PSA

[rm]

After chopping hot peppers you can never ever wash your hands enough.

Comments

[crystalsage.livejournal.com]

Just don't go to wipe your eyes. Ugh.

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

Gloves. Disposable plasticky ones.

[jo02]

Yes, yes, what she said. Invaluable!

[marcmagus]

Yes! This is an unexpected benefit of having a partner in a medical profession...I have a stock of gloves for safe pepper handling.

Safe-ish, actually...somehow I found a little bit of heat off habaneros made it through the gloves. That or I got a psychosomatic mild burn from rubbing my eyes an hour later after heavy washing. It was definitely less than if I'd handled them unprotected, though.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

I was just going to suggest this. Alton Brown told me so!

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

<3 the Alton icon. :)

[misch.livejournal.com]

I came here to say the same thing.

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

Yup. In case of emergency (i.e., no disposable gloves handy), plastic grocery bags make acceptable substitutes. Or you could just use the plastic bags and not spend the money on gloves.

Back to your post, though... OUCH. Hope it wasn't too painful.

[helens78]

People should frame this advice. (Ow ow ow.)

[yendi]

Very true.

Ditto for garlic (although the results are less painful, just awfully distracting).

[these-3-remain.livejournal.com]

So true. Same with onions. I've made the mistake of touching my eyes after chopping veggies. OW.

[muggy-wump.livejournal.com]

Try washing your hands in milk, afterwards. Spicey things are usually oil based, so it's difficult to get them off with just water.

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

That's worked for me, in similar circumstances. I wonder if rubbing alcohol swabs might work, too.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Not as well, or at least, hand sanitizer rarely cuts it. You want soap. Dish soap at the sink is usually handy anyways.

[thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com]

So true! This sounds like one of those life lessons you learned the hard way.

OffTopic

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Hullo there. Being as marcmagus and I have had multiple conversations along the lines of "Did you see what rm posted/tweeted?" "No, I continue to not actually follow her", I've given up, and decided that the only logical thing to do is to actually friend you.

((It does help that what I have read of yours tends to be quite fascinating.))

Soumyes. No obligation to friend back, just figured I would say hello, since it seems the polite thing to do.

~Sor

[girlingoldboots.livejournal.com]

You rubbed your eyes, didn't you? Ditto on the disposable, food handling gloves.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

I learned that lesson once back when I grew habaneros.

I went out and bought kitchen gloves the next day and washed THEM before I took them off, then washed my hands again.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I have the best luck with dishwashing liquid. It's made to cut the oil.

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

Utterly true.

Also, don't scratch..........anywhere.......afterwards...

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

O.o

Yeah, been there. Yowsa.

[marcmagus]

I find it fascinating that everybody seems to be thinking, "Don't rub your eyes." My first thought was, "Careful when you pee." Sex difference?

[cozzene.livejournal.com]

^This! I still have an ex who won't let me forget the famous Jalepeno incident that required much bathing in chilled water.

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

I'm a woman, and I had the same thought. Been there, done that. Not pleasant.

[marcmagus]

Ugh, sorry to hear it. Thanks for sharing; I've been curious as to the role of sex difference in this experience.

[gina-r-snape.livejournal.com]

Oooooooooooh. Yah. Gloves. I did that once with Habeneros. Slept with my fingertips in a bowl of milk.

That's a lesson you'll not soon forget.

[unrund.livejournal.com]

Either wash your hands in milk afterwards or wash them and rub them on the wash bassin or something else that is stainless steel. [There are fake soap bars out there made from stainless steel which are also very good.]

[contrarywise]

You might also try dabbing liquid antacid on your hands and the affected area(s) the next time you're exposed. In my experience it really does work to soothe the burn. It's been ER tested, apparently.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Ooh! This capicacin-allergic girl is grateful for the handy tip. Thanks!

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Oh, didn't I learn that the hard way. As we all have.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I know that.

[nobodyreally.livejournal.com]

To resurrect an old quote of mine, "Two words you never want to hear in the same sentence: habanero and tampon."

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Great, it's going to take all afternoon to get my thighs unclamped.

[nobodyreally.livejournal.com]

That's less time than if you had first, er, hand experience.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Owie condolences!

I am still really sad that my local grocery stopped carrying the pre-chopped peppers. Between my allergy to pepper oil and my crappy knife skills (knives are for killing damnit, I use shears for everything in the kitchen), I am not to be trusted with veggie chopping. At least the pre-chopped onions are still available.

(I don't eat the peppers myself, but they're handy for partner food.)

[sanginmychains.livejournal.com]

True story: I once ended up in the Emergency room at 2 in the morning because of hot pepper burns. I thought they were going to laugh at me, but I was in so much pain I didn't know what else to do. They didn't laugh. They took me in right away, and treated me with ice water, gauzed up the hands, and gave me Tylenol 3. Apparently it wasn't the first time they'd seen this sort of chemical burn.

And lesson learned for me: when making a giant batch of salsa, do not use your bare hands to scoop out the chopped banana peppers from the food processor. Respect the hot pepper.