My fingers are on fire

[Nikia]

It has been hours since I cut up jalapeno peppers for chili, but for some reason my fingers are still burning. I think that they even got worse since the last time that I tried to wash them. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Lars39]

1. Ouch.

All I can think of is a baking soda soak. :shrug:

on edit: the water might make it worse though!

[Reverend_Smitty]

2. How about milk?

Thats supposed to help cool your mouth when you eat peppers, so maybe it will help your hands

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Oil, butter, bacon ...

... anything that is close to 100% fat.

Capsaicin -- the active ingredient in peppers -- if fat soluble. if you smear fat on your fingers and work it around good, it ought to "attract" the capsaicin, and you can wash it away.

You may also have dry skin or very tiny cuts on your fingers -- it's that time of year. Usually, capsaicin doesn't burn unless it gets into an actual opening, like a cut ... or a mouth.

--bkl

[Fridays Child]

4. Soak your fingers in beer. It dissolves the capsaicin oil.

Drink some, too, and you won't mind the sting as much.

[Kamika]

5. whatever you do.. don't wipe your eyes

did that once or twice.. ouch


:cry:

[NorthernSpy]

6. liquid Maalox

Seriously. The cure for getting peppersprayed (or otherwise doused with capsaicin) is liquid Maalox (diluted with water if necessary) applied to the affected area. Some activists who are into street protests studied this question, and in their experiments, liquid antiacids worked better than anything else, though the exact mechanism of action is not known for sure. Something about ions and disruption of nerve impulses, somebody said.

Just something that I remember reading somewhere.

Mary

[AngryAmish]

7. If you are male, be careful urinating

Trust me.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

8. Milk, Butter, or anything with fat. The fat absorbes the.....

pepper and you can wash it off.

[Nikia]

9. Thanks

I tried several of the above and my fingers are mostly better now. Maybe, next time, I should wear gloves or something. It was good chili though.