Seven Reasons Why Vaping Is Making Your Throat Sore

Published: 23 July 2022
Categories: Blog

Our Parker vape shop is here and always ready to give you some tips! Many of our customers have complained about a sore throat after vaping.

There are a few different reasons that using a vaporizer might make your throat sore. In this article, we’re going to talk you through each of them, so you can understand how to avoid this issue in the future.

Too Much Nicotine in Your eJuice

If you want to fully enjoy vaping, your nicotine strength must be adjusted to what you need. If you don’t have enough nicotine, you won’t be satisfied when you vape.

But if you have too much nicotine, you might not be able to vape to begin with. You’ll end up with a cough or a sore throat.

If vaping feels even harsher than smoking a cigarette, then you need to dial down the nicotine.

eJuice With the Wrong Kind of Nicotine

Brands that make vape juice use two different types of nicotine: nicotine salt and freebase nicotine.

In certain countries, like Canada and the United States, nicotine salt is mostly used for e-liquids that have a higher strength of nicotine. Meanwhile, e-liquids with lower strengths of nicotine usually use freebase nicotine. On the other hand, in Europe and the UK, high-strength eJuices will use both kinds of nicotine.

Because of this, it’s vital to find the kind of nicotine that you enjoy the most. You might discover that freebase nicotine in high strengths makes you cough or gives you a sore throat. If you’re running into that problem, nicotine salt might work for you.

Nicotine salt isn’t as alkaline as freebase nicotine, so most people find it smoother.

Wrong VG/PG Ratio

Vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol are the two bases that e-liquid is made out of.

In your average vape juice bottle, only around up to 15% of the liquid is nicotine or flavor. The remainder is a combination of VG and PG.

These two liquids work a little differently. PG carries flavors better, while VG makes larger vape clouds.

Blends contain both PG and VG because they both have important characteristics that elevate the vaping experience. However, PG has one downside. It makes your throat a little scratchy.

Some people like the feeling and enjoy the throat hit. Other people don’t like it and feel it as soreness.

If PG makes your throat feel uncomfortable, try to look for an e-liquid that has more VG in it. You can even find one that doesn’t have any PG in it at all.

You Just Switched from Smoking to Vaping

Lots of people start vaping as a way to quit smoking or to slowly transition off of smoking. But quite often you’ll cough a lot more frequently when you first stop smoking.

Even if you make a cold-turkey switch from smoking to vaping, you’ll still probably end up with a lot of coughing.

This is because the cilia that reside in your lungs become a lot more active when you’re not smoking anymore. So your lungs try hard to clear out all the tar. That’s why you cough more.

Because of this, you might think you’re coughing from vaping when it’s because you stopped smoking.

Inhaling Vape Juice Incorrectly

Something you need to know when you get a vape kit is whether or not your kit is designed for direct-to-lung or mouth-to-lung inhalation. Check the product description to see what kind of inhalation technique your device needs.

For example, if you have a vape device and you don’t know what the inhalation style is, you could do some serious damage to your lungs by inhaling incorrectly. This is because the airflow dynamics are set up for a specific smoking style.

Buy a device that’s designed for the smoking style you enjoy. In the meantime, adjust your vape’s airflow to loosen or tighten it.

Not Drinking Enough Water While Vaping

VG and PG both trap moisture. This is why vaping can make you feel dehydrated. Dehydration can cause a sore throat, sore mouth, and chapped lips.

It’s important to stay incredibly hydrated while vaping.

Vape Mod Power Too High

One of the main reasons why people get a sore throat from vaping is if they have the power set too high. As an advanced smoker, adjustable power on a mod is really helpful so you can choose exactly what you want your smoke session to be like. However, it’s easy to accidentally set the power too high.

All vape coils have a recommended power range. Brands test the coils to see what power range works best. While you might want to use your tank at a high wattage to generate a huge vape cloud, it’s important to stay within the recommended range or else you’ll probably end up with a sore throat.

Final Thoughts

It comes in handy having a knowledgeable smoke shop in Parker! A good vape shop should have the answers you’re looking for and we very much enjoy educating our customers.

Let’s summarize. Your problems may be:

  • Too much nicotine
  • Wrong kind of nicotine
  • Wrong VG/PG ratio
  • Side effect of quitting smoking
  • Inhaling incorrectly
  • Not drinking enough water
  • Power too high

All of these are easy fixes. The only hard part is figuring out which of these issues is causing the problem! Start with one potential problem at a time and try to eliminate it. By process of elimination, you’ll find your solution in no time.