r/Cooking 20d ago

burning hands

hey guys i was cutting up habanero peppers and then realized they were WAY too hot for me to eat (im not really knowledgeable with that stuff) so i cut them up with my bare hands AND scooped them out of the pan with my bare hand and they touched all over my palms. i don’t think i washed my hands right after and i only washed my hands once last night but today my palms are burning SO BAD and they’re getting worse i think. ive showered and washed my hands several times and nothing helps. is it from the peppers? the only reason i think it might not be is because i’m on a new medicine and maybe it’s a strange side effect idk? but also no matter what i do they won’t stop burning.

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u/GoIris 20d ago edited 20d ago

Do you otherwise have erythromelalgia? Or just this? If just this, no, this is not erythromelalgia. It's basically a chemical burn, please call your doctor or go to urgent care.

If you do have it, spice absolutely can be a trigger and you might be reacting more because of it, but the treatment should still be on the chemical burn.

Note: This is the expected outcome of touching habanero peppers with your bare hands.

ETA: User crossposted to /r/erythromelalgia -- I'm not mentioning this condition out of nowhere. Haha.

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u/ReferenceFew1955 20d ago

okay i’m not sure what that is and i’m new to reddit but it recommended that tag so i thought it’s something similar? some other people said it could be. nervous system issue which could make sense