Capsaicin on hands—removing the pain

[Shule]

So, I had an experience about 24 hours ago.

Normally, I don't wear gloves when cutting up or seeding hot peppers (not even superhots), even though it's recommended. Yes, it hurts, but it's usually not that bad for me, and I have my reasons. However, yesterday, I cut up our hot pepper harvest and put it in to dehydrate. There weren't even any superhots, but wow! Those things hurt, a lot! (To be fair, it was a lot of peppers, and there were a lot of Randy Sine's Evil Jalapenos among them, which are about Habanero heat level.) I figured it would continue like that, or close enough, for a few days, based on my experience with lesser pepper pain on my hands; so, I needed to do something about it, or I wouldn't get any sleep, and I'd be suffering a great deal.

No amount of handwashing helped. Soaking my hands in super potent sugar water didn't help. Olive oil didn't help. Smothering my hands in cream cheese didn't even help! Frozen things felt warm after a second or few. Eventually, after what I believe was hours of suffering, I brushed my teeth, and my mouth was super cold from the Colgate Total mint toothpaste when I rinsed it with cold water. I rubbed toothpaste on my hands and washed it off, and it totally helped, a lot! I did it again, and it helped even more (not just temporarily, either). Then, I finally was able to go to sleep. My hands are now at peace. They're not even extra sensitive to hot water like they normally are for a few days when I handle hot peppers. The tips and pads of my fingers feel a bit sore, though.

I'm guessing what made those peppers so hot was the high UV index, this year. It's been above average almost everywhere in the USA, this year (so, be careful with your peppers).

Anyway, I don't advise putting Colgate Total in your food to cool it, but maybe mint oil would work. I can't say for sure that mint was responsible, but I'm guessing it was, since it does add a cooling sensation.

Anyway, I decided not to grow *any* hot peppers next year! I was going to grow a couple plants that weren't Capsicum annuum (Aji Habanero, and Black Mustard Bhutlah), but I think I've changed my mind. Nevertheless, I feel like after that I could put my hands in a campfire without complaint.

Fortunately, the dehydrating peppers didn't bother my eyes or lungs (that was a worry, before that experience, since I had never put hot peppers in a food dehydrator before). They dehydrated fast, too, compared with tomatoes. I plan to wear gloves when I take them out, this time (they're still waiting on me).

Here are some other things I learned from this experience:

* Flapping/shaking my hands temporarily relieved the pain better, longer, and more reliably than most things. I don't know why, but it worked.
* Blowing/breathing air (not on my hands) quickly also helped (and was a natural reflex when I didn't have running water, a strong fan, or something handy).
* I'm pretty sure I got close to exhausting my adrenal glands. Fortunately, my adrenal glands feel like they're in better condition than they've been in a while (so, I was fine). I've felt like I've exhausted them with far less than that in the past.
* I couldn't speak very well the next day right after I got up. Kind of jittery/halting. That wore off pretty fast, though.
* Distractions also helped to relieve the pain (although it depends on the kind of distraction, or when, or how long; some can make it worse).
* I've learned that some reactions that people have to hot peppers seem to be based on the level of pain, rather than how well they handle it.
* I've learned a new level of compassion, I think!
* Cooked hot peppers smell a lot better to me than raw ones. (I dehydrated them on 167° F., which should be enough to cook them a little.)
* Not all pain hurts, even if that did!
* Other stuff that would be against the rules to post here.

[Shule]

If you're wondering why I haven't typically worn gloves with hot peppers, it's for these reasons:

* To get my hands more used to it. They adapt.
* After the capsaicin heat is completely gone, it seems to make my skin a lot stronger (against abrasion, scrapes, prickles, etc.) and more heat resistant to actual heat, without making it calloused, and seems to make my skin more callous-resistant. Of course, these are personal anecdotes, and I don't claim them as scientific or medical fact. It could be coincidence. It's just a hypothesis, although some time (maybe a few years) after I formed the hypothesis, I did see this study, which strengthens parts of the hypothesis in some regards: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25528374/
* It's easier to handle the peppers (even if it's more painful).
* I don't always know where we keep the gloves, if we happen to have any.
* For some reason, I have a cultured reluctance to use up the disposable gloves very quickly, as if they're extremely valuable and need to be conserved.

Again, I don't recommend this to anyone else, but I thought I'd let you know my rationale, so you know that I don't just enjoy pain.

Anyway, I blended up all the dried peppers into powder. I haven't tasted it, yet, but it's orange. It's about 43% orange peppers, 42% red peppers, and 15% green peppers.

IMG_20200925_043211.jpg

[bower]

Shule, good to know about the toothpaste.

I got a burn under my fingernails one year, from carelessly stripping seeds out of a hot pepper with my claws. At that time I had no clue, the worst thing you can do is to wash in hot water. Hot water opens the pores, capsaicin goes inside and there is basically nothing you can do but wait it out.

I have a strict routine now for handling hot peppers. Wash immediately in cold water after scrubbing with a lemon rind or a lime rind (or a bit of juice). Lick my fingers to see if there's any burn left. If there is, repeat lemon and cold water until there's no burn on the lick.

I find that milk or yoghurt is the best way to quench a burning mouth when eating.
TBH my tolerance for heat would be considered low, although I like it up to my limit the superhots are way out of the picture.

[pepperhead212]

I never use gloves, either. My way to get the pepper oils off is to use GOOP, or something similar, since that is for getting grease off your hands, from auto work. I keep it by my sinks, at all times - when a container gets low, I take it to the back and pump it up again, out of the large container. I never run out of it! Acetone will work, too, but isn't the best way to treat your skin!

[karstopography]

I handled the hot peppers I grew without gloves. The hottest I grew were red habaneros. I was very careful with those, but still managed to get a bit above my eye on one occasion, between the brow and eye lid. Thankfully, none got into the eye itself. Even on that dry skin there, I could feel the burn.

But, I did get the capsaicin from various hots like cayenne, Serrano, super, all over my fingers processing the peppers for sauces and flakes. Running Water over them just reactivated the burn. For a couple of days afterward, I’d get the burn everytime I washed my hands and that would linger for several minutes even after my hands were dry. I think that capsaicin oil just soaks into the pores and lipids on and in the skin. The toothpaste idea is a good tip.

I just kept telling myself that no real damage was being done, this pepper burn is just a sensation.

[brownrexx]

I also cut hot peppers without gloves ONE time and both hands hurt really bad until the next day. My fingers even looked swollen.

I will NEVER do that again! Good to know about the toothpaste though.

[Hilldale]

I haven't tried it yet, but I was told if your hands are burning from handling hot peppers to put sugar on them and to rub them together.
It might be worth a try!

[Shule]

Wow. You all are really nice. Thanks! Also, good to know I'm not the only one who has done it to some degree!

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention], what's GOOP? Can you link to a page about it? I don't think what I'm finding in my searches is what you meant.

[Shule]

I haven't tried it yet, but I was told if your hands are burning from handling hot peppers to put sugar on them and to rub them together.
It might be worth a try!

Dry white sugar?

I had high hopes for the wet, dissolved sugar, but nothing special happened, for me anyway. Not to say it wouldn't ever work. The oils had been on my hands for a while; so, they probably got pretty deep in.

[root_grow]

Oh goodness, I can't even imagine. I'm glad you found relief with the toothpaste!

I used to oil my hands before cutting hot peppers without gloves, then wash with dish soap when I was done. Granted my spice tolerance has never been very high, but I never had any problems until I was forming veggie burgers with raw peppers in them by hand and somehow it didn't occur to me while I was working on them that the oil would rub off onto the patties. I made a huge batch to freeze, then I was really miserable.

But I do the same thing thinking disposable things are actually precious commodities. In this case I'd probably buy a pair I find less annoying to work in to be the official hot pepper handling gloves and keep them labeled somewhere logical.

[Shule]

… At that time I had no clue, the worst thing you can do is to wash in hot water. Hot water opens the pores, capsaicin goes inside and there is basically nothing you can do but wait it out.

…

One thing that seems to help, for me, with regards to washing my hands, is to lather with plenty of liquid soap before applying any water. That seems to get rid of maybe about 70 to 80% of the burn. But, I probably handled too many hot peppers, for too long, for that to work out as intended, this time, with everything I had to do while cutting them up. In fact, I probably didn't do it every time I washed my hands, either.

[Shule]

Here are the ingredients of my toothpaste, in case only some kinds of toothpaste work, and in case the mint wasn't the only thing that helped:

Active ingredients: Sodium fluoride (0.24%; 0.14% w/v fluoride ion) and triclosan (0.30%)
Inactive ingredients: Water, hydrated silica, glycerin, sorbitol, PVM/MA, copolymer, sodium lauryl sulfate, cellulose gum, flavor, sodium hydroxide, carrageenan, propylene glycol, sodium saccharin, titanium dioxide

I'm guessing the mint is included in the flavor. The tube does mention mint (Clean Mint)—just not in the ingredients specifically.

[pepperhead212]

Wow. You all are really nice. Thanks! Also, good to know I'm not the only one who has done it to some degree!

@pepperhead212, what's GOOP? Can you link to a page about it? I don't think what I'm finding in my searches is what you meant.

Here is a link, showing the small container that I keep by my sinks. HF also sells a large container, with a pump - the kind I have out back. I usually replace the large one with their 20% off coupon, since I haven't known it go on sale.
https://www.harborfreight.com/16-oz-ora ... d5deeec85c

This stuff also leaves a pleasant orange smell on the hands, when washing grease and the like off; however, even this won't entirely get that smell of gasoline out of my skin - one thing I try to use gloves for, if it might touch me!

[Hilldale]

Shule, I was told to take a good amount of dry sugar and rub your hands together. You may have to do this a couple of times.

[Shule]

I'm dehydrating the sweet peppers, now.

[worth1]

I just trimmed my fingernails and cleaned a whole boat load of jalapeño peppers one time.
The stuff got under my nails and was there for days on end.
It felt like acid under my nails.

[karstopography]

The worse thing I did recently regarding peppers is to bite into and eat a whole pepper off a wild chiltepin pepper plant, our little Texas native chili. Those are around 100,000 scoville or so they say. Anyway, that little pepper got my attention.

[worth1]

I had a guy tell me about how his grandson had a whole handful of the chiltepins and when they tried to get them from him he ate them all because he didn't want to share.

[slugworth]

I tried to dry red habaneros in the oven on low heat one time.
That was a big mistake.
Saw a guy rub habanero juice in his eyes by mistake.
He wiped off the knife with a napkin and when he started crying,wiped his eyes with the same napkin.

[JRinPA]

I touched my face after habs one time...might have been the first year making salsa. Eventually it worked into my eye. I just had to remember, Marine recruits get it in the face, cops get it in the face, it will go away, it will get better, it won't be permanent, stay calm.

That is a good idea with toothpaste. It makes a lot of sense, actually, but I never considered it. I will grab the sensitive next time this happens.

Goop is like a multi-purpose dissolver about the consistency of mayo. It helps cut grease, paint, glue, etc from your hands, comes in a little 4" tub.
https://images.homedepot-static.com/pro ... 4_1000.jpg

[mention]Shule[/mention] when you said "have my reasons" for not wearing, my first thought, shule wants to build an immunity to pepper spray! I tell you now, don't do it, it won't work, they'll just resort to tasers!