this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2026
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[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 14 points 46 minutes ago* (last edited 5 minutes ago) (3 children)

Okay, but ice isn't good for this; ~~it's a chemical burn, and~~ capsaicin is fat-soluble. You ideally want something like milk. Meanwhile, on your hands (assuming some of it got on those), you want to cover your hands in oil and then wash them with dish soap (and once those are clean, if there's residual burning, you can use topical pain treatments).


Edit: My understanding of the term "chemical burn" was mistaken. Thanks to @Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world for calling me out on this. I didn't know it had to be corrosive or cytotoxic to be a "chemical burn"; I thought irritants generally were included.


Edit 2: Actually, looking further into this, I'm not so sure I was technically wrong at the level of capsaicin you'd be exposing yourself to with a Carolina Reaper. Capsaicin can be cytotoxic. I wonder now if very minor nerve death occurs at this level of spice. Either way, that's not the main problem if it's even happening; my comment was wrong regardless of possible technical accuracy.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 6 points 22 minutes ago (1 children)

It is NOT a chemical burn. It's an activation of TRPV1 receptors. Normally these receptors activate due to increased temperature, capsaicin activation means they think there's literally an increase in temperature. They THINK you're burning, but you're not. There's no chemical burn; it's reversible and generally safe with no lasting damage.

Your fat soluble comments are accurate, although it's really time more than anything else that will alleviate the pain. You do not need to soak your hands in oil before washing, not sure where you got that from. Soap and water works fine.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 points 8 minutes ago

You do not need to soak your hands in oil before washing, not sure where you got that from. Soap and water works fine.

I should clarify that my comment was assuming that, like in the OP, someone was handling a Carolina Reaper. Capsaicin being fat-soluble should mean that it dissolves into the oil and then gets carried away by the dish soap. I've never had to use this personally, since just dish soap and water has always worked fine for me.

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 3 points 35 minutes ago (1 children)

Gordon Ramsey ate peanut butter for this purpose once and I've been curious to try that. I feel like it would work.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 12 minutes ago* (last edited 12 minutes ago)

Yeah, that’s why some Thai (and other countries) dishes use things like peanut sauce with spicy dishes.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 35 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

Thank fuck for the explainer. Looked like white mold growing out of their throat.

[–] massive_bereavement@fedia.io 7 points 54 minutes ago (1 children)

Without context this picture will haunt me for a long time. I hate mold.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 2 points 33 minutes ago

With context I have no idea what tf she's doing.

Is she eating cotton balls?

[–] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

When she does it again and again, around the 5th time or so, she'll discover she is a chilli head.

[–] Redacted@lemmy.zip 9 points 57 minutes ago

New wojack just dropped

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 41 minutes ago (1 children)

I grew some reapers a while ago. The difference in heat between them and a standard habanero is comical.

[–] Carl@anarchist.nexus 1 points 12 minutes ago* (last edited 11 minutes ago)

My buddy brought a pizza to work. A local pizzeria makes what they call a Russian Roulette. It’s a regular large pizza with jalapeños… Except that one slice has Carolina reaper blended into the sauce under the cheese. He told us all the gimmick, we all laughed and circled round to take a bite at the same time.

That sly motherfucker had asked them to make the entire pizza with the reaper sauce. The heat was immediate and overwhelming, and all of us simultaneously went “oh god oh fuck I got the reaper slice.” And as we all rushed to the lone water fountain, we realized what he had done.

It was a great prank. We all ended up fighting over that water fountain for like 20 minutes, like we were trapped underwater holding our breath, and it was the only air hose.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 49 minutes ago

I thought that was some mold