Good luck. I've washed my hands with soap, I've doused them with lemon juice, I've soaked them in milk. None of it helps much.

Um....not to be indelicate but be careful where you touch if you go to the bathroom and don't rub your eyes either!

Annie

Aaarg. I've been there. Capsaicin seems to be more soluble in fat, acid, or alcohol than in plain water. You can try pouring rubbing alcohol over your hands or soaking them in it. It won't feel good when you're doing it, but it will help a little. There are a lot of old wives' tales, but honestly, once the pepper juice gets all in the cracks on your hands, it's pretty much impossible to get it all out.

DS uses milk. Says it works to soak/wash in it. Hope it stops burning soon.

Funny this same thing was posted at another forum yesterday...one person had this happen and had their solution, it was Vinegar. You want to get that oil off your skin...anyway, she said it really did work.

The only thing that worked for me was to wash in very, very hot water, with lots of soap. Apparently, the hot water opens pores and washes the capsaicin out. I tried everything I could think of before, and that is the only thing that helped.

Lately I have been washing with that alcohol based hand sanitizer...
chopped jalapenos yesterday....just 2 and didn't use gloves...
Washed well with sanitizer.....and it's gone!
Linda C

Just reread the thread from the other forum and the person that started the thread said she finally used a paste of baking soda and water and left it on a while. She said she tried everything and that was the only thing that stopped the burning pain.

Ouch! Vinegar is the best trick, other than time. This subject is exactly my 'Truc du jour' on my foodie blog: No gloves? No problem! Rub your hands with some vegetable oil.

Hopefully when you read this, the sting will be gone.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Unorthodox Epicure: Confessions of an aspiring food snob

Rub butter into your hands well, especially the fingertips(butter is always on our counter in a covered bowl), then add a squirt of dish soap and work in well, THEN wash it all off with warm water. This works for me every time for most mediums to hots that I use(jals and rocotos mostly), although I couldn't tell you if it would work with habs and other super hots cuz I'm too chicken to use them.

It is interesting that the active agent capsaicin is used to manage pain:

"---The treatment typically involves the application of a topical anesthetic until the area is numb. Then the capsaicin is applied by a therapist wearing rubber gloves and a face mask. The capsaicin remains on the skin until the patient starts to feel the "heat", at which point it is promptly removed. Capsaicin is also available in large bandages that can be applied to the back.

Capsaicin creams are used to treat psoriasis as an effective way to reduce itching and inflammation.----"

dcarch

Try vinegar....it works to strip paint maybe it will work for capsaicin.

Linda

So-called cures for pepper burned skin are all really based on the truth that if you apply any of them long enough, the burning will ease. Of course, it will ease if you do nothing. If there was a sure cure for capsaicin, we'd know it. In training where we get sprayed with pepper spray, it's water, water, and more water from a setup that has two upturned nozzles, one for each eye. It makes you feel like you're doing something other than just sitting there in agony.