Comments on: “Jalapeno Hands” — a Cautionary Culinary Tale

By: CDW

CDW — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:31:27 +0000

I wanted to try a new recipe so I tried making stuffed Jalapenos. What a bad mistake I made. I cut up 25 Jalapenos as the recipe called for & the burning did not start immediately….but when the burning sat in, it stayed with me for like 4 to 5 hours. I am a contact wearer too. I tried all the tips listed. I think time is the cure. Someone told me to use sugar…. But when your hands are burning like this you will try anything. I did!

By: jells

jells — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:24:17 +0000

Arrrgghh I’ve cut jalapeno’s before but for some reason the 2 that I chopped and de-seeded tonight left my hands burning

I tried milk, nail polish remover, and proactive solution. I just put some benadryl goup on and it alleviated the pain a little but its definitely coming back. How miserable, never again!

Thanks for the tips, I feel a little less crazy

By: Corey

Corey — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:33:18 +0000

Here I am joining the “Jalapeno Hand” club….WAHHHHHH!!!!!!
It has been 27 hours since I chopped 3 large peppers and it still hurts. Only cold things relieved the pain at first. I woke up and thought I was fine but no, if I apply any pressure to my fingers it starts all over, then if I don’t touch anything it goes away. It’s getting better but I’m sure I’ll feel it still tomorrow! That’s all… it hurts to type.

P.S. nothing but time helps!

By: jessie

jessie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:51:45 +0000

After reading all of the comments the following regiment worked for me…witch hazel pad to dry up the oil from the pepper, hot water with soap (10 sec. at a time for a minute), rubbed my hands on the stainless sink 30 seconds, and finally applied cortaid. All of the burning is gone and I will be carefully removing my contacts tonight! Thanks for the tips.

By: carmen

carmen — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:33:12 +0000

Hello my name is Carmen and I have jalapeno hand. Mother#@%* it hurts like hell! I cannot believe that I didn’t use gloves when I was told to. I sliced, seeded and diced a 2lb bag of jalapenos and I did not anticipate this pain. I Dipped my hand in milk, iced milk, washed with soap, scrubbed with lemons,soaked in rubbing alcohol and even wore those stupid gloves and filled it with calamine lotion(which made it burn more). I have tried just about everything you guys have suggested even the stainless steel idea but the only thing that helped so far is holding a blue ice-pak. I have 4 of them Ive been alternating but they just dont stay frozen long enough I took 800mg of motrin then when that didn’t work, i took some vicodin I’m rollin but i still feel my hand burning from inside out…I’m so angry with myself arrrrrrgh! I just wanna sleep. But I have to say that i never expected there to be a jalapeno-hand epidemic, but i was wrong…Its kinda nice to know that i’m not alone. Nobody understands how much this really hurts. B/c they wouldn’t be laughing if they knew.

By: bURNING NOSTRILS

bURNING NOSTRILS — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:01:10 +0000

i JOINED THE JALAPENO HANDS CLUB TODAY, I WAS MAKING PICKLES AND SLICED 1 IN HALF AND SEEDED IT. WITHOUT THINKING I WIPED MY FACE, HOLY CRAP!! DID IT BURN, I EQUATE THE PAIN TO THAT OF BEING PEPPER SPRAYED. I WANTED TO RIP MY FACE OFF. I RAN IT UNDER COLD WATER AND SAT INFRONT OF A FAN, WHICH HELPS A LOT, BUT ONCE YOU LEAVE THE FAN, THE PAIN COMES RIGHT BACK. THE WHOLE TIME MY BOYFRIEND IS LAUGHING HIS *SS OFF AT ME, GOSH DARN IT HURTS! GOOD LUCK ALL!

By: Tony N SF

Tony N SF — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:56:44 +0000

I joined the jalapeno hand club tonight! Fortunately, I only de-seeded four and diced them. That was all it took. My hands are very “warm” now: even after multiple hand washings and TWO scrubbings with that really expensive soap for poison ivy (and a couple of stainless steel rubbings). I was making a paste for chicken from a recipe I found in a spin-off from the Joy of Cooking. Of course, no warning re jalapeno hands. Anyway, tomorrow when I actually apply the paste to the chicken I’ll be wearing gloves.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:29:13 +0000

I’m so glad to know there are so many unfortunate souls out there such as myself! I’ve cut many raw peppers before without experiencing too much pain, but not tonight! I’m not sure if it is because I’m on accutane and my body soaks up every drop of oil it can find or what. But MY GOD! Excruciating! I only diced up one jalapeno and de-seeded it using my left thumb (seems to be a popular way to do it based on these responses!) only to have the most God awful burning sensation under my nails. I was making fajitas, so I immediately dunked my fingers into the sour cream… made it feel better until I washed it off. Then I tried regular hand soap and a nail brush, scrubbing like crazy even though it was so painful. Genius I am, I decided to put on some Neosporin “Pain Relief” type cream… OMG, do NOT attempt this… it is Pain Maximizing! So then I came online and started reading these posts. Tried Goo Gone, which made it much more tolerable for a few minutes. Then I tried Dawn, which calmed it a little more. I also have a Rub Away bar which is just a stainless steel bar of “soap” and that seemed to help the most at this point. But it started coming back about 10 minutes later, so I dunked my fingers in honey for about 10 minutes and wa-la. That seems to have finished the trick. Of course, my hands look like I’ve been in the Sahara for a month, but at least I’m not biting my tongue in pain. I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to remove my contacts just to be on the safe side!

By: ~LUCKY~

~LUCKY~ — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:05:30 +0000

OMG! I have never felt more stupid in my life. I was given a bag of fresh jalapenos by my friend. I had heard of a great recipe for creme cheese stuffed jalapenos and I thought I would try it out. I wash, slice, and de-seed the peppers and stuff them with creme cheese. About half way through the 20 min cook cycle my hands are ablaze. I have never felt any pain like this in my life. When I was a child I actually had a third degree burn on my arm from a camp fire and this ” jalapeno hands” hurts 10 times as bad as that. I have tried everything. What I did that helps is to take a pumice stone and gently exfoliate your hands while running them under cold water. The pumice stone helps to remove dead skin saturated with the oils from the pepper. I swear by God almighty I will never EVER cut another pepper without gloves so long as I live …..Good Luck to all of those with JALAPENO HANDS ~

By: Keerin

Keerin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:08:32 +0000

Ha ha ha…. Yep, I’m like 169 and I’m feeling the pain right now so bad it feels like I shoved my fingers into a vat of acid. And I only cut and cleaned one! And minced it. And moved it. With my bare hands. I didn’t know about Jalapeno burn, but I thought it was the cuts on my hand reacting but this is horrid! And it’s all over! I’m about to go try more things…. Anyway, thanks for the laughs and suggestions!