What Are the Treatments for Hot Pepper Burns?

Peppers grow in thousands of different shapes, sizes and heat levels. For some, the hotter the pepper the better. Chili heads may love to singe their taste buds with that heat, but some people want the burn to stop as soon as possible. Hot pepper burns occur both in the mouth and on the skin, a result of capsicum in the peppers (See reference 1). The sooner the treatment starts to remove the burning capsicum, the faster the relief comes.

Skin burns

• Prevent burning the skin by wearing gloves when cutting and handling hot peppers (See reference 1). If you get a burn anyway, cover the area with vegetable oil for an hour, if possible (see reference 3). Another method involves washing the skin with rubbing alcohol immediately. Follow with a coating of milk or vegetable oil.

Mouth burns

• Avoid drinking plain water to relieve hot pepper mouth burns. The water moves the pepper oil throughout the mouth, but it does not dissolve it. This makes the heat seem worse. Drink something with alcohol in it instead. The alcohol will dissolve the pepper oil (See reference 2). Non-drinkers can try milk, yogurt, ice cream or a spoonful of sugar. The caisen in the dairy products prevents the taste receptors from perceiving the capsicum in the pepper oil. The capsicum is the culprit causing the burning sensation (See reference 3).

Eye burns

• Cry. The eye's natural tears most effectively flush out the pepper burn (See reference 2). If tear production isn't enough, use saline eye drops or a plain water rinse to wash out the pepper oil (See reference 1).