Hot Jalepeno Hands
As we speak my hands are on fire! I have googled it, called my mom, tried remedies I thought would work, and nothing has helped. How on earth do I get the burning from the jalepeno off my hands? Here is a list of what I have tried so far...
soaking them in milk = very realiving but not a cure...and who can soak their hands in milk all night long?
washing with dish soap = does not realive it
washing with alcohol= does not help
washing with vinegar = does not help
covering hands in sour cream = helps a little but does not cure it
putting aloe vera gel on hands= makes it 100 x worse
trying to wait it out = nearly impossible because it feels like someone is setting my hands on fire or placing them in boiling water!
Any tips?
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25 Comments:
You have my sympathy. I just got my contact lenses back from the eyedoc after a chemical soak to get the stuff off. And this was after just holding some whole habaneros in my bare hand. I was very careful to use gloves when I cut the peppers, but there was enough residue on my hand from just holding the whole peppers to transfer to the lenses when I was cleaning them. My eyes burned like crazy the next day when I put the lenses in, and it took a while for me to mentally backtrack to figure out what was causing the burn. No reaction on my hands at all...so whatever you do, don't touch your eyes or any other sensitive parts or you'll be having even more fun.
Milk products work when you eat peppers, but you've already tried that. You could try scubbing your skin with something a little rougher, like a loofah, but then you're risking making it even worse because you could scrub it off and just redeposit it on skin that even more raw...probably not a good idea.
If you do find something that cools the pain, you might want to consider leaving whatever it is on, and putting gloves on over it, so it can stay on your skin. And you also might want to be wearing gloves overnight so you don't rub your eyes during the night.
In your case, probably the next things I would try would be burn ointments and allergy creams, as well as plain old vaseline.
dbcurrie at 10:52PM on 09/18/08
Thanks so much! I started to get more worried because my hands started to swell and turn red, so I called my brother's g.f. (she's a nurse). She told me to take lots of Benedryl. So I've taken two so far and it seems to work. It's funny because my husband recommended that earlier but it didn't make any sense to me because it was only on my skin..I gave him kidos after talking to her haha. Thanks again!
jenn3250 at 11:03PM on 09/18/08
I don't know why this works for me but try lemon juice, not from a bottle, but fresh lemons (cold). Now as much as possible I where latex sani gloves.
pjracz10 at 1:39AM on 09/19/08
There isn't much that will kill the burn but time, years ago I was cutting up habeneros to dry them for the fall, forgot all about using gloves and ended up calling poison control, all the could recomend was a whole milk and ice bath, it helped a little but I do recomend wearing gloves while your still having issues, not just for some things, use them constantly, untill the fire goes out.
huneybumper at 7:42AM on 09/19/08
I think it's probably too late, since the top layer of skin seems to have been sizzled through - but capsaicin, the active substance that produces the fiery-ness is oil-soluble. I've found that using cooking oil and rubbing it in your hands very thoroughly, like hand lotion (don't forget cuticles and under the nails), and then washing your hands with soap (it takes a lot) and water, rubbing them the same way, will remove nearly all of it, sometimes all. I've only had to do it a second time once. But it needs to be done quickly rather than waiting for 30 minutes or so.
lemons at 10:11AM on 09/19/08
Anything that will break down oil. Lotions, cooking oils, etc. only serve as a carrier for the capsaicin and spread it. When I taught law enforcement classes on the use and decontamination of people srayed with OC foam/spray, the best decontamination options were Dawn (no other detergent is effective), or a mixture of baby shampoo, sugar, and a small amount of water. And lots of cold water. The only reason I can find this not working is if you've washed your hands so much that the skin is dry, and the capsaicin has worked its way into the skin. If that's the case, only time and patience will help.
beth1 at 11:29AM on 09/19/08
I'm glad I read this. It made me realize how important gloves are in future hot pepper endeavors!
Chew on That at 12:04PM on 09/19/08
Wow, what's different about Dawn?
Good to know. When my cat was a kitten, his curiosity overcame him and he played with a slice of jalapeno pepper that fell on the ground while I was cutting them (no gloves - didn't think about it really). He ran into the bathroom and sat facing the corner, foaming at the mouth. I have a puppy now, who knows what kind of trouble she'll get into.
After slicing the peppers, I washed my hands and then later rubbed my eye. Wow did that smart! I kept washing my eyeball out with water. The pain subsided after a couple of minutes, fortunately. My husband, in the meantime, picked the slice of pepper off the floor, washed his hands, and then went to pee. I am sure you can guess what happened...
Cassaendra at 12:32PM on 09/19/08
I heard about the milk, but also try rubbing your hands on stainless steel or something? I dunno, maybe try it if your still having issues.
hungrychristel at 12:56PM on 09/19/08
OMG your poor husband!! I say as I wipe tears from my eyes.
A friend of mine cured her dog of begging for table scraps once and for all by tossing him a slice of pickled jalapeno from her nachos.
I've made the mistake of chopping up peppers and then rubbing my eyes. Now I use gloves and/or my Pampered Chef chopper which doesn't require me actually touching the peppers.
buffy at 1:19PM on 09/19/08
In the future, if you avoid contact with the seeds, you shouldn't have a problem. In the meantime, I sympathize.
LadyMarmalade at 1:47PM on 09/19/08
I've been there. It can be horrible. Stick with the benadryl, and maybe try some Solarcaine spray like you would use for a sunburn. Pop some pain reliever and wait it out. My habanero experience took a week to clear up, but the good news is that it gets a little bit better every day. And you will NEVER have to deal with this again. It's not a mistake one makes twice!
Kerosena at 2:02PM on 09/19/08
Oh, I feel for you. I once seeded and deribbed several pounds of jalepenos with bare hands. My thumb looked like it had chemical burns...which technically it did. Since it's already been quite awhile since the contact occurred, you can only wait for it to heal. I tried everything, including aloe which did seem to make it feel hotter, then butter. Finally I realized, my skin was burned from the peppers and all I could do was wait for it to heal and take some aspirin. Learned my lesson though.
wookie at 2:40PM on 09/19/08
I grow, smoke and dry bhut jolokia peppers ( roughly 200 times hotter a jalapeno --over 1 million Scoville Heat Units) and santaka peppers (400,000 SHU). What works for me is a combination of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish washing soap.
DavidinCT at 7:25PM on 09/20/08
A note on hot pepper seeds:
Seeds themselves are not hot. But because they are attached to the placenta of a pepper, where most of the capsaicinoids are, they pick up heat. Removing the white ribs (the placenta) which run from the top down the sides of a hot pepper will lower the heat level more than removing the seeds. However, when dealing with habenero/bhut jolokia levels of capsaicinoids, it doesn't really make any difference. The entire pepper is drenched in the oils.
DavidinCT at 7:38PM on 09/20/08
I agree with lemons, I've had good luck getting rid of hot pepper hands with a blend of oil and soap washing. First I pour on a blend of oil and soap and scrub well for a few seconds. Then I rinse that off and give my hands a regular soap-and-water wash. The only time it hasn't been helpful was against a very strong Scotch Bonnet!
Mnemosyne at 9:49PM on 09/20/08
This happened to me once. Just my thumb. Since then I went and got penzeys jalapeno ground so I can avoid that ever happening again.
When I use it I take a deep breath measure and then throw the plastic spoon the hell out. I put the jalapenos in the damn food processor if I have to chop fresh ones. Embrace chipotles they come ground, in cans and you don't have to touch them.
I grated cheese to take my burn away. I ran my hands through the grated cheddar and took a motrin.
JerzeeTomato at 9:15AM on 09/21/08
Quite some time ago, and by accident I discovered that dandruff shampoo got rid of the jalapeno oil on my hands.
We did a bucket load of Fresno chilis once - it was like we were wired for about 24 hours - really had us going - boing boing boing boing boing!!! Now it doesn't seem to bother me unless I do huge quantities of peppers then I can feel the burn until I get the dandruff shampoo.
Fanciesmom at 7:22PM on 09/21/08
Hmmm, this is why I keep a box of disposable surgical gloves in my cupboard. I use them for 3 things - really hot peppers, grating beets and chopping massive amounts of garlic.
Cold plain yogurt helps take the sting out though.
chisai at 7:42PM on 09/21/08
Use any remedy above that works for you, but do yourself a favor: DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT get amorous with your SO until all traces of capcasin have been excreted from your skin. If you think your hands are finally free of capcasin, just wait! There's always a little devil laying in wait under that epidermous. Use EXTREME caution when you make contact with those "special areas", whether male or female. Hubby and I Iearned the hard (?) way!
Josdean at 1:38AM on 09/22/08
Jenn, when I worked in the ER, we used to call this problem "Hunan Hand", and it happened more frequently than you can imagine. Fortunately the cure is simple.
You need to make a fairly weak solution of chlorine bleach in water -- a couple of tablespoons to a liter / quart of water -- and wash your hands with it. Repeat once or twice if necessary. The bleach breaks the capsaicin molecule and should stop the burn quite quickly.
Also, strangely enough, contact lens wetting solution will normally have the same result (and is obviously a lot better for dealing with situations when you've rubbed chili juice into your eyes: the bleach solution would be RIGHT OUT in such a case.)
Best -- Diane (EuroCuisineLady)
EuroCuisineLady at 9:46AM on 09/22/08
Ouch, I've been there. Cold plain yogurt or milk will take the initial sting away, then rinsing with a mild solution of hydrogen peroxide and water works for me. And totally concurring with Josdean about capcasin and, er "special areas." Learned that one the 'hard' way, too.
petroushka at 12:19PM on 09/22/08
Sara Moulton once recommended washing hands with a tomato. Worked for me
dmurphy118 at 7:39PM on 09/22/08
Jalapeno isn't even hot to me or my hands at this point. I agree that the best thing I've found is soaking in milk. I've tried the oil thing too and it works pretty well.
For those who aren't used to chiles or capsaicin, use gloves when working with them. At this point, after being a chile-head for over 10 years, I only use gloves when working with Jolokia or Chocolate Habs. Otherwise I am really careful and I cut vertically, then I peel it open and cut out the seeds and ribs. Sometimes I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and ribs without really touching anything in the middle of a pod. I also use gloves when I'm cutting multiple chiles in one session. Otherwise I just use my hands, sans gloves.
RisaG at 9:40PM on 09/22/08
Believe it or not I used Carmex (for chapped lips.) I chopped some jalepenos for pico I tried everyone of the suggestions on this board nothing worked, even the bleach water the nurse had suggested, nothing worked! I had remembered I had gotten some on my lips and I had put carmex on my lips and it had stopped burning, so I put the carmex on and under my finger nails. ( under finger nails was the worst!) The burn felt a little worse at first, but then eased up. by morning the burning was completely gone!
bluizs66 at 12:19PM on 11/15/08