I think the chilies gave me a chemical burn. My fingers still flippin hurt. They are red and irritated and shiny. They were doing ok until I did dishes in hot water. FUDGE!!!
I think the chilies gave me a chemical burn. My fingers still flippin hurt. They are red and irritated and shiny. They were doing ok until I did dishes in hot water. FUDGE!!!
shiny skin is indicative of chemical damage.
did a google search on chilis and finger burn.
got about a half millions hits.
seems it’s a Damned Good Thing you didn’t rub your eyes or any other tender tissues….
Did see this:
“Chili pepper burn is actually known as ‘Hunan Hand’ in the industry. We often recommend to our customers that they use dish washing liquid and COLD water… hot water will open the pores and help drive the capsicum (what makes the chillies hot) deeper into the skin.”
Good luck, pal.
you could also try soaking them in cold milk.
wasn’t quite finished writing that.
I used to get chili burns every time I made salsa, until I started using habaneros when it occurred to me to try wearing gloves while I make it.
In my experience, cold things, milk, and alcohol help the burn go away but YMMV.
Ouch , though! I hope it gets better soon.
I learned that I’m massively sensitive to chiles after cutting one up and running around for about 4 hours crying and trying to kill the burn.
What worked ended up being wet teabags tied around my fingers. –yeah, I was getting desperate and remembered using the astringency of tea to stop dental bleeding. I have zero idea how my brain made the jump from ‘this stops bleeding’ to ‘this might stop the burning,’ but it worked.
Makes sense. A lot of what you want is oil (which tea does okay for) to help extract and dilute the pepper oil.
Rather like why you have whole milk or yogurt to dilute it in your mouth, while water tends to spread it around.
note: cool tea / wet tea bags also help take the burn out of a sunburn.
I did something similar, a few years back, with garlic. Shiny red irritated-looking skin. I found cold helped reduce the irritated-look, at least – icepacks, or soaking in cold water, or just a cold compress. I’m not sure what it would’ve done for the pain though…