I just had the most painful 16 hours of my life after cutting up cherry peppers and deseeding them by hand. I could not take my hands out of ice water from noon yesterday until 4am when I finally passed out with my hands in a pillowcase with a ziplock full of ice. Even 10 seconds out of water and dried and I felt like I was sticking them in a thousand degree oven. They now feel like they got rubbed with sandpaper internet and one of my fingertips is still numb with pins and needles. Please learn from mistake, my bare hands were covered in capsaicin for 30min.

by plantgirl7

23 Comments

  1. TouchedbyJebus

    I grilled and deseeded about 20 habs without gloves, my hands burnt for about 2 days. And just like you said felt like needles, lesson learned ha!

  2. 420GenericUsername69

    Grilled and peeled around 400g of cayenne peppers once for a hot sauce, had the same miserable experience. I will 100% glove up even if I’m preparing just one habanero, also because I don’t want to accidentally fuck up my cat lol

  3. crystalgem411

    If you had arthritis in your hands before I bet it’s not bothering you now

  4. bitsynthesis

    i “learn” this lesson a couple times a year, but it never sticks

  5. jamiethemime

    one time i was chopping up peppers while barefoot and the knife hit a seed just so, it bounced up and wedged itself perfectly between two toes. picked it out and tossed it and washed my hands and went on with life until an hour later the spot started burning like crazy. now i always wear socks to make dinner.

  6. I chopped 2 lbs of extremely hot home grown jalapeños once and did not have gloves. I only used my left hand. My hand burned for a week. I referred to it as the left hand of spiceness.

  7. I can de-seed most peppers by hand without gloves… My hands are just numb from 15 years of being a lineman.

  8. Sensitive_Pilot3689

    I double glove for hot peppers

  9. mysticalakay

    Anyone else that this happens to, wash your hands with hand wash for 7 minutes minimum. Not underwater but making sure your hands are sudsy for all 7 mins and you’re rubbing it in

  10. TheTruth_iz_outThere

    ​I was cutting and processing over 1kg of Habanero peppers without gloves, and I was exposed to them for nearly an hour. It was terrible experience..
    I tried milk, butter, and alcohol, but nothing worked, it was too late, and capsaicin was too deep under my skin already..

    ​I prepared mild citric acid and it helped me!!!
    I just had to soak my hands in it for about an hour. Thank me later! 😄

    ..anyway.. It is also about resistance.. Same as eating them. You can build it up. My tolerance is way higher now.. So not only mouth and stomach but even my hands are “pretty well trained” and i can stand it without any huge pain..

  11. rawcheesegrater

    I did 9 jalapenos this week and~ 70 hrs later im able to barely feel it haha

  12. Nimrod750

    I learned my lesson when I cut up cherry bomb peppers without gloves then went to the bathroom without washing my hands before. I rubbed olive oil and aloe down there for an hour and didn’t leave my bed for a few hours

  13. i_swear_too_muchffs

    Cherry peppers, damn you would need full hazmat gear for actual spicy peppers.

  14. Mountain-Hedgehog128

    Learned this the other day with some Naga BB7 peach seeds. Went to the bathroom and then was like ‘well shit’.

  15. Doom2pro

    I did this once with Caribbean Red Habaneros back in 2008. It was like hot coals under my fingernails… Never made that mistake again.

  16. daorbed9

    Hands on fire right now from 4 jalapenos. I’m used to it now and don’t bother wearing gloves anymore unless its supers.

  17. fmcfad01

    I processed a bunch of peppers yesterday with gloves on, but somehow still burned my 🍆 when I took a pee. Stay safe out there.

  18. weirdoimmunity

    I just did a pile of habenero and it’s somehow not bothering me. I touched my eye and it was kinda spicy for a few minutes but it wasn’t terrible

  19. MC_Red_D

    I’m one of those rare people who can touch all sorts of s*** like poison ivy and not have a problem. The only problem is after I handle a bunch of peppers I inevitably touch my eye. If I ever get pepper sprayed, they’re going to be in for a surprise

  20. pupparoo16

    Yeah. Gloves. And DON’T touch your eyes….. trust me 😩

  21. Dropitlikeitscold555

    Your genitals will thank you too

  22. 1Negative_Person

    Is this really a problem for people? I get not touching your eyes or urethra, but is it really hurting your hands through the skin? I don’t wear gloves, even when cutting superhots, and I’ve *never* had anything exceeding a mild warmth. I can’t imagine days of excruciating pain, *especially* not from anything less than a ghost or something.