This is a thread dedicated to the discussion, symptoms, types and possible remedies for Tongue Bite. First off let me say that I'm certainly no expert. I'm not even sure I could be called a newbie yet, in pipe smoking. I also want to say that any information I contribute has not been verified for accuracy. I would not call myself a person who has AD problems as far as hardware. I own a few razors, soaps, blades AS and pens, ink and so on. I would however say that I have information Ad. If something happens to me or I'm interested in something, I try to gain as much knowledge as possible. That's where this thread comes in. I would like to share some information that I've come across and learn from all of you, so that others may find this as a semi one stop shop on the subject. Like I said, this is something that's new to me and if I'm presenting false information, please correct me.
As some of you know, I just took up pipe smoking. The very first bowl I smoked gave me what I now know to be tongue bite. I didn't know anything about it so I decided to research the subject. These are some of the things that have been said by others;
There are two basic types of tongue bite. There's the temperature, or physical kind and there's the chemical tongue bite. I believe in my case, I had the second or chemical kind of bite. This is based on the fact that I never felt the tobacco get "hot" temperature wise. I've had hotter smoke from a cigarette before.
Temperature tongue bite: This occurs when one either puffs too hard or frequently, on the pipe, and gets a physical burn to the tongue or mouth. it's also been said that steam, from the moisture either in the tobacco or introduced through saliva getting into the stem, can cause this type of burn. There are some methods I will discuss later that may help prevent this.
Chemical Tongue bite: This one is a little more complicated. There are many factors that go into whether one will get a chemical bite. some factors are:
-What is in the tobacco and/ or smoke: When the smoke is ignited, it will combust and release certain chemicals specific to the blend, specific tobacco and brand.
-Ones own body chemistry: Each one of us is different, to a certain extent, when it comes to sensitivity to smoke and chemicals associated with it. We have slight differences in the makeup of our saliva and sensitivity of the skin in our mouth. Our bodies have a PH level of 7.4. Some people might be slightly higher or lower and this may affect how they react to certain chemicals. The Ph level of the tobacco can have an effect as well. For example: I've heard that some burleys and virginias have a Ph in the 4.5 range, which put them in the acidic range, while Latakia for example has a Ph range in the 8-8.5 range. This along with our own saliva Ph have different effects on irritation.
In the end, I believe that this is a YMMV situation because it affects each of us differently.
Some of the remedies I've come across are as follows:
Temperature bite:
-Using a filter can help prevent the moisture from getting to your mouth
-Running a pipe cleaner down the stem to the bottom of the bowl, Periodically while smoking can also soak up some of the moisture. ( for filterless pipes )
- Smoking slower and drawing less hard will help
Chemical bite:
- You may be susceptible to certain blends, specific types of tobacco, specific brand of certain types and so on. Chemical Bite may be unavoidable with certain types or brands etc.
- experiment with different types of tobacco and blends to see if you can find what works and what doesn't. One specific type of tobacco may work for you in one brand but not in another and so on.
My hand is hurting from typing LOL, so I think I will say, to be continued. I'm going to try and document my way through this and hopefully help some others with their problems.
I'm very interested in learning from all of you as well, I'm sure there are some of you that know a lot more, about this subject, than me.
As some of you know, I just took up pipe smoking. The very first bowl I smoked gave me what I now know to be tongue bite. I didn't know anything about it so I decided to research the subject. These are some of the things that have been said by others;
There are two basic types of tongue bite. There's the temperature, or physical kind and there's the chemical tongue bite. I believe in my case, I had the second or chemical kind of bite. This is based on the fact that I never felt the tobacco get "hot" temperature wise. I've had hotter smoke from a cigarette before.
Temperature tongue bite: This occurs when one either puffs too hard or frequently, on the pipe, and gets a physical burn to the tongue or mouth. it's also been said that steam, from the moisture either in the tobacco or introduced through saliva getting into the stem, can cause this type of burn. There are some methods I will discuss later that may help prevent this.
Chemical Tongue bite: This one is a little more complicated. There are many factors that go into whether one will get a chemical bite. some factors are:
-What is in the tobacco and/ or smoke: When the smoke is ignited, it will combust and release certain chemicals specific to the blend, specific tobacco and brand.
-Ones own body chemistry: Each one of us is different, to a certain extent, when it comes to sensitivity to smoke and chemicals associated with it. We have slight differences in the makeup of our saliva and sensitivity of the skin in our mouth. Our bodies have a PH level of 7.4. Some people might be slightly higher or lower and this may affect how they react to certain chemicals. The Ph level of the tobacco can have an effect as well. For example: I've heard that some burleys and virginias have a Ph in the 4.5 range, which put them in the acidic range, while Latakia for example has a Ph range in the 8-8.5 range. This along with our own saliva Ph have different effects on irritation.
In the end, I believe that this is a YMMV situation because it affects each of us differently.
Some of the remedies I've come across are as follows:
Temperature bite:
-Using a filter can help prevent the moisture from getting to your mouth
-Running a pipe cleaner down the stem to the bottom of the bowl, Periodically while smoking can also soak up some of the moisture. ( for filterless pipes )
- Smoking slower and drawing less hard will help
Chemical bite:
- You may be susceptible to certain blends, specific types of tobacco, specific brand of certain types and so on. Chemical Bite may be unavoidable with certain types or brands etc.
- experiment with different types of tobacco and blends to see if you can find what works and what doesn't. One specific type of tobacco may work for you in one brand but not in another and so on.
My hand is hurting from typing LOL, so I think I will say, to be continued. I'm going to try and document my way through this and hopefully help some others with their problems.
I'm very interested in learning from all of you as well, I'm sure there are some of you that know a lot more, about this subject, than me.
