Avoiding chilli burn

chilli burn remedy works like a dream - thanks

comment left by anon - New Zealand

We shall test this then. Jim get the bonnets, Joseph is volunteering.

comment left by Robo

never expected my hands to be so painful after handling chillies - thanks for the tip!

comment left by xtina - Warwickshire

Thank you very much! Great tip!

comment left by umbrella

I just found another great remedy. It doesn't cure it, but it works s much better than ice (Chilli burns on my lips and nose, don't ask). Mix lime or lemon juice with a little bit of water and hold it over the burn. you can feel the difference straight away. apparently the reason it works is because the citric acid cuts thru the chilli oil.

comment left by Charlie

After desperately seeking a remedy from my burning hands, I came across your ideas for relief. I was in intense pain after de-seeding tons of hot new mexico chili pods. I tried the olive oil first but still had a burning sensation so I then rubbed lemon juice all over my hands and I would have to say I started to feel some relief, just a slight burning but no where near what I was feeling before! Thanks for the tips.

comment left by Danette

I'm very sensitive to chili, cut up some non-hot peppers tonight and got the burning hands in return. So happy to find this web entry. I tried the oil, didn't give releif, added the lemon juice on top and hey presto - sweet relief, still burning a bit, but feeling so much better. I'm one happy lady!! Thanks folks!

comment left by amanda

Wow, what a difference, Olive oil then Lemon Juice actually stopped my tears flowing and gave me back the use of my hands! I had no idea chilli's could inflict this much pain!

comment left by Marion

I was taking out the seeds of my chillies today for the sake of my girlfriend (She doesn't like the food to spicy). And later I felt like I had burned myself on my fingers, and I took a while before I connected the two. But lemon juice helped me.

comment left by Rasmus Poulse

My partner was suffering acute chilli pain in her hands after cutting chillies (no gloves! well hindsight is 20-20).

Your lemon juice remedy was a great success.

Appreciate the advice

/Me

comment left by Iain from Melbourne

The last comment about gloves is not the preventative the commenter might think. My wife is suffering even though she wore surgical rubber glovers. So the lemon juice is getting a try.

comment left by Garrath

After receiving a chili burn from touching my cheeks, I was in agony. Washed my face, no help. Poured a bit of buttermilk from the refrigerator onto the wet cloth and touched my burn-- instant relief. Wow! Wonderful.

comment left by Nancy

Thanks for the great tip. I'm always too lazy to look for my gloves.

comment left by Amanda

Wife cooked 'Serrano' chili's, since it was late & we didnt have Lemons she was desperate so we used fresh Grapefruit. It didnt eliminate all the burning but toned down the burn to a very mild tolerable tingle.

comment left by Simon

hey thanks for the tip.. i didn't want to cut a pefectly good lemon, so I used vinegar, which is as acidic as lemon, and it worked!... even got rid of the strong mutton smell my fingers had, although now i have a faint vinegary smell.. i guess that could be washed off with some other soap.. :) Thanks!

comment left by Matty

thankyouthankyouthank you!

comment left by Lynn

Yay for your advice, you just saved another chilli burn victim.

comment left by Loz - Sydney

tryed the top cures folks hands still on fire i left the burn to long i think im in agony

comment left by mary donovan

Great tip our daughter was in pain so we applied the Oil, then the lemon juice, she is much better Thank you.

comment left by Stephen

thanks a million, i really didn't know what i was going to do, milk didn't work and neither did baking soda (i was desperate..) so thank you!

comment left by cat

I had really awful chilli burn, did a google search for a cure and tried rubbing salt into my hands initially, it didn't work, then I tried olive oil, that didn't work either. Eventually I tried the lemon juice, I'm afriad this didn't work either for me, maybe I had left the chilli on my hands too long?? Anyway, this all happened about 2 hours ago and the pain seems to be wearing off of it's own accord now :) Great tips though! They seem to work for most!

comment left by Lynne

Forgot to oil my hands before cutting an old and evil chili...and paid the price for it! Thanks for the acid/alkali tip, my boyfriend googled this site and then doused my mitts with vinegar (no lemons left). Instant sweet relief. Still a bit tingly but so much better. THANKS!

comment left by belle

I was helping my mom in the kitchen cutting up chillies and later, I got Jalapeno hands. Tried all kinds of tricks - ice, lemon juice, lotion, but none worked. Later, grandma told me to rub some salt and leave it for five minutes before rinsing off. It worked like magic.

comment left by tracy

Tried everything from ice to toothpaste to deodrant. For one hour it was pure agony. Then I google searched and came upon this site....this remedy works like magic. Thanks a ton!!!

comment left by roopshree

Having grown up in New Mexico with a green chile stand, I did a lot of peeling as a kid, and my mom always had us use oil on our hands first, but if we somehow got the chile on our face or arms, etc, she would neutralize the burns with alcohol. Rubbing alcohol works like a charm!

comment left by Pilar

okay soooo I was picking out seeds from the chilli peppers... and after 2 hours my hands started to burn sooo much!!! I tried everything like Milk... rinsed my hands with water for 10 minutes, used lemon juice, tried Gold bond and its still burning. Vinegar helped for a little bit but im still not getting any sort of relief?? Ill try salt this is my last resourse im scare :S

comment left by suzanne corriveau

"The best treatment is to wash the area with soap and water and then put a large amount of vegetable oil on the area for at least an hour. If the burn sensation is on your hands, dip your hands in vegetable oil for the hour."

I have tried all the above but none worked. I left it too late!! Tried the vegtable oil for ten minutes and it works! Hand feels alot better!!

comment left by Matthew from Southampton UK.

Thank you so much for your blog entry! My sister has been complaining of buring fingers all evening after preparing us a delicious ceviche. Desperate to relieve myself of her whining bi-hourly runs to the kitchen for salves & ointments (which included yogurt, milk, bread and aloe), I turned to the internet. Unfortunately, we had used all the limes and lemons in the house for salsa and the ceviche. So, we looked for alternatives with acid. Lo and behold, we found the main ingredient in Crystal Light diet drink is citric acid. I mixed up a concentrated batch and it worked wonderfully! Thanks or the information!

comment left by Gadgetronica

used the loo a moment ago, never had a problem with chillies after a few hours, but to night I have. In desperation I looked on the web, and thanks to the lemon juice my bits are now not burning? I did try to remove contact lenses a few months ago after using chillies not to be recomemded (bad eye night) but we live and learn.

comment left by Cam

wow,chillie burn is bad!!!!! i found rubbing my affected area(my face) with salt and a little water,helped get the chillie off and milk soothed it,lemon worked for a bit but after using the salt it stung a bit.

comment left by claire

Tried almost everything here except lemon. Finally put some oral anesthetic and that worked a little.

comment left by jules

You've saved my life!!!!!!!! After the most unbelievably terrible day, I made a recipe requiring chili peppers and seeded them without gloves! The LEMON JUICE has given me such relief...ahhh, thankyou, I thought I'd never fall asleep.

comment left by josee

the Lemon juice was amazing,also got some relief from rubbing ice on the area particularly the face. you saved my nasal passage..

comment left by amanda

lemon juice works!YEY!!!!no i can finally go to bed!

comment left by johanna from sweden

worked like magic! not an instant relief for me (had the chillis in my hands for quite a long time), but nothing compared to the 3-hour in pain! came online and found ur entry, went straight to the canteen and asked for some lemon, feel soooo much better!!! thanks alott!!!!

comment left by mimi from malaysia

Thankyou sooo much my hands were burning for hours before i had the sense to look on the net!!

comment left by kimmie

Thanks, i'll try "oiling up" next time - the worst has been, no matter what soaps or soaking, the oils get on my contact lenses when i take them out - and the next day, its like putting chilli-oil-contact lenses in my eyes for a painful burning eye-ball experience.

comment left by david

After cooking dinner for my boyfriend, I decided to wash my makeup off. BAD IDEA. My whole eye area started to burn and I started getting blisters. It was pure agony for a hour until it wore off. I just read this site and poured some vinegar on my hands. It worked INSTANTLY! I wish I had done it sooner

comment left by Mya

wow...when i was cooking and not thinking...i was cutting a pretty orange pepper and then i touched my upper lip and nose....thanks to this web site i got help.....i am very swollen and my face is red and hot....it cleared my sinsus....and i missed my movie date tonight ...

comment left by lauranna

after rubbing my eye with my chili hands it turned into a disaster! i rinsed it with water and then happening upon this blog, i decided olive oil would do the trick, lemon juice in the eyeball didn't seem like a good idea!

how wrong I was!! I was screaming, "get it out!!" before happening upon the milk suggestion after rinsing my eye area again.

brilliant!! I may have a milk soaked make up remover pad attached to my eye but at least I'm not screaming anymore!

thank you so much!!

comment left by lydia - melbourne

After cutting one little home grown red chilli I scratched my nose and burning hell boke loose on my face! After searching the web i saw your advice and tried applying some olive oil to the burning bits with a tissue. This didn't really help.

I read on and spied the citric acid remedy. Not having any lemons I tried rubbing around the afftected area with an orange segment. 20 mins later all is back to normal (but I have very red eyes).

THANKS FOR YOUR TIPS!

comment left by Dav from London

Was in absolute agony on my nose, had to settle for using clementine juices (no lemons in the house) - you've saved me from a great of pain! Thank you!

comment left by Jamie

im a fool and i touched my eyes with chilli hands... lemon juice = genius...

thanks

comment left by thomas

Same story-- seeded a Serrano chili with my bare hands (never heard of chili burn before this). I tried soaking my fingers in milk, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, vodka from the freezer and lime juice (didn't work, so I drank it), baking soda, scrubbed with dawn soap, salt, honey, olive oil (really didn't work), water with bleach in it, and finally, in a last stroke of desperation, toothpaste. Of all these, the below-freezing vodka felt the best, but NOTHING made the burning go away. I spent the next six hours juggling an ice pack between my hands until 2 in the morning when the pain finally subsided enough to sleep.

But, to all sufferers, I highly recommend the vodka with lime juice. Even if it doesn't stop the burning, drinking it down will make you feel much better about the whole thing.

comment left by Lauren from Los Angeles

the vinegar worked like a treat!!! How come no-one including everyone in our house, know that Chillis burn your fingers!!!! Maybe we need an international Chilli burns your hands day to raise awareness.

comment left by Kerry from Cairns

Thanks for the tip, it stop my lips from that burning feeling and porbably swelling.

comment left by Carmen

I de-seeded about a dozen chilli's today, a mixture of jalapeno, habanero and birds eye. I must have touched my lips because I began getting a burning sensation there that just kept getting worse and worse. Ice gave some relief but, taking the ice off though was just about unbearable.

I did a Google search and found this blog, after squeezing lemon juice on I found no relief. Olive oil was next and the same. I thought I would persist though, and mixed some olive oil (1 part) and lemon juice (2 parts) together, then poured this onto the towel containing ice which I was using.

Whilst there was no immediate relief, after about 20 minutes of holding it there the burning sensation was almost completely gone. Taking the towel off, 10 minutes later and I couldn't tell there was any pain.

It appears like the lemon juice does work, but you may need to persist with it. Thanks a heap to this blog owner who has saved me a great deal of pain!

comment left by Troy

I work cool with Chilli a lot, but today I de-seeded a couple (with my nails!) for a meal I was making to spare my daughter the burn. Well did I burn instead. I spent a good hour washing with soap and water and being miserable till I found this blog. I tried the oil, which gave instant relief but just for a while. Tried lemon juice and vinegar with the same results. Finally spent an hour with my hands in an olive oil and lemon juice mixture that finally did it! Thanks very much for all the advise here. I'll be more careful next time!

comment left by Trevi

this remedy is great it works like a dream!

comment left by Jasmine

Ditto gratefulness of wisdom into relief of chilli burn. I should warn however, anyone afflicted with badly chapped winter hands as myself, that lemon juice on a thousand cuts takes you to a whole new level of suffering...aaaahhhhh!

comment left by Silly Billy

i have been suffering for nearly 7 hours.. and finally got relief from citric acid in a powder form (mix it with a little water) as i didnt have lemons at home.. INSTANT RELIEF.. thank you so much!

comment left by cynthia

trying to help out in the kitchen as mum's not well - turned out it was probably easier for her to do the dinner herself! chili burn all over my face and up nose! nobody understood the pain!!!! tried soaking my face in a big bowl of milk.. looked like an idiot, sort of helped! THE SALT SUGGESTION IS BRILLIANT!

comment left by angelica

Hi there, after googling chilli burn relief - came across your bog - thanks so much for the tip! It really works that lemon juice! It's instantaneous!!

comment left by Jackie

oh my god, my husband just cooked and used chillies, so we get all loved up later on and hey presto we r both on fire. big time. took a while to cool down but lemon juice really did help thanks

comment left by nicky

after cooking dinner with birds eye chilli and washing hands with washing up liquid at leat 5 times going to the bathroom was a really painful experience (for about an hour) until i found these hints. thanks to you i wont have that experience again. THANKYOU

comment left by alan

What a great site !

Had never heard of chilli burn until today, washed hands loads of times during and after cooking. Fingers only started to burn quite a few hours after.. weird!

Milk didn't work for me, salt no, lemon juice a bit, but then burns more when you stop, will try oil and lemon together and leave it on for longer...

comment left by Ettie

why doesnt the whole world know of these cures, i can feel my fingers coming back to normal, i used olive oil which gave relief and now lemon juice topped it, thank you internet you are my medical friend.

comment left by david

I type this with olive oil dripping from my hands. Starting cooking dinner, cut one of our home grown chillies to add to dinner (that looked just like a little red pepper), saw black seeds which seemed odd so I removed them. All was well until I blew my nose and unleashed a burning to my nose which sent me to the basin to wash my face with water, NOT A BRIGHT IDEA! so with face and lips burning like hundreds of hot pins stabbing my face I sent my husband to google. Lemon juice concentrated in a bottle worked in about 15 minutes. Then I doused my hands in olive oil OMG the relief!! I look like a blotched freak but I can now breath without coughing chilli fire. Thanks for the tip! Vanessa New Zealand

comment left by Vanessa Tredinnick/McElwee

Oh THANKYOU!

I started to chop up a home grown Thai Chiili and as an intitial taste test by chewing on tip led me to believe it was without heat:) i began to scoop the seeds out with my finger and then had a nibble. (Prize of the day for dumb blonde!!). Wow I thought I had to go to the hospital,.. ended up waling around with a bag of frozen corn hanging out my mouth. In desperation I decided to Google and found this blog!!! Olive oil to remove and then I just kept pouring on some lemon juice concentrate I had in fridge and it began to settle after a few minutes and within half an hour I only have puffy lips. No need for collagen treatment!:-) Thanks again

comment left by Denice

We tried everything we had available, washing with soap, washing up liquid, olive oil, salt, bleach, unfortunately we had to lemon or finger, but my chance she tried washing her hands with johnson's baby oil and VOLA ! pain reduced greatly.

comment left by Richard & Sarah

Amazing! My dad sent me home today with a recipe for a chilli con carne and 2 green chillies, he didnt mention wearing gloves etc (being the keen chef he is you would have thought he would have), anyway a good 6 hours later I got in the bath and this awful burning sensation started, I have very sensitive skin so I just thought it might have been something I used.. anyway I googled burning sensation on the fingers and lo and behold answers came back about green chillies and it clicked lol.. I poured milk over my hands first then squeezed half a lemon on my hands and left it a couple of minutes.. instant relief, although I'd warn people with sensitive skin to go careful with the lemon, it does sting a little lol! Thank you

comment left by christine

Decided to impress family tonight and cook Mexican food. It was 4.30pm, cut up 4 apparently mild cayenne green chilis, used hands, to de-seed. Started to tingle a tad. Have cold, so put hands to nose and rubbed. PAIN!! Husband is doctor...told me to put them under water, no help, washed hands 50 times, no help, rang burnd unit..more water..no help, rang chemist, even more water....now 8pm. Googled here, tried oil, some relief but bit too late, done baking soda, milk, all three in one bowl, salt...holy crap..look out with that one on open wound! Moving on neat lemon juice, bloody vinegar, alcohol swaps, panadene...still burning. My skin is so sensitive. How long does this continue, its now almost 10pm.

In hindsight, wished I never bought the dam things. But if you do, oil first to bind the nasty little ingredient so it stops binding to you nerve receptors, then wash off with soapy water, next vinegar and lemon juice, throw down some strong pain killers while you're at it, few shots of gin, wash area with rubbing alcohol (eg alcohol swabs), ice packs and keep going back for vinegar/lemon juice soak. Open cuts will get use to it! Will email back when returns to normal. Hang in there all sensitive skined people!!

Rachelle-Adelaide-Australia

comment left by On bloody fire!!!

Ok, 10.30pm, lignocaine 3% no much help, tried salt...actually helped a bit, more oil, soapy water, back to vinegar and lemon soak and ice pack, more tingling than burning now. Try that my sensitive skinned friends.

comment left by Rachelle - Australia

Just to let you all know, the salt really helped and went to bed with an ice pack and heavy duty pain killers. Burning went sometime around 1am, about 8 1/2 hours later. Woke up an upon putting my fingers in my mouth to check for any more signs of the capsaicin on me, felt my tongue burn a bit after a few seconds. So repeated oil and salt and washed off with cool soapy water. I have such sensitive skin and this morning they are still very tender. Blistered around nails where I touchd the chilli membrane and seeds. Thanks so much for your blogs, you guys saved me! The burns unit hear, a nurse hot line and chemist had no idea. Ring a poison information centre if you can, they were the only ones with the correct initial advice. The capsaicin in the chilli is NOT water soluble and it BINDS to nerve RECEPTORS in your skin, membranes. So you need to bind it up with either OIL, FULL CREAM MILK or RUBBING ALCOHOL. Then wash your skin off with cool soapy water to remove any extra bits. You can't get it off with just water and soap. SALT helps to neutralize it as does LEMON JUICE, VINEGAR. Best of luck to any one who comes along next. Follow these guide lines and stay calm. If it gets in your eyes, nasal passages, groin, try oil or full cream milk to bind it and then rinse away with salty water. Repeat an if it persists, gets worse, ring a poison information centre, then a hospital.

comment left by Rachelle- Australia

So much better! thank you 4 the tip! Touched my nose after chopping chili! in desperation i jumped on the net looking 4 a remedy and the lemon juicen really worked Ta

comment left by belinda WA

I'm so glad I found this ! I should of known better, but I chopped a hot chilli with bare hands, a little while after the burning started, and about a minute after that I realised what I had done, the oil, milk and lemon juice are on my kitchen bench and I'm having to soak my fingers over and over to get a little relief, but it is working, thanks for this blog and all the replies that made me feel not so stupid as I'm not the only fool to do this ! Eden Moss New Zealand

comment left by Eden

oh wow, I'd never thought to have used oil! Thanks :) Now I just wish I'd googled this this last night when I was cooking with chillis...my hands are still burning so I might make a trip to the shops when I can get out of work.

comment left by rachel

Hi, I'm another unfortunate idiot who didn't wear gloves and had no idea this could happen. Thanks for the suggestions, if only I'd known about this sooner.

I've tried vegitable oil and lemon juice (out of one of those plastic squeezy bottles)... smeared on a lump of (real) butter. Which gave relief for a while, but the burning is back. :(

All I can say is thank God I didn't rub my eyes or worse. At the moment I've got a big bowl of ice-cold, full-fat milk to soak my hands in, which seems to be doing the trick.

PS: Arrrgh, typing certainly doesn't help.

comment left by Paul

i was just cutting same chilli and sneezed and put my hands over my nose and mouth, then started to get a very serious burn over face... and tried water, ice , soap they didn't work at all... i then tried milk, didn't help alot,

I then paniced... and found this web page... I am now rubbing a lemon all over my lips and nose.. it starting to relief the pain... slowly. Thanks!

comment left by lin

Thanks. My balls are still burning - my girl grabbed them after cutting chillies. Its helped.

comment left by tat

thanks so much for the chilli tip - I love cooking with fresh chilli, and have been plagued with the stinging afterwards! both the lemon juice and the olive oil worked a treat! Cheers!

comment left by Sam from Sydney Australia

thanks for the great tip...olive oil is such a great relief and it does make your hands super soft!

comment left by neets

thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!

comment left by Mike

Hi, glad my blog helped so many. So for the next poor soul who comes here READ THIS... THE SOLUTION: The capsaicin in the chilli is NOT water soluble and it BINDS to nerve RECEPTORS in your skin and membranes. STEP 1: You need to bind it up with either OIL, FULL CREAM MILK or RUBBING ALCOHOL. Then wash your skin with cool soapy water to remove any extra bits of left over capsaicin. You can't get it off with just water and soap. You must bind it first to OIL, FULL CREAM MILK OR RUBBING ALCOHOL.

STEP 2: Next, neutralising it once extra capsaicin washed off.

SALT helps to neutralize it as does LEMON JUICE, and or VINEGAR.

STEP 3 : Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

STEP 4: Make up a thick paste of bi-carb soda (baking soda) and cover eg, hands in it, cheeks, nose. Leave on over night. Wash off in morning.

Best of luck to any one who comes along next. Follow these guide lines and stay calm. If it gets in your eyes, nasal passages, groin, try oil or full cream milk to bind it and then rinse away with salty water. Repeat an if it persists, gets worse, ring a poison information centre, then a hospital.

comment left by Rachelle-Australia returns

ok well my dad made me cook today, so i decided to make a pasta bake with chillies, i don t know what chillies they were but they were very small and red from thailand, so i couldnt find the gloves, cut them . i didnt have any pain for a while apart from on my lips where i touched it, but this only lasted 20 minutes. after we ate the food i started to get alot more burnign sensation on my hands. so at first i just soaked it in water for a long time, washed it alot to stop the pain.. and i decided to come on the net.. first tried oil.. didnt work.. then tried lemon dint work then i mixed lime lemon vineger olive oil sunflower oil and salt in a bowl.. nothing releived the pain.. if anything made it worse.. so i used surgical spirit on my hands numbed the pain while it was on.. after 30 seconds it was all back.. now my hands are on fire and ive decided just to go asleep as im in so much agony and nothing will releive it hopefully it will be gone in the morning.. if i can even get to sleep

comment left by Ryan

types carefully Thank you very much, three cheers for internet helpfuls, you saved my finger tips! Im going back to my oil and lemon compress, cheers!

comment left by Alexe from germany

I was making guacamole for a shindig tonight and threw in a chili pepper and some tabasco and such. I had washed my hands, cleaned up the kitchen and then half an hour later my nose erupted in spicy-burning-ness! Thank you for your remedy with lemon juice--INSTANT relief.

comment left by Jenn, NY

Hi,

Same happened to me. Only correlated it with handling/chopping up chillies the next day - lots of pain under the fingernails. Just got a soft toothbrush and some soft liquid soap, and softly scrubbed with soap and a tiny bit of water, then rinsed with warm water. Instant relief. I think the agitating action of the brush, hot water, and soap worked to remove the chili oil well.

HTH

comment left by Andrew

We had a incident recently where we got Serrano pepper oil on the eye and had it spread into the face after attempting to wash the eye out with water which intensified the burn. But after remembering something from TV where they were able to slow the burn down by using Milk to remove the oils and burning sensation afterwards using cucumber to soothe the skin from the burn. Hope this helps somebody in the future.

comment left by Robert

I knew about chili burn, but that's for sensitive skin people, Chilies Smilies. Thirty minutes after peeling, deseeding, and chopping 2 lbs of roasted hot green hatch chilies, my fingers were all shiny and burning more and more. Aghh! Tried in order: olive oil, lemon juice, milk, vinager, salt, rubbing alcohol. After all that the burn was maybe down to 90% with no real effect. Tried olive oil again and it went down to 20% right after that. The next time with olive oil it was back to normal. Rubbed olive oil on my fingers for a few minutes then washed them, repeat after like 20 min. Ate my death chili and mmm mmm good but bloody hot.

comment left by Patrick

Thankyou :)

comment left by Jo

I am a student in a culinary school, and had to go through a WHOLE tray of stupid chili peppers... this remedy helped.

comment left by enki

I tried olive oil. I tried lemon juice. However, the only thing that worked was yogurt. However, you have to leave it on for 5 minutes and perhaps repeat it 1-2 times after for the yogurt to take.

comment left by jesse

If I had known about how painful cutting up chilis was for my hands I would of had my husband cut them! Just kidding! Honestly , There should be a warning on the packages and or plants on how handleing chilis for cooking could burn the skin. I did try the lemon juice (concentrated) after using bactine, there was some relief.

comment left by Pam M

When all else fails, if available, you can try Pepto Bismal. Since this relieves upset stomach by neutralizing the acids, this will give immediate relief.

comment left by Jim

I don't think Pepto Bismal will work, as chilli is alkaline, not acidic

comment left by Joseph

My 13 year old son who HAD to chop the onions and chillies for the spring rolls has been whining for hours about his burning fingers.

Oil was a non event but a lemon juice and vinegar cocktail help and we resorted to rubbing alcohol which has taken 90% of the burn away. Not sure of what part worked, but to all the contributors he says thanks.

Thanks folks!

As my dad used to say - did it hurt? Never felt a thing!

comment left by lefty from Long Jetty (Australia)

thank you all so much for the great advice im doing a science fair project for my school. and my topic is what takes the heat out of chilli and this site has really helped me out like alot. so thanks so much!!!!!

comment left by shynnie

I am currently suffering from my first case of chilli burn! I didn't even realise it existed..my fingers and fingernails are stinging, so I googled a remedy, and have tried the lemon juice, however it provided only a temporary relief..I think I need to try the other suggestions as well to find one that works for me! Thanks to everyone for their input!

comment left by Kyra

I was in agony after chopping chillis. I tried using sudocrem cream but the stingin was unbearable. so i decided to look on net. Thank good ness i had a lemon in the house. it was instant relief. Thanks.

comment left by emma

we've been cooking for bicol express for the first time, unfortunately the three of us not wearing gloves while we're preparing/cooking for our bicol express, after an hour the three of us feel the chili pain on our fingers/hands.. and you what we've done? we only washed astring-o-sol mouthwash...hehehe a minute after the chili pain washed away.. pls. try this remedy it might help you guys!..

comment left by johnny, cris & joy

For all u indians out der, try ghee... just rub it in nd leave it on for sometime... works wonders!!!

comment left by Garima

Wow...these chili burns are no joke. About 20 minutes after cutting Serrano chilis to put into a guacamole, I started to feel a slight warmth in my fingers (which, of course, I ignored like a big dummy). Not long after that, I felt like my hand was on fire. Rubbing my hands in lemon juice, olive oil, and alcohol provided only temporary relief, only to have the burn slowly come back, only more intensely. Combining methods from the poison control center, and from what several others have tried, here's what I came up with. Really worked for me:

Make a paste with salt and olive oil and rub it into your hands for about 5-10 minutes. This will be a little uncomfortable, especially if your fingers are burning. Let the salt paste coat your hands for another 10-15 minutes then wash off with soap and cool water. Ahhh...instant relief...

Learned my lesson.

Next time...gloves.

comment left by elle

thanks so much for your wisdom--I just experienced the worst chili burn on my tongue ever. I tried licking salt and drinking milk to no avail, then read your advice. I squeezed the juice from half a lemon and literally bathed my tongue in it. Wonder of wonders, it's totally fine now :o) My boyfriend said next time he'll make me margaritas to cure the burn!

comment left by berta

Thanks for your help- was cooking yesterday with chillis, cut them up without gloves on and my hands still feel very painful- but the lemon juice helped!

comment left by GM

Thank you.... your lemon juic idea is really amazing..... it works in seconds :) Thanks a lot.

comment left by knetneo

Today i cut up this tiny little red chilli, luckily I thought to test a tiny bit with the tip of my tongue, and instant fire..so when my husband came back from aikido, i just had to let him try, and this is when i got a LOT of chilli juice on my fingers(serves me right) and they were on fire! I tried everything you suggested, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt..eventually i found some relief after putting the salt and oil mix/paste on my fingers for 15 mins..the burn is not 100% gone, but its now just a slight burning as opposed to being on fire! Thank you to all of you for the advice!

comment left by Angelique from Florida

i'm currently sat with a slice of lime on my finger...thanks for the tips...seems to be working for now...only problem is lime juice in a small cut on my finger! (at least its taking my mind off the burn!)

comment left by Andrea

top tip olive oil worked a treat compleatly aliviated pain :)

comment left by Richard england

hello people i would assume that you must be some what stupid like me to be to be reading this blog. but i would say its the best site i have ever been too.

after trying to impress my mother in law by seeding the bloody hottest chillies in the face of this planet, and obviously without the gloves i coped the clilly burns. after trying everything thats and reading 99 blogs nothing worked.

then i decided to try the fijian method of remedy.

made a sugar paste(3:1 sugar to water) and soaked my hands in it. washed hands after 5 min and the left it for a while to dry.

repeated the process twice and had a comforting result at the end.

would also like to thank all those people who wrote in this blog for those not using brains where needed--------- like me./

comment left by ash & joy

After cutting 250 grams of chilli by hand to deseed........7 hours later my burning went away......after trying all of the above...vinegar, oil and salt, sugar and water.....nothing worked.......I used ice .....nothing else worked....I suffered for 7 hrs....please use gloves ......K....xx

comment left by Kezza

I read about needing gloves to cut chilis on the packet and laughed. Chili doesn't burn my hands. But it sure as hell burns my lips and the area around my mouth. Lemon juice-no improvement. I really can' stand vinegar :'(

Oh crap...

comment left by Katie

I deseeded a serrano chile and both of my hands and mouth were on fire. My mouth thankfully subsided but my hands were no avail. I tried yogurt, aloe, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, ice cream, even lanacaine burn spray which made it worse. NOTHING WORKED. I had to sleep with a cold pack on my hands at night because that soothed the relief. It is the next day and the burn has somewhat subsided unless i rub my hands or put pressure on them, it is STILL THERE.

comment left by Ariel

i squeezed some chili to add it for my food then got the chili juices all over my hand!! I felt intense pain after a few minutes. I have no lemon juice or something but instead i used a vit C tablet since it has acids and stuff.. is it okay?

comment left by koko

koko,

if it works and didn't kill you...

should be fine...

[disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Also, the Internet can be wrong.]

comment left by Joseph

thks this helped me alot with my school project

comment left by minh

I had to chop 9 allsorted chillies but little did i knew that i would get burnt inbetween my fingers. . . I just forgot about the pain as it wore off after the olive oil but later on i rubed my eye and i was in pain ,so for goodness sake wear gloves -!

comment left by lucy

I had to chop 9 allsorted chillies but little did i knew that i would get burnt inbetween my fingers. . . I just forgot about the pain as it wore off after the olive oil but later on i rubed my eye and i was in pain ,so for goodness sake wear gloves -!

comment left by lucy

This is amazing advice, chopped about 20 thin green chillies about 5 hours ago and it never occurred to me that the little sods actually did this to you even though on the bag it says "wear gloves"! and have felt this pain every time i chop them! I stumbled across this website and used olive oil then vinegar, (no lemons) the main pain disappeared pretty much immediately, just left with a very slight tingle now which is totally bearable. THANK YOU!

comment left by Karen Brooks

about 2 hours after chopping and de-seeding extra hot scotch bonnet chillis with bare hands I then started feeling a burning sensation on both hands especially my fingertips. after googling for treatment i came accross this page............after doing the old soap, milk, lemon juice, yog, etc, etc - I realised that nothing helped so had a sleepless nite with several trips to freezer to fill ice bucket that I slept with my hands in :( the following day STILL one of my hands was on fire, swollen, tight, dry and angry.....then I discovered the SUDOCREM trick - arghhhhhhhhhhhhh - at last no burning!! I smeared the cream all over hands and lightly wrapped round a bandage - wooooohooooo no more burning - hope this helps xxxxx

comment left by katie

My first experience with Serrano Chilies! I had no idea they were going to burn!! - I quickly google'd and found your site! Thanks very much! The Olive oil + lemon + Salt - did the trick... now it is a very faint burn!

comment left by Mary - USA

I have tried all of the above , nothings worked - ive been in agony for over 9 hours and im still in agony! its middle of the night and my hands are literally on fire!

comment left by sal

Thanks man they are some hot little devils

comment left by Conker

We are poor dumb fools. For me, it just a lazy Saturday afternoon... making black beans...adding serrano peppers. Forgot: DO NOT touch the seeds. I ended up at this web site looking for a remedy. Tried it all --- olive oil --- lime --- key lime juice, (no lemons on hand) --- olive oil and key lime juice mixture, ... Had a Smithwick. That was GOOD... Heavy cream (milk)...now that diminished the fire. NEXT...Kosher salt & olive oil...that helped some. Now my fingers have a slow burn. But, my hands are NOT ON FIRE!!! At least this is all temporary... Gonna have another Smithwick. Now my hands are really ok. I hope it lasts.

comment left by Brenda

I'm wondering what my neighbours think of me now, I was standing at my kitchen sink scrubbing my hands with coconut oil then lemon juice over and over then smelling my hands and sticking my fingers in my mouth (to see if my tongue still burned or not when it contacted my finger).. the must think I'm nuts by now! But at least I won't rub my eye while I'm asleep and wake up with my face burning off.

comment left by Lah

Forget the vinegar, lemons etc. The miracle cure for this is to wee on the affected area. I know it sounds horrible but I cant feel the burn at all now after trying everything possible!!!

comment left by Margaret

I had never heard of the burn either. I did read in the recipe not to touch anywhere on my face. Made some homemade guacamole with Serrano's. All was well until I was cleaning up. So, the internet is my friend and I found this site. Thanks to all who added info. The oil and lime helped, then you just have to hold a nice large COLD glass of wine for an hour or so. Works wonders.

comment left by Sally

Ive tried milk first then lemons and thank god it has mostly worked to ease this pain.

I deseeded heaps of dried chillies to collect the seeds to plant. Later I went to the gents room and almost immediately the burning kicked in on a certain sensitive body part... I felt so stupid pouring milk then basically holding half a lemon to my crotch. But it was worth it for the relief -- I swear it burnt with the ferocity of 1000 suns

comment left by Andrew

I occasionally prepare chillies and freeze them in small quantities. Busy chopping red and green chillies this evening, thinking that washing hands afterwards would be sufficient. Within about 20 minutes, fingers stinging like hell! After an hour of suffering, decided to try internet in desperation, and found this site. Immediately smothered my hands in olive oil, washed off with soap and cool water, then spent some minutes squeezing quarter of a lemon onto affected areas. Almost instant relief! Now, two hours on, fingers are still sensitive, but bearable, thank goodness. Thanks to everyone for great advice. I shall wear rubber gloves next time!

comment left by Celia from Cheshire UK

I tried the lemon juice and it was a relief. Thanks for this site. I learned my lesson not to de-seed the evil chilies with no oil in my hands. I was in agony for 8 hours until I found this site. Thanks again. The lemon juice was a top notch.

comment left by beatrice

After deseeding some chilies I felt an intense burning sensation in the soft skin between my fingers. I looked up your site ,tried the lime juice ,as there were no lemons,and bingo! the burning started to ease. I shall try the oil tip before deseeding next time many thanks for the tips. PS. have entered the anti spam No mentioned above

comment left by kieran

Just been chopping up my home-grown Apache Chillies and nipped to the loo without thinking. Can't remember the last time I was so close to tears. Lemon juice worked a charm - instant relief. Althought the 'old mans' a bit sticky

comment left by My Sex Is On Fire

My husband blew his nose after cutting some chilis and started crying afterwards. Thankfully, we found this site. He stuck some lemon juice on two cotton balls, stuck them inside his nose (TMI?) and said the relief was immediate. Thanks ;D

comment left by Melissa

Olive oil was OK, but the lemon Juice worked great!!!

comment left by Robo9x

I wish I had read the lemon thing earlier before I spent 2 hours awake in the middle of my sleep...from midnight to 2 am I was awake and with burning fingers. I did the olive oil thing and it helped some but not nearly enough so then I found this...(my last attempt) and it worked almost instantly...thanx

comment left by Jessica

I got chilli on my nose and across my cheeks. I tried lemon, cocoa butter, white vinegar all of them. Then I tried pressing tissues soaked in milk on it. Only use the tissue once, or else the chilli transfers from skin to tissue and back to skin. The milk helped straight away, down to a liveable burn. And within 10 minutes of watching tv, I had forgotten about it! yay. try milk!

comment left by Jackie

Hi... my hands were burning a lot after deseeding a few chillis... I tried salt, milk ,cold water, soap.. but nothing worked like the lemon juice to reduce the burning instantly... Thanks

comment left by Anupama

Burned my hands on chilli cooking fajitas and nothing would work. Tried pouring milk on my hand, which didn't really work. Oil eases the pain but, lemon really works!! Still tingling but, definately the ticket!!!

comment left by bondgirl

was making chilli pickle with very mild chillies, i always use de chop board. somehow cut de chillies with hand. my hands were on fire for several hours, tried - hand wash; water, creams, ice ....nothing seemed to work. its 2:48 right now. oil plus lemon seems to be quite a relief....to an extent which makes me 2 extend my gratitude to tde person who wrote this.. my left hand is still unwashed, as i don't want to remove de lemon....thanks a ton..

comment left by yukta

I can't get rid of the burning in my hands and it comes and goes on my lips. It s been 20 hours and no relief...im sooo miserable. I have tried EVERYTHNG and am now on painkillers !

comment left by Donna

it gave me instant relief but the burning crept back, perhaps not as intense as before I had cooked with the chillis a couple of hours ago, great tip tip thanks

comment left by rach

I started cutting the chillies at 9AM and i started feeling the burning sensation at 10:30AM. It's now 10:30PM and I've tried milk, lemon juice, vinager, oil and lemon juice and nothing has worked! I'm guessing waaay to late. I need to sleep so I'm just gonna use painkillers and an ice pack as my teddy bear. Ugh. I wanna throw a bunch of chillies at my sister's face so she stop telling me deal with it and stop being a pussy.

comment left by kay

I didn't realise a chilli had fallen into my garden glove whilst working in the yard until I felt a severe burining pain - I thought I had been stung by some sort of insect - when I took my glove off there was a tinyred chilli squashed between my fingers -ouch!!

I tried washing in cold water; squeezing aloe vera juice straight from the garden onto the area; applying burn cream- all to no avail as the pain worsened. I decided in desperation to get onto the web and look for a remedy when I came across "bleach" - tried it and got immediate relief - just mixed it in a little water and soaked and rubbed it into the affected area - so far, so good! I couldn't believe that I had been in pain for several hours and this was so simple! I would recommend this to anyone to try up front, and thanks to all those bloggers who suggested bleach.

comment left by narelle e, australia

I was choppin Habanero's from my garden today (gloveless) and then proceeded to mix the chillis with ginger and sauce to coat chicken as a marinade. I managed to get chilli under my fingernails (VERY SORE) I tried the oil, lemon juice, bleach, milk, ice water nothing helps! I can barely type and I've got tests to write tomorrow. HELP

comment left by Em

My mrs had burns on her hands from making chillie muscles and all the oils and yogurt ideas did nothing for relief from the burning pain

but the tip on lemon juice was good (we tried orange juice)

def do this for relief from the burning

comment left by Jez

I was cutting up some Thai chilli and idiotically scratched the inside of my ear... I can assure you the agony was severe. I dabbed some lemon juice on a Q-tip and gently applied some to the burning areas. Thank you, it felt as though there was a burning wick headed for my brain, I feel much better.

comment left by Relief

ow! ow! ow! mistake #1 - de-seeded super hot chilli with my bare fingers mistake #2 - forgot to wash them afterwards 1 hour later and fingers on fire - especially under nails. scrubbed with water, soap, detergent, cried and then googled. now typing with one hand in lemon and olive oil. Tip: lemon juice from squeezy bottle didn't work but fresh lemon is amazing. thank you so much!

comment left by katherine

You just saved my nose, go the lemon juice!

Thanks

comment left by Steve

You are a legend, was cutting up chillies and then blew my nose and felt like my nose was on fire. The lemon juice worked a treat.

Thank you

comment left by Angelique

great tip on the lemons, i've been growing habanero chillis at 500,000 scoville units, and my hand was on fire 24 hours later... lemon juice is great thanks :)

comment left by James

thank you ..thank you..=)

comment left by rose ann-philippines

Hi Folks !

I have a few pepper plants in the backyard ..these are a cross between Chili and Hell . I generally cut them up into strips , sun dry them for a few days and blend into powder which I give away to neighbours. My last cutting set my hands on fire with vinegar helping a bit. The burning was so bad that it caused the tip of my fingernails to peel. I will definitely try lemon juice the next time .

comment left by Joe

my nose burns so much just by handling 2 small chillies my mum told me they were very hot hot hot

peace homes

comment left by shaz

I was using chilli when making chutney with my mum, when she acciudentally got some near her eye, and i got pain on my lips, so i thought... CUCUMBER! this cooled down the stinging alot. I then used oily washing up liquid on my hands as out of olive oil. This worked really well. Thanks!

comment left by laura

cut some chillis that says extra hot on the packageing with NO gloves... stupid!... last night slight tingly sensation... this morning... nothing till i took my bath... boy! the burning came... soaking my hands in water did nothing only made it worse... wanted to wear my contacts, oh no! doesn't work... searched internet and came across your entries... first time i doused my fingers in lemon juice - the pain went away and came back in 30 secs... what did for me - 3 Tbsp of salt with 3 Tbsp of olive oil ... rubbed my hands for 5-10min... pain went away... washed my hands with water and rubbed my hands in yoghurt... then last lemon juice... Now, everything is back to normal and have put on my contacts... all in under 30 min

comment left by hot!

Thank God for this post! My fingertips & under my fingernails have been burning for an hour after handling a serrano pepper. Hooray for lemon juice!

comment left by Gemma