Pepper burn: don't do this!

[NJCher]

I was making jalapeno poppers for the party on Sat. No neophyte in the kitchen, I wore gloves (latex gloves--the kind medical people wear). I had a lot of peppers--maybe 2 dozen.

Cut off the stems, opened them up, and hollowed them out by cutting out the seeds, etc., mostly by using a paring knife and holding the pepper in my left hand.

I started to feel a burning after awhile, but disregarded it because I was wearing gloves.

Having completed the job, I threw the gloves away and washed my hands. I expected no problem. However, I had the worst pepper burn! I was afraid I'd get no sleep at all.

Needless to say, my technique wasn't the best. In some cases, I was literally holding the gland of the pepper in the area between my thumb and forefinger and sometimes I even used my (again, gloved) forefinger to help scrape out the seeds.



'Round about 1:45 a.m., I was trying every internet remedy out there and not a one of them worked: soak affected area in milk, use vaseline, soap and water, burn medications (that actually made it worse).

What was interesting was that most people who complained of this problem used no gloves. I used gloves and still had a pepper burn.

I did notice that an ice block helped and so that is how I went to sleep--holding on to one of those frozen blocks one uses in an ice chest. In fact, this is a terrific way to stay cool, so I'll be using this technique again, regardless of any capsaican burn.

If I had it to do over again, I'd wear thicker gloves, despite the fact this would limit agility. In addition, I'd hold the pepper down on a plate with tongs and I would use a grapefruit spoon to scrape out the pepper.

I would limit handling them as much as possible with my hands.

This morning I'm much better but relief only came around 9 a.m.


Cher

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. I am growing some of the true heat monsters - Trinidad Scorpion and more - best solution

If I get the capsacin on my hands (which often happens) I've found bleach works best (I know, it is kind of nasty) - the bleach wipes or spray - just wash your hands briefly in a bleach solution, rinse, then lots of soap and water - best thing I've found for helping.

One year I saved seeds from over 50 different hot pepper types, without gloves. Wasn't too careful. All sorts of problems ensued (waking up in the middle of the night to pee - instead ended up having to stand in the shower for awhile....nuff said)

[Warpy]

7. Bleach is largely lye, which is why it feels slippery on your hands

so come up with another solution*, please. Soap and water does just as well if repeated a few times. Capsaicin is oil soluble and soaps are specially designed to affix to oil so the whole business can be sent down the drain.




*Yes, I see what I did there.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. thanks. I guess as an organic chemist for many years, I developed a tolerance for

nasty stuff on my hands, on occasion (so happy those days are behind me!).

Very clever, by the way!

[hobbit709]

11. That is what is known amongst us chile-heads as "The Hunan Hand"

[NJCher]

13. Perfect name for it!

Even alliterative, for an English teacher.


Cher

p.s. NRaleighLiberal, I did run across bleach as a solution, but it's a carcinogen, so I kind of didn't want to try that, even briefly. I don't even have any in my house; I use borax for whitening.

[Aerows]

19. :drool: Trinidad Scorpions

Yummy

[Goblinmonger]

2. I would guess you likely put a really small cut in the gloves

They should have worked. From what I have read, the vasoline is a preventative move. You put it on before you work with the peppers to provide a barrier between your hands and the oil of the pepper.

Sorry that happened to you. At least you didn't wipe your eyes (done that), your nose (done that), or more sensitive regions down south (dear lord, done that and it ain't pretty).

[justhanginon]

3. I make a lot of jalapeno and serrano poppers

over the summer and I have found that the small end of a melon baller works well for me in deseeding them. I usually just glove my left hand and try not to touch the pepper with my right. If they are large I usually leave them whole and deseed them from the top with a grapefruit knife. Labor intensive but I am retired so ...... Still get some sting but not as bad as what you had. It is miserable I know.
I grew some habaneros and they are not to be trifled with. I cut them open, hold them down with a fork and deseed and chop them without ever touching them. I like them chopped rather finely and put sparingly in cornbread muffins. Makes them zippy!

[mopinko]

4. nitrile gloves work the best.

a tomato shark also is a great little tool if you can find one. just like a half teaspoon size scooper with teeth.

i have done worse things with pepper juice on my hands.

[cbayer]

5. I once got some really bad pepper stuff under my fingernails.

I ended up having to cut my nails down to the quick.

Now I try to limit my exposure to peppers that just aren't that hot. I like hot, but I have no need for scalding.

I don't wear gloves at all. In fact, I would wonder if the gloves didn't cause some kind of concentration of the capsaican that caused your burns.

Anyway, just thank the stars that you didn't touch your eyes or any other particularly sensitive parts of yourself, if you know what I mean.

[Warpy]

6. Gadzooks! You must be especially susceptible to capsaicin

because my own technique is to lop off the top of the pepper, cut it in half, then scrape the seeds out with a demitasse spoon (don't look at me like that, the family thieves had class). If I'm doing jalapenos rellenos, I cut enough of a slit to get said spoon in to scrape out the seeds. I do all this with bare hands and just wash after I'm done with the prep. Then I wash during whatever cooking I'm doing and again after I eat whatever it is while I'm doing the dishes. Note that I don't have a dishwasher.

At that point I can even rub my eyes with only a slight tingle.

Pepper "burn" isn't a real burn, it's the action of capsaicin on pain receptors. Burn remedies just plain don't work because there is no tissue degradation, although it can feel like you're being skinned with a dull knife. You can rub capsaicin in your eyes without harming your vision, it's been done by cops who get their jollies torturing handcuffed environmental activists.

Milk can help. Ice can help. Vinegar can help. Soap and water will eventually remove it.

[NJCher]

14. would never have known that

Pepper "burn" isn't a real burn, it's the action of capsaicin on pain receptors. Burn remedies just plain don't work because there is no tissue degradation, although it can feel like you're being skinned with a dull knife.

Interesting. Now how would you know a thing like that?! I looked all over for info and didn't turn that up. It explains a lot, though. For example, what I said above about how the burn treatments actually made it worse.




Cher

[Warpy]

15. Capsaicin is also used as a medication

and I'm a retired RN.

[NJCher]

16. OK, that helps

Retired RN.

I regularly use it for pain relief but somehow adding more capsaicin didn't seem like the ideal solution that night!


Cher

[cbayer]

17. Have you watched Orange is the New Black.

Great show and there is a sub-plot in there about capsaicin as a medicine.

[japple]

8. Get a tube of Lidocaine Plus at the pharmacy. It's OTC and helps lots of

things including severe itching, bug stings/bites (fire ants!!) and burns.

[hobbit709]

10. Peppers never bother me.

I cut them up barehanded all the time. The wimpiest peppers I use are serranos. When cooking stir-fry I usually use Thai bird peppers, sometimes Habaneros if I'm the only one eating.
Once in a while I forget that I've been cutting peppers and rub my eyelid. That usually stings a little and tears me up for about five minutes.
But then people tell me I'm weird anyway.

[dem in texas]

20. Yes, I am the same way, they don;t bother me.

I thought maybe I have built a tolerance to them, I chop jalapeno and Serrano's with my bare hands all the time. I do put them on a chopping board when I cut them, I never bother removing the seeds and membranes unless I am going to stuff them, like Jalapeno poppers. I did grow some False Alarm jalapenos in my garden one year, just to try a mild Jalapeno. They were okay, but I like them hotter.

[grasswire]

12. pickle juice

It worked for me.

And I wonder if mustard would work for pepper burn. I have found it useful for small heat burns.

[jambo101]

18. wonder what this guy did for relief//

Raw Habanero/.

[link:

|

[DavidG_WI]

21. A prime example of

Weak Kung-Fu. OP is guilty of this as well as I can gnaw on scotch bonnets and chocolate habeneros like they're chewing gum.

[Trillo]

22. Try Nitrile gloves. My procedure for handling hot peppers....

I wash, rinse, dry, then oil my hands with cooking oil, let it sit and soak into the skin pores for about a minute, then dip my hands into dishwashing water which has a small amount of detergent, this removes the excess oil, while leaving oil in the "valleys" of the finger skin. Then, I handle my peppers, which includes jalapeno and habanero among others, slicing as desired. When I'm done, first I wash my hands with hand soap, shampoo is what I use, then re-oil my hands. Wash again with shampoo, rinse, dry, then dip my hands in rubbing alcohol, letting them soak for a minute or so. That removes all the oils, including natural skin oils. Afterward, to remoisturize the skin, I use cooking oil again, then a final wash with hand soap (shampoo).

The volatiles, capsaicin I believe, are oil based, and the procedure above removes most all of the residue on the hands. The cooking oil acts as a dilutant, and the rubbing alcohol acts as a solvent.

For external exposure, bathing the mucous membrane surfaces that have contacted capsaicin with oily compounds such as vegetable oil, paraffin oil, petroleum jelly (Vaseline), creams, or polyethylene glycol is the most effective way to attenuate the associated discomfort;[citation needed] since oil and capsaicin are both hydrophobic hydrocarbons the capsaicin that has not already been absorbed into tissues will be picked up into solution and easily removed. Capsaicin can also be washed off the skin using soap, shampoo, or other detergents. Plain water is ineffective at removing capsaicin,[44] as are bleach, sodium metabisulfite and topical antacid suspensions.[citation needed] Capsaicin is soluble in alcohol, which can be used to clean contaminated items.[44]

I don't like gloves when I'm handlling a sharp chefs knife, so prefer the washing-oiling-alcohol procedure. However, I do know there are disposable gloves made from different plastics, it seems in your case the oil in the peppers was able to penetrate through the gloves, suggesting you need a different type of plastic glove. I'm thinking you want a nitrile glove.

[NJCher]

23. thanks!

Appreciate the detailed instructions. I have already tried some of the suggestions on this page and will try yours, too.

If I'd known some of these things, I wouldn't have had such an uncomfortable experience.

I hope others on the internet benefit from the info on this thread, too, and I know DU threads turn up on a Google search. Believe me, when you are hurting like that at that time of night, Google is often your only friend.


Cher