, what I consider tongue bite could be excruciating pain for someone else, I dunno. Just do what you think is best for YOU.

not quite like that. For one thing if you smoke through the bite you're just going to continue with poor smoking technique. Also the tongue doesn't grow calluses. It's more like forcing yourself to play through wrist strain instead of improving how one holds the instrument..

 

[saltedplug]

Pipe smokers love to smoke, but when your tongue shows wear, just stop. Why repeat the act that caused the injury?

 

[brian64]

Thanks for the info @hoosierpipeguy . Wasnt aware of the 3 types of bite. Mine is def from heat. I can still taste food and baccy, to an extent but i know the feeling of when my tongue burned.

@hawky454 when i first asked this question, that was my train of thought exactly. To power through and build up calluses, per se. I'll wimp out and give it a rest for now. But if this happens again, my tongue be damned.

If you're certain it's from "heat" then this is due to poor technique. The answer is not to "power through" (imo there is no such thing) but to address the cause of the problem...because "tongue bite" should really never happen.

I struggled with it for quite a while due to ignorance of what I was doing that was causing it. As Cosmic mentioned, drying the tobacco is one of the most important issues...primarily because multiple relights are often the cause of bite. Also, when lighting, keep the flame a little above the chamber...and again, wet tobacco is difficult to light in this manner, so you end up applying the flame more aggressively.

Dryer tobacco will also stay lit without constantly drawing in through the mouth when smoking. I normally only intentionally draw in through my mouth when first lighting up and then only occasional sips after that. The rest of the time I just breath through my nose and this should be sufficient to create enough draw into the mouth without any "puffing" on the pipe.

 

[samuelgawith01]

Give the old tongue a break.I used to smoke through some horrific bite back in the day,but no more .?