Help! My chili peppers have burned my tongue! or Help! My chili peppers have burned my skin! How do you stop the chili pepper burn?
How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn
As a spicy food lover, it's bound to happen. You're chopping jalapeno peppers or other hot peppers for your meal and some of it gets on your skin and starts to burn, or you take a bite of your freshly prepared spicy dish and whoa, the spicy heat is just too much.
Honestly, this happens to the best of us. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to alleviate the jalapeno burn or chili pepper burn from your skin and from eating hot peppers.
Stop the Chili Pepper Burn on the Skin
The best way to avoid chili pepper burns on the skin is to wear gloves when handling them, nitrile gloves in particular. The reason hot peppers can burn your skin is because they contain an oily substance called "capsaicin" that sticks to your skin.
Capsaicin is the substance that makes chili peppers "hot" and spicy, so avoiding the oil is the ideal way to go.
However, we often forget to wear gloves or just don't think of it, which can cause burning not only on the hands, but on other sensitive parts of the body that you touch with your hands, particularly your eyes.
Below are several ways you can combat the jalapeno heat or other hot pepper heat on your skin, or "hot pepper hands". Some are my own recommendations, but also some ideas are from spicy food readers who have shared their own personal experiences.
Be sure to read the comments below to learn other ways people have alleviated the heat for themselves.
Dish Soap and Water - Recommended
Dish soaps are meant to help clean oily plates, so they can be effective in washing away the chili oil from your burning skin. If you feel burning on your skin from handling hot peppers, wash them very thoroughly with water and dish soap several times to work the oils off of your skin.
Use Milk (or other Dairy) - Recommended
Dairy products like milk contain the chemical "casein" that combats the effects the capsaicin (the chemical that makes peppers hot) by stripping it from its receptor site on the skin.
To use milk to help stop the jalapeno burn, soak your hands in milk in a shallow bowl for several minutes, or until the heat subsides. If needed, wash your hands again thoroughly with dish soap and soak them again in milk.
Consider using milk, yogurt, sour cream or crema, or even ice cream to soak the burning skin.
Here are some other suggestions from spicy food lovers.
Rubbing Alcohol
The oil that makes chili peppers hot, capsaicin, is more soluble in alcohol, so a quick rub down with rubbing alcohol (or even a high proof booze) can help wipe it from your skin.
Just be careful, as the initial application of rubbing alcohol can cause an initial burning or stinging sensation.
Oils
Oils can be effective in helping to dissolve the burning chili oils. Dab some olive oil or any other vegetable oil onto your burning skin with cotton balls or a napkin.
Soak or wipe the skin to help dissipate the chili pepper burn.
Weak Bleach Solution
This is according to Alton Brown of "Good Eats". He says to douse your already burning hands in a mild solution of 5 to 1 water to bleach.
The bleach helps wash away the capsaicin that hasn't yet absorbed into your skin.
Baking Soda or Corn Starch Paste
Starches can help draw out the oil from your burning skin so you can wash it away and possibly neutralize it. Use 1 tablespoon of baking soda or corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water to form a paste.
Rub this into your skin and scrub to remove the oils causing the hot pepper burn.
Time
Please note that the chili pepper burning sensation on your skin will dissipate over time, so don't think it's going to last forever.
For most people it lasts anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, so give it time. It's not actual "burning" or damaging, only the sensation of burning, so you don't need to worry.
Hopefully this helps you find some relief with your burning skin.
Stopping Chili Pepper Burning in the Eyes
If you've been handling hot peppers and then touched your eyes, they can starts to burn and sting, as your eyes are extremely sensitive. If this happens, the best thing to do is to soak a paper towel in milk, then hold it to your burning eye.
The milk contains a chemical called "casein" that counteracts the burning chemical, "capsaicin", which makes hot peppers hot.
Stop the Burn from Eating Hot Peppers (Burning Mouth or Tongue from Chili Peppers)
Many of us have experience the burn after taking a bite of something too spicy. Often it's a bit too much hot sauce or an unexpected bit of heat at a spicy food restaurant, or you've simply miscalculated the heat of a pepper from your garden.
If you are experiencing mouth burn or tongue burn from eating jalapeno peppers or other hot peppers, here is what to do.
Eat Dairy
Because of the innate hotness of all chili peppers, they can burn not only the inside of your mouth, but your skin as well. If you find that you simply can't bear the heat after eating a chile pepper, try to consume a dairy product, like milk, yogurt, or ice cream.
Dairy products contain a chemical called casein that combats the effects of capsaicin (the chemical that makes peppers hot) by stripping it from its receptor site on the skin.
Milk can take some time to quell an intense burn, but it works. You'll notice an initial dissipation of the heat, but extremely hot peppers and foods can persist, so continue with the milk or dairy. Rinse and then swallow if necessary.
Sugar
I've also tried sugar and that seems to work in a pinch. Sugar can help absorb some of the hot chili oil and can reduce the burn, but it is primarily a distraction from the burn and lessen the effect.
Sugar is best added so recipes that already have hints of sweetness.
Time
The burning heat from eating spicy foods will eventually dissipate over time, so at least you know it won't last forever, even though it may feel that way at the moment.
I hope this helps. Again, please review the many reader comments below who've shared their own experiences and methods for combating burning skin, burning eyes, and burning tongues from eating hot peppers and other spicy foods.
Share Your Experience - Help Others
If you've found a solution that worked for you, please share your methods below to help others stop the chili pepper burn.
NOTE: This post was updated on 2/11/25 to include new information. It was originally published on 6/20/14.
True honey lover says
Thank you so much, Sasha for your comment. I tried everything on the website but nothing was making the burn go away until I read your post and tried honey. I only used the smallest amount and submerged my hands in it for 20-30minutes and it all went away. Thank you again!
keerthi says
6 hours of burning stopped after i applied hand sanitizer and some coconut oil over my burning fingers.
Emilie says
Dipping hands for about 10-15 minutes in cold milk helped - although it was lactose free (but there was probably casein in it)
Sasha Motass says
Was making kimchi with my husband. We’ve been making it for quite awhile, I’d say, this was our seventh or tenth time making it. One could say that we are fairly experienced with the chili part of the kimchi recipe, we like it hot and we always put at least two cups per four large Napa cabbages. The only new thing this time was the fact that I’m seven months pregnant. And, apparently, it made all the difference - after covering the salt soaked cabbage with the chili paste, I felt it burning, and the burning didn’t went away after I washed my hands throughly. It became progressively worse in the next 15 minutes, the burning turned unbearable. Both hands, only the outer side of the palms and fingers. It started getting slightly red (uneven, like during an allergic reaction). I found this website and started trying one thing after another, methodically. I was getting scared and worried (being 7 months pregnant does that to a person).
I tried covering my hands in olive oil, soaking in micellar water, rubbing with vodka, holding them in cold yogurt, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial gel, three hours had passed, my husband and I were ready to call the ER, and we even called them to ask for advice (they told us to go to the farm act and call them again if the pain doesn’t subside in an hour) and then... I read the honey suggestion. I smeared a tablespoon amount on each palm and held my breath.
It helped! After 10-15 minutes the pain went down, in 25-30 it went away almost completely. I washed it off (without using soap), and the effect lasted. It felt like a monstrous migraine was finally gone. I nearly cried with relief. Thank you so much ❤️
Note - we had organic natural honey, not from the store - that might be one of the reasons it helped so quickly.
Again - HONEY WORKS!
Phil says
I tried many of the suggestions here (stainless steel, vinegar, honey, rubbing alcohol) as well as soaking in antacid (alumina and magnesia suspension), and they were all somewhat effective, but the pain and burning kept coming back after a while. Of all of them, the antacid was most effective, but that might just be because I did it the longest.
On a hunch I decided to try Voltaren (2.32% Diclofenac diethylamine topical analgesic, usually used for joint pain), and the pain and burning sensation were completely gone after 5 minutes and didn't come back. I highly recommend it.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for sharing your experience, Phil.
Kimberley Hedger says
After extreme burning sensation from cutting scotch bonnet on my fingers, I dipped them in vodka and then made a paste with the baking soda and vodka covered my fingers in it. Finally relief, a full day later.!!!
Abinayaa says
I cut a habanero pepper without gloves and ended up with burning/boiling hands.. This article was very helpful, especially the thread of comments. So I am here to share my experience.
I ended up rubbing my upper lip with my right hand and I was able to reduce the burn with 3-4 applications. By my hand - butter didn’t work. I tried many remedies suggested here. Nothing worked, rubbing alcohol aggravated the burn for me.
Lastly the HONEY!! Yes it helped and burn was bearable after 2-3 applications. After 4 hours it resurfaced and I applied honey again. Been repeating this for the past many hours. Not sure when it will entirely be alright.
Another thing to prevent is contamination. The leftover oil in your hand sticks on to any surface you touch. So don’t touch your face or body. Also sticks to devices. Im covering my phone in cling on wrap.
If you are in the same situation - try what works for you, each skin is different, exposure and absorption of chili oil is different. Between trying each remedy wash well. The chemical composition of each is different and any counter action between them might result in further pain and discomfort. Hope you feel better soon.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for sharing your experience, Abinayaa.
D Worth says
I found "stainless steel" helps. That is, rub the area with stainless steel. The advice was from some other site and it sounded worth trying because I have observed first hand that seems to work with garlic odour in my experience. We used to just rub our hands on the large spout in the kitchen sink for the garlic cure. We have since acquired a bar-soap shaped piece of stainless steel design specifically for the (garlic) purpose. We've had it and use it for years.
So, I tried it on my BURNING BURNING fingers (I had finely chopped 4 of the tiny red peppers 18 hours ago and my fingers starting complaining about it only now...)
Long story short: the burning sensation has GREATLY subsided! It seems perfectly clear that the stainless steel did the job. Specifically, I held the (bar soap shaped) piece of stainless steel in the unaffected hand and rubbed it all over the affected areas on my left hand (exactly those fingers that I would have touched the peppers with) UNDER running cold water. The relief was immediate, but that coudl have been from teh running water. But many minutes later, it retured ONLY SLIGHTLY and in one area. So I have rubbed that area more carefully now (again, under running water) and that was about 15 or 20 minutes ago.
and its seems to be 100% fine now.
What had started with a very pronounced and very annoying burning sensation all over three finger tips (well, thumb and 2 fingers) is now about 97% subsided.
Whew!
I speculate that had I used any other piece of stainless steel (eg the sink spout or the sink itself) it might have worked as well. The little piece of stainless still that I did use resembled the surface of my own typical stainless steel kitchen sink... not a shiny chrome-like appearance, more of a finely lined silvery gray.
FYI.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for sharing your experience! It surely helps others.
Bobbi says
Miscellar water solves it! Soak yr hand for 30 mins and you are burn-free!
CJ says
1. Storytellers, please save your stories if it's just a funny story and not related to solutions. People are in pain and looking for advice. We don't have time to read your boring stories.
2. Spammers posting their Facebook's, this isn't the place(see #1).
Has anybody tried mustard, yet? Since this helps with physical burns from fire, I wonder if it has an effect on pepper pain on the hands. I'm in a country where convenience stores don't carry it in the middle of the night, but curious if anybody else has tried.
I've tried white vinegar, milk, alcohol hand sanitizer, vodka, deep pore scrubbing gel that has teach free oil and it makes, head and shoulders shampoo, icewater, air conditioner, honey, scrubbing hands with hot water, hand soap. None of these have worked. Thai chili pepper all over my hands. Considering going to ER.
ye olde says
Mustard works. It is very soothing while it is on. When you wash it off then the burn comes back, but is slightly diminished, so you have to keep putting more mustard on and letting it sit a while and then rinsing.
I barehand cutting up jalapenos and it is just a mildly annoying tingle that fades after an hour, but the time I chopped up habaneros was not okay. Mustard really does help.
Fred says
I tried milk and dish soap to no success and then eventually tried salt, olive oil and hot water which was all I had available. It was a painful method and after scrubbing the pain came back but then subsided after about 40 minutes. My skin feels raw after being in pain for so many hours but now thankfully it's gone.
Noor says
Hey I also did the same experiment You all did without gloves so next time be careful and my hands are burning ohhhhhhhhhhhhh ...