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Jalapeno Pepper Burn Treatment

Submitted by Paulette

I was recently burned after working with Jalapeno Peppers. After trying several "remedies" and getting no relief, someone told me to put rubbing alcohol on the area. I dabbed it on with a cotton ball and literally within minutes the pain was gone.

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The following was sent in by Debbie

I had habanero pepper burns on my fingers.... (didn't wear gloves ... dummy!) I called poison control center after 5 hours of doing everything I saw on the internet ... vinegar, aloe, alcohol, baking soda ... they told me that I didn't allow enough time for the "capsacian" to neutralize. He told me to soak my hands in an antacid like Milk of Magnesia or Mylanta and keep it on my hands for at least 20-30 minutes. I followed the instructions, but the first 10-15 minutes were so painful I wanted to quit and put my hands in ice water!!! But, I pressed through with the help of my family and finally my hands stopped burning!!!! I bet that most of these remedies work ... but you need to allow "time" to neutralize the capsacian!!! Good luck ... and wear gloves next time!

Visitors comments

doesn't work Comments By: anon on 2006-09-02 my hand has been burning the past 4 hours, i read this article and tried it. It doesn't work for me   Using rubbing alcohol alone didn't work for me Comments By: Laura on 2006-09-10 Rubbing alcohol alone didn't work for me. Sticking my fingers in a small bowl of table salt helped for a few minutes at a time. Then I alternated from the rubbing alcohol to the salt, the pain went away for longer periods of time.   No good :( Comments By: anonymous on 2006-09-10 Didn't work for me either... several hours of burning now from a Hungarian hot wax and jalepenios   NO HELP WHATSOEVER ! Comments By: Joyce on 2006-09-10 I tried this and am still in agony, don't waste your time.   me either Comments By: blazta on 2006-09-13 it didnt work but i found industrial degreaser does   I don't have any rubbing alcohol. Comments By: anon on 2006-10-04 After reading many "remedies" i tried a combination..orange juice, 409 degeaser and vinegar gave me instant relief. but the burn did return after some time.   relief at last Comments By: Annette on 2006-10-06 Over the past three hours, I have tried soaking my hands in cold water, repeated washing, lotion, aloe vera gel, and vinegar to no avail. The rubbing alcohol stopped the burn within a minute.   Milk!!! Comments By: Anon on 2006-10-09 For immediate relief, milk really worked for me. It soothed quickly, but the burning sensation returned in the morning on my hands.   nope Comments By: peppered on 2006-12-09 the only relief was LEMON JUICE and i tried it all......   Worked for me in seconds!!! Comments By: anu on 2006-12-13 My hands were burning like anything. I tried rubbing alcohol and in seconds the pain went away. I wish I knew it the night that I wasnt able to sleep and was just going crazy from pain.   So SO Comments By: Ja on 2007-02-16 Just tried it and gave it two minutes worked with some affects. Better then none.   YES MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Comments By: Rachelle on 2007-02-17 After an hour of pain and everything I could thank of MILK worked. Instant reliefe. It lasted longer then Ice.   MiLk WoRkS Comments By: nIkKi RaE on 2007-04-11 i had severe chili burn and after sitting in a chair at the bathroom sink for about 2 hours my boyfriend found this site and i tried milk. i couldn't keep my hands in the freezing cold milk, so i soaked some wash cloths and wrapped them around my hands. it worked better than anything else i had tried. within a few min. the burning completely disappeared. i have burn marks now because it was so bad, but thanks to this site i was able to relieve the pain.   ouch Comments By: annie nom on 2007-04-27 my hands have been burning for 3 periods of a hockey game and they're just getting worse .. this didn't work ... i am only good holding onto ice cubes   the only true answer Comments By: charlie on 2007-05-10 My girl still has a bit of pain in her hands after cooking with peppers. Currently her only pain is under her fingernails. We tried milk, cold water, soap, lotion, vinegar, vodka, veg oil, rubbing alcohol after begging from the neighbors. Finally, the best advice and the only solution was RUM. A few glass of Rum and tonic and she found some relief. Meanwhile, a pack of ice did provide some relief while the rum kicked in. ...oh, a bit of romance takes the mind away.   Why didn't I wear some rubber gloves?!?! Comments By: DA in Texas{and I don't mean district attorney} on 2007-06-12 Didn't have alcohol, but did have some face cleaning astringent. Gave me some relief, but not for long. I think that this will be the last time that I will have to deal with this--I won't be stupid next time! Gloves it is from now on!!   too little too late Comments By: Leslie on 2007-06-15 Unfortunately this advice came too late for me. I can tell you that bleach, Benydril, antibotic cream, hand lotion, and menthol iontment do not work at all. Ice was a temporary solution. Next time I will try milk or alcohol. No, better yet, I'll try rubber gloves. Duh.   baking soda Comments By: Anon on 2007-06-30 my husband is Mexican and we use peppers all the time the first time i got this type of burn i tried everything then my husband said baking soda wash your hands in it and scrub well wash 2 or 3 times worked good for me and every time since   What worked?? Comments By: Anon on 2007-07-03 Not baking soda, not milk, not sunburn gel, or first aid burn spray, not ice (well maybe temperarily), not calamine lotion or hand lotion. The Germ X did help ease it. Then I put a mud body mask on it trying to draw out the oils and it helped a little. Then I put more Germ X. Neither were complete cures but did offer enough comfort to go sleep!   burns!!! Comments By: rachael on 2007-07-04 i've tried a few things. first a baking soda paste. then a burn cream ice never helps and water will make it worse st.ives hydroxie mask helped alot and the rubbing alcohol helped a lot   Instant Relief Comments By: Bill on 2007-07-09 My tried this and instantly she was relieved. We poured the alcohol on her hands over and over again.   Wish we googled this before going to the hospital! Comments By: Ock on 2007-07-10 Went to the hospital they had no idea, so they googled and got rubbing alchol, it worked right away!!! TipKing says: Wow I am pleased.   This really works Comments By: Mary on 2007-07-13 I was in serious pain & poured the alcohol on. It stopped burning!!   OH MY GOD! Comments By: gianna on 2007-07-14 I TRIED BAKING SODA, IT TOOK IT AWAY, F... THE REST BAKING SODA IS BEST.   jalapenos suck bad Comments By: eryn on 2007-07-15 i tried rubbing alcohol and it did nada. used a thick solution of baking soda and water and it went right away. let the solution thicken and dry on your hands and then take it off.   !!!!!! Baking soda pack works !!!! Rubbing Alcohol & OJ helped Comments By: Michele on 2007-07-24 After cutting up about 40 Jalapenos for canning, 30 min. later, my hands were on fire, but, I had no idea how BAD it would get in the hours ahead. I am an RN and a married for 20 years cook, and have never heard of jalapeno burns. These are the steps we followed with comments on each: 1- soaked hands in bowl of Orange Juice, it immediately brought oil to the surface and I rubbed it off and reasoaked several times, with water rinses in between. Pain still returned within 20 minutes. (The quality of the OJ changed after 3 soaks, and that is when it stopped helping. I wonder if fresh OJ every couple of soaks, would have worked?) 2- soaked my hands in a bowl of milk. Oh heavenly, cool relief! It felt so good and got under my fingernails. But, it too only worked for a short time, but, I thought I was at a better level of pain management. I did not rinse, I just let it drip on a towell. I did feel better, but, hands were sticky but not as hot. 3- took 500mg Tylenol (I am pregnant, so my options were less) 4- went to bed with an ice pack on my hands, it felt good for awhile,then it began to feel like I was holding a ball of fire, and my hands progressed to a level that I seriously considered 911 or calling my doctor. My heart went out to people in burn units who are suffering with agony of pain. I was nearly panicking with pain in my fingertips and nail areas by this point. 2 hours of misery later and growing insane heat, I found this site, and saw 2 more options. ********************* 5- soaked my hands in rubbing alcohol, felt like heaven for 10-minutes, and brought more oil to the surface, which I rubbed off with a towel, and rinsed, multiple times. then the heat started coming back. 6- Last and final rememdy...we poured baking soda in a bowl and added water and coated my hands with a baking soda pack. I lay down with a towel across my stomach, and set my hands on the towel, fingers up, and woke up hours later, aware that I had mummy hands with NO PAIN!!!!!!!!NO PAIN!!!!!!!!!NO PAIN!!!!!! I kept that stuff on all night and did not rinse it until after breakfast, out of fear of the pain returning. I rinsed it off with water in the A.M. and my hands just feel like they have been thruogh the ringer this morning, but, with the exception of a little tenderness, they feel normal. The site of the Jalapeno plants in the garden make me quake. No one in our house will ever be allowed to pick those demons without gloves from hear on. Imagine what these tasty things do to our stomach lining and intenstines! Re-evaluating jalapeno peppers in our diet   nothing works! Comments By: anon on 2007-07-26 My sister & I were working with a bunch of different peppers 4-5 hours ago, & ever since our hands have been burning beyond beliefe! We've tried every single suggestion listed on here, & nothing works! We found that milk gives the best temporary reliefe, but only for about 2 minutes at a time. I even have burn marks on my fingers, & they started swelling about an hour ago. HELP!!!   burning lips Comments By: Terry on 2007-08-04 After being in the sun all day my sister ate a very hot jalapeno pepper. Her lips immediately began to burn intensly. She was in so much pain I could not beleive it. By the time I read this thread we had already tried ice, bread, and milk. The milk helped a bit but as soon as she removed it the burn returned. The baking soda mix worked. It did not take the burn completely away but she is now calm and can tolerate the residual burning.   My cure really helped!!!!! Comments By: Julie on 2007-08-13 I cut and handled jalapenos bare-handed. Dumb. Anyway, the burning was horrible and unbearable. I tried ice water, vegetable oil, lemon juice, calamine lotion, baking soda, toothpaste, soap, and nothing worked. I intermittently sprayed on aloe vera burn spray with lidocaine, which helped temoporarily before the burning came back in full force. I finally saturated two wash clothes with the aloe and lidocaine spray and placed them in plastic bags and then placed my hands on the wash cloths in the bags and kept the bags on my hands. That made it bearable and I was able to go to sleep. (It was night). I woke up in the middle of the night and the pain was completely gone.   Baking Soda Paste-Best Comments By: CJ on 2007-08-15 I tried everything it seemed. Water-just made it worse. Aloe, alcohol, tomato juice, vegetable oil, cortisone cream, toothpaste, etc., all failed. Baking soda paste has lasted. hopefully will be able to sleep with a glove on. The others, burn came back as soon as they dried or were removed from the solution.   HOT HANDS!!! Comments By: J.D. on 2007-08-18 After peeling a few jalapenos and deseeding them ... my hands began to burn uncontrollably!! I spent the first hour w/my hands dipped in a bucket of ice and water... as soon as i removed my hands the burning came back... so i googled jalapeno hand remedies and found this site.... i tried the calamine lotion remedy... I completely saturated my hands with it and allowed it to dry completely. I left it on for 10 minutes after it dried and then rinsed it off w/cool water... to my suprise my right hand stopped burning but my left continued to burn ... so I then took some baking soda and mixed it w/a little water into a creamy thick paste like substance... I spread this over my entire hands and in between my fingers... I allowed it to dry completely and then kept it on for 15 minutes ... I immediately noticed the burning had stopped in the other hand.. and when I rinsed it off... there was no more burning !!!! :::wheeeeeeew::!! i was soo relieved!! Thank God for baking soda!!!!   baking soda best for me Comments By: Burned beyond belief on 2007-08-18 cut up jalapeno pepper, didn't think and wiped my nose. In minutes my entire face was on fire. I ran around trying to flush it out with water... I drank milk which helped a bit... after reading this site I took baking soda-- mixed in in a bowl till I got a thick paste and applied it to my face with a cloth. Instant relief... it's not perfect but a lot better than just moments ago.   tried it all and nothing works! Comments By: hothands on 2007-08-18 have to keep my hands in ice and water or my hands burst into flames. I have tried everything!!!   Relief at last! Comments By: Wendy on 2007-08-22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 next >>>