HELP! Neutralizing pepper?!

[Bettacreek]

Well, I was messing around with my ornamental peppers to get seeds, and touched my nose. Now, my eyes are watering, my nose is BURNING and I can't get it to stop. I'm at work, so I have limited resources. Any suggestions? I tried washing my face with soap/water and it made it worse. I tried ice water, and that helped until I tried to breathe again. Please help! Lol.

 

[smileybritches]

lemon juice, anything citrus

 

[Lobzi]

dairy...sour cream works with Mex food but even regular old milk puts out the fire.

 

[ksacres]

wash your face with milk.

I would NOT do citrus. You'll only be adding acid to acid.

 

[Black Feather]

I believe you want to use something that if chemically 'basic' as pepper would be acidic. I would not use lemon as it is acidic. Milk would probably be better.

This is taken from a website on how to neutralize pepper spray:

"Though there is no way of completely neutralizing pepper spray, its effect can be minimized or stopped. As veteran chili-eaters know, capsicum is not soluble in water, and even large volumes of it will have little to no effect. It is, however, soluble in fats and oils, but of course it will already be in oil form when sprayed on a victim. Nevertheless, the most effective solution is a combination of milk, honey, a mild detergent and a little baking soda; it will soothe the area and remove the chemical somewhat - however, only a tiny amount is required to continue burning."

UC

 

[jvls1942]

this comes under the catagory of
"learning experiences"

 

[ksacres]

If milk weirds you out, you could also do a baking soda-water solution.

 

[Bettacreek]

Thanks guys! I can still feel it, but I no longer feel that my nose is the gate of hell.
The sad thing is, I KNOW better than to touch ANYTHING before scrubbing my hands down. I don't even recall touching my nose.

Evil, evil little peppers.

 

[patandchickens]

I do this sort of thing every few years. "Failure to learn"

I have never found anything, other than a soak in cool water, that really does much for it, other than TIME. It'll be significantly better in 24 hrs, gone in 48. Think of it as character-building. And in the meantime, if you have any arthritis pain in the affected part it should feel a lot better (it always does for my hands!). So if you have an arthritic nose.... uh, never mind LOL

I would seriously avoid against putting oil on it - my experience is that this just spreads the capsaicin to new locations on your skin.

Good luck and commiserations,

Pat