[NOTE: this post, describing an accident involving jalapeno peppers, has attracted a huge number of comments. See below. And please add your own thoughts as we seek a cure for this strange affliction!]
I received the following email from a good friend who I’ll call CD. He lives in the Washington, DC area. He sends along this cautionary tale about a cooking experience gone horribly wrong. His story is by turns frightening and hilarious. Enjoy.
Dude, I got a great story for you that I’ll try to relay in this message. Friday night S and I went over to J and C’s. I was going to help C prepare for a catering gig he had on Saturday. So we get there and start boozing and hanging out. We eat dinner and then begin the process of prepping for the catering gig.
Well, one step in the catering cooking process was to roast a 5-pound bag of jalapeno peppers on the grill and then remove the skins and de-seed them. Like what you’d do with a roasted red pepper. Well, at about 10:30pm I belly up to the table outside with all the peppers and start going to town. An hour later, I had peeled all 5 pounds worth….the catch is that I did it with no gloves.
At about mid-night S and I leave and I start complaining that my hands are burning. Not terribly, but a bit of fire. An hour later, we are back at S’s and it really sets in. Pain like I have never felt. Unbelievable, extreme, terrible, super harsh burning pain in both hands and even a little ways up both arms. It was like I had burnt both hands in a fire.
Now, I have to set the time frame so you can get the full affect of how long this pain lasted….it was at about 1am Saturday morning when I really began to realize i was in some trouble. At about 2:30am I woke S up and said I needed help (she had been asleep for about an hour). She got on the Internet and looked up how to stop jalapeno burn. She called two emergency rooms and even a number of “ask the nurse” hotlines. Nothing. At about 3:30am I was in so much pain i was rolling around on the floor almost yelling. By that time I had dipped both hands in milk, olive oil, vegetable oil, yogurt, oatmeal, water with baking soda, a bleach water mix, aloe and even mineral oil. Nothing helped.
At one point, I had both hands covered in aloe, a wet wash cloth on each and my hands in two huge bags that were filled with ice and water. That did not even help. at about 5am S calls my doctor at his emergency number. He says to get in the car and go to the emergency rooms at GW. So, we get in the car and I ride with my hands out the window to let the wind somewhat cool them down.
I check in with the front desk and am taken back to some ER room at about 6am. Now, realize that I am SO embarrassed at this point. Everyone in there is looking at me like I am a freak. They even wrote on the ER board where they identify what is ailing a patient “CD, jalapeno hands.” It was funny as hell.
Once I am in my little holding room they give me a shot a morphine, which by the way does nothing to ease the pain. Damn good high, but nothing for the pain. After the morphine they give me a shot of something stronger which also does nothing for the pain. I even got a shot of straight benedryl because they thought I might be having an allergic reaction. Needless to say, nothing works for the pain. They debated admitting me at one point. They also talked about putting me on some IV of pain killers.
Finally, after being there for about 3 hours, they tell me to go home and basically just wait out the pain. They did give me a prescription for some really strong pain killers.
Well, to get to the end….the pain finally lessoned to where I could take it on Saturday night at about 6pm. I was basically in a living hell for like 18 hours. Even today (Monday morning) I still feel a burning in both hands. If I scratch any part of my body, it immediately starts to burn. I can just bump into something and even that little bit of contact sets off a slight burn. And get this, my feet have this low grade burn from walking on them. That’s how much of the jalapeno oil got into my body.
{ 348 comments… read them below or add one }
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i’m a med student and granted we still pretty much know nothing… but i’ve NEVER felt pain like this, nor felt more lost on how to make it stop. I was just about to wake someone up to take me to the ER and i’ve literally never gone to the ER before in my life (knock on wood) when I decided to google this instead.
My story: cutting jalapenos and I guess I really roughed up one of my hands cooking dinner … its been buring for 7 hours now. I also had the intelligence to rub my eye before the pain set in before I had washed my hands… and let me say… i’d take the burning eye over my hand anyday. The eye burn went away in 3 hours.. I took a piece of a paper towel, soaked it in milk, and wrapped it around an ice cube and held that to my eye.. i was also doing this with the hand that also got the burn on it so I didn’t notice until my eye got better that my hand kept burning. so for four more hours I kept holding the ice cube milk combo thingy and it would hold off the pain but if i took it off for second it would come back. finally it got so bad without the cube that i thought my finger tips were going to fall off.. so I looked up remedies and tried to wash my hand under hot water with dishwashing soap.. the pain was a 10/10 and this brought it down to an 8/10 so at least i didn’t feel like I needed to go to the hospital.then people kept writing try rubbing alcohol, windex, etc – dont have any of that stuff so found some NAIL POLISH REMOVER WITH ACETONE and its so much better than the ice. the pain is so much less now.. probably a 3 or a 4.. i can type with the hand and I just keep dabbing my hand on the cotton every few minutes.. and it SEEMS like its steadily decreasing.. i’m hoping this keeps it at bay enough for me to fall asleep considering I have to be awake in 4 hours.
I just traumatized a five year old. I was cutting thai chillies and jalapenos to freeze. My husband sprayed the child with sunscreen to swim in the pool, but didn’t do her face. I washed my hands briefly and proceeded to put zinc oxide on her face and rub it around. Immediate misery and crying. We tried everything–lemon, heavy cream, and ice. After about a half hour she stopped crying, but I was a wreck. Cortizone 10 Ointment and AfterBite(insect stick) have lessened the stinging on my hands considerably.
These stories are hilarious because they sound just like my experience. I was cutting up a jalepeno for a soup that I was making. I have cut up peppers in the past with no problem so I thought nothing of wearing gloves. I cut and de seeded the jalepeno, made the soup and was fine…until about 2 hours later when my thumb strangely started to burn. I had cut my fingernail earlier so I thought maybe some lime juice had gotten under my cuticle. I washed my hands but it only got worse. Then all of the sudden the pain spread to the both my hands and now they were both ON FIRE! The pain was like nothing I had ever felt before. I tried milk, soap, cold water, burn spray medication we had here, oil. Nothing was working. The pain got so bad I started thinking I had gotten some poison oak in the backyard. I asked my boyfriend if he had seen any. I grow a garden and had pulled some ivy from growing on my tomato plant so I thought that must be it. Lol. I couldn’t fathom that a damn jalepeno could cause so much pain! The pain spread up past my wrists and lasted for about 4 hours and I really thought I was going to have to go to a doctor if it didn’t stop soon. Finally after I washed my hands about 30 times in several types of soap it got better. All this from one! I can’t imagine the pain some of these people below who were working with pounds of them! Ferocious little things. But it is pretty funny to read that I am not the first person to google ‘jalepeno hands’
Shay K.
I’m so thankful for this blog! I decided to make my delicious guacamole last night. The adventure started around five pm, when I decided to seed the jalapenos, bare handed. All was well and the guac was a big hit. Around ten pm I started complaining that my hands were tingly and slightly irritated. By midnight my hands were feeling hot, but I somehow managed to fall asleep. At three am I woke up and my hands felt as though they were on fire! I searched the internet and tried the vinegar, salt, baking soda and aloe. At six am, I rushed to the store for milk and yogurt. the milk helped as long as they were submerged. I’m at a point now where I can keep them exposed to air for about 15 minutes. As I type, my left hand feels as though it’s sitting on an open fire. Another 30 minute milk soak and I’m off to get mylanta!
Hi, my wife had this pepper burn last night and we tried everything – lemon juice, vinegar, dish soap, mylanta, window cleaning spray, gum paint. The thing that worked best was Aloe (or Aloe Vera) Gel. First application lasted half hour and second was able to get her thru night.
I eat and handle jalepenos all the time. Yesterday, I was making salsa & cut up only 3 jalepenos and shortly after my fingers were burning so intensely it was scary. My boyfriend & I tried everything – milk, oatmeal, lemon, alcohol with aspirin, coffee grounds, butter, cucumber, sugar, tobacco (works really well for stings), baking soda, ice. My boyfriend called his Mom who then called her friend who is 90 & has all kinds of cures for many ails & she said SOAK IN VINEGAR DILUTED WITH WATER, I only had apple cider vinegar & IT WORKED. Till I found the cure the only relief I found was cold running water.
vinegar is workin now. when i read this i remembered my mom using this for sunburn
my cousin has her hands in ice water constantly so she cant type, I want her to try the ” pee ” solution (LOL) because nothing has worked so far (eggs,acetone,milk,mustard,dawn,salt etc.)….. me i would head for the liquor store , wine is my drink of choice maybe i would get a shot of tequila to go with the jalepenos , alcohol numbs me and wear glov es next time… her salsa was very good.
wash your hands with rubbing alcohol to get all the oil off. Soak hands (affected area) in a baking soda and milk paste for at least 30mins, and the pain will start to slightly go away. cold water afterwards when needed. motrin for pain. 15 hrs later, good as new!!
Ha Ha Ha I really should not laugh. It hurts like heck! I have doused my hands in Bikini Zone creme, It is a top-ical analgesic for irritated skin from shaving in the bikini area. The active ingredient is lidocaine. Whew! Lesson learned, gloves next time.
This has been a painful learning experience. Unfortunately this article being the first hit on my google search did NOT help! heh…I dipped my hands in a banking soda paste, let it sit, then washed it off with cold water. Repeated 3x. Then I used an over the counter after-burn remedy. The pain kept coming back in waves for awhile but now (2 hours later) it’s a lot better. I was only chopping one jalapeno though.
Phew!!!
PS….I did milk and rubbing alcohol too but baking soda seemed to work the best.
Oh boy, reading these are funny……….except for the pain. I made salsa this morning and only cut up 3/4 of a small jalapeno. I tried oil and soaking in milk, the burn just keeps coming back to unbearable in about 10 min. I have cut up many jalapeno peppers before and have never had burning like this.
Had a horrible jalapeno burn today on both hands! Tried aloe, baking soda, milk, cool water…just about everything. Nothing worked and the “on fire” feeling was starting to creep up my wrists and arms. My husband suggested trying Gojo or Orange Goop, since it’s used to remove oils and residue from working on cars. Totally worked! It was almost instant! Just had to scrub real good and rinse! It did dry my skin out big time, but so worth not being in pain anymore. Highly recommend the Orange Goop for the jalapeno burns.
Oh how I had horrible Jalapeno Hands last night! The poor bags under my eyes were also on fire. My husband thought I was nuts until I showed him my red swollen finger (although my whole hand was on fire!) Thank you for sharing!
My OH thinks I made it up! I cant remember everything I used but tried stacks of things always, always wear gloves.
Going to a party, bringing appetizers, I never made before.
40 stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon.
It didnt hit me until I had cut, deveined, boiled, stuffed and wrapped all 40.
I wont bother to describe the burn, as Im sure that anyone reading this found this site after googling, just like I did…….desperate for relief.
I tried Buttermilk, goo-gone, soap, vinegar, goo- gone, soap, vinegar, goo-gone, soap, vinegar. not sure how many times as the self-prescribed wine/ painkiller combo has left me slightly less than cognizant.
I’m off to the part. I’m bringing with me:
-80 stuffed jalapenos
-My personal bottle of wine
-A pitcher of vinegar water (for when I cant live without a dip).
I’ll smell fabulous, and hopefully the apps will be well recieved.
Never, and Im talkin’ never….will I ever forget the gloves again.
God bless us……every one.
ok Ijust did this about 2 hours ago. I was makeing jalapenopoppers the ones with cream cheese and bacon for a poolside bbq. afterI hadfinished my fingers started burning like crazy. i had checked several sites. i tried soaking in milk, lemon juice, and by accident i just tried witch hazel thinking i grabbed rubbing alcohol. it seemed to work for a few minutes in fact the burning sensatin has gone from 20 down to like 4. i then washed my hands with some antibacterial soap to get the smell off. i will be going to do it again in just a few but it seems to be working better that anything else is. i wanted to try the vinigar but i dont have any. i know that vinigar works on actual burns and sunburns like in mustard but not sure about this one. my fingers are hurting still so i think i will go soak them again in hopes that the stinging will go away soon.\
Try Orajel or other toothache cream. It’s basically same as what is in sunburn cream like Solarcaine but more powerful. It’s a number.
lol i do it every year. i clean the seeds out of a 1000 or so peppers that i grew in of my garden and for five days my arm and hands hurt and every thing i touch burns. the only thing that takes it away is time.
These stories are hilarious, and I am pretty ashamed to say that I have had this issue not once, but am at this very moment in terrible pain!
The first occasion, I had been working in the kitchen all day washing and preparing jalapenos for stuffing and freezing. I was out of gloves, and I had been washing my hands constantly, but got so involved with the process, that I eventually forgot. Towards the end of getting all of the peppers finished, I noticed that my hands were really starting to tingle, and by the time I had the kitchen cleaned up, they were on fire!
In the middle of washing them again, I received a phone call from a friend who had an urgent prayer request, so I stopped everything and hit my knees in the living room and began praying. At some point during prayer, I had covered my face with my hands, and it didn’t take me long to realize that my face was on fire!!! Eyes, nose, cheeks, everywhere my fingers had touched, was now blistering with the heat. So then I had to start praying for myself! It was horrible, to say the least.
I tried everything I could think of to stop the pain, to no avail… Finally, I was like, “ok God, I was trying to do the right thing, can you please help me out here?”… That worked
However, it did not stop me from making the same mistake again. This time I had gloves, and had been wearing them throughout the whole process(canning pickled jalapeno rings), but towards the end of finishing up, I had already taken my gloves off, and was wiping off everything before I jarred the rings and put them in a hot water bath. I use a spoon and canning funnel, so I didn’t bother with gloves. Big mistake! Once I filled the jars, I packed them in with my fingers before adding the juice. It was just a little contact, but whatever!!! My right hand feels like its in a pot of boiling water!!! I promise, if I live through this, I will not make this mistake again!!!
Now I’m off to soak in vinegar water
Good Grief!
Never heard of this before tonight. Cut up one jalapeno pepper and took out the seeds using my finger and about one hour later the burning started and gradually got worse until I realized what was happening. Googled it and got here. Meanwhile I tried washing with Dawn, heavy degreaser, and egg whites which only helped for a little while. I had a stain on my shirt and used OXYCLEAN spray and put that all over my hands, the burn never came back!!! The enzymes in OXYCLEAN totally neutralized the burning!! Perfect! Thank you OXYCLEAN laundry spray!!
I am currently in this predicament. I hardly ever do anything with jalapenos and thought nothing of it, luckily only my left hand is on fire right now. Just poured some rubbing alcohol on my hand and soaked it in milk…and I’m pretty sure it just spread the burn. I’m currently resorting to holding a cold beer while drinking it and hoping I forget about the burn. Of course, I will probably go thru every suggestion that was put on here until that time. And my mother’s loving piece of advice was “don’t take your contacts out with jalapeno hands or if you do make sure to have a new pair tomorrow because your contacts will burn.”
so my wife just did all of the above and now is worried that she will not be able to eat the jalapeno peppers anymore? urgent care dr. said to be careful now that this has happened. anyone who experienced this go back and eat them with no problem? worried that if ingested after this it could be worse?
Should be fine. I use Jalepenos 2-3 times per week. I constantly burn my hands and have absolutely no problem eating them. I got a pretty hot bunch today, and am suffering from cutting, deseeding, devaining 15 hot Jalepenos. Luckily for me the Aloe Vera Gel is helping. But really, I don’t think your wife will have a problem eating them.
I was once burned by a jalapeno peper and i put some a and d vitamin ointment it emmediatly cured my pain.
From first hand experience… please, please, PLEASE, if you’re cutting up jalapenos maybe think twice about getting intimate with your partner… there are worse places to burn than your hands…
You should try to habanero and cayenne peppers. I cut and sliced several pounds for drying and canning 2 days ago.
I’m tough so I decided not to make a special trip to get gloves (I forgot to get them the first trip). Needless to say, I was on fire. I have tried everything listed. My burning will lessen and then come back. Still as I type I am felling the tingling of a thousand needled on my hands.
Make that special trip to get gloves!!
I was deseeding jalepenos from the garden without gloves. Then the burning started…….I used lemon juice first to no avail and then rubbing alcohol. Finally what I found worked the best was Walgreens Aloe Vera Cooling Spray Gel. It’s used for sunburns. I sprayed that on my hands and felt instant relief. The burning came back again a bit later, so I sprayed it on again. The burning never came back. Good luck!
Use bathroom cleaner spray with bleach in it. Sounds stupid but I swear to God it was instant and permanent!! Nothing else worked so give it a try
Talked to a chef…wash hands in milk or cream
I cut up 4 – only 4! – jalepenos on Saturday night. Now it’s Tuesday morning. And anything hot triggers the return of the burn. Seriously? At least it’s 90% more mild than it was Saturday night. I will NEVER, ever, ever work with jalepenos again.
Thank you, Tina. The vinegar/water solution totally worked!
I had no idea this sort of thing happened.
I am a self-taught user of jalapenos. For years I had simply chopped without using gloves because it never crossed my mind that I would have scorched hands. Sure, I recently had a few occasions where I had minor burning after touching more sensitive skin, but it washed away fairly quickly.
Today, I was in trouble.
When I went to the store and bought jalapenos for a dish that I decided to make, I marveled at not only the abundance of jalapenos, but their sheer size.
They didn’t look like the usual puny things I buy, so I thought they must be in season.
Damn right, they were in season!
I thought I was going crazy and maybe mixed some cleaning fluids and was now paying the price.
I’m about to coat my fingers in Neosporin to see if it works. It’s all I’ve got at this point.
I was intrigued by the antacid suggestion, so I even busted up Tums and diluted in water as it was all I had on hand.
Not quite the result I was looking for.
Let’s just hope that it stays at this pain level and doesn’t progress through the night. Otherwise, I don’t want to have to call in sick and tell my Hispanic coworkers how the white person doesn’t know how to chop jalapenos properly.
Hey, I’m back!
I must say Brah-Voh to the person who suggested saliva. It was so simple it was brilliant. It’s not like my mouth burns for hours after I eat jalapenos, so my mouth must be doing something right.
Before I fell asleep last night, I licked my hands like you don’t know what. It actually began to burn more at first, but I took it as a clue that it was working.
I slept through the night and am currently pain free.
Saliva definitely works. I sucked on my fingers for a while and now my tongue is on fire but my fingers are significantly better.
i did the same thing tonight and nothing works!!!!!!!! i did the sour cream, vinegar and oil, bleach, lime juice , vinegar alone, milk and mud nothing helps. so instead of sleeping w my hand in water and taking the chance of spilling it everywhere im sleeping on the floor w my hand over the ac vent and aslong as it doesnt shut off it works!
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