Frommy’s World

Adding a little spice to life, tonight my wife Tara made tacos with fresh homemade salsa. The salsa was good, even my neighbor came over to dip some chips. Dinner itself was fairly uneventful; however what followed was a series of unfortunate and interesting events that lead to the Emergency Room. This would be the fourth time in six years that my wife had been taken to the ER. The first time it was for a car wreck, the second time for falling off a ladder while painting our living room, the third was for being bitten by a spider that crawled up her pajama pants, and now once again for cutting up chili peppers and handling them with her bare hands.

After dinner I heard Tara call for me from the other room. As I came into the kitchen she began to inform me that her hands and arms were burning. She believed it was from the chili peppers she used in making the salsa. With a smirk I asked her if she had ran her hands under cold water. She told me not only water, but also vinegar. I said to try baking soda and water…that’s what my mom would have me do when I got stung by a bee. A little while later she came to me again and said that her hands were still burning. I said, “No fear, I’ll get on the Internet and find a cure.”

Tara had made salsa before, but this time she decided to use a hotter chili pepper to spice things up. Tara also made a bigger batch so she cut up four chilies instead of just the usual one. To top it off, she didn’t use gloves when cutting the chili peppers.

According to ChiliPepperPlants.com, the substance that produces all of the heat sensation in chili peppers is known as capsaicin. Specialized gland cells found in the ribs of a chili pepper produce capsaicin. Capsaicin produces the sensations of heat and pain in the mouth by stimulating local heat receptors in the skin and mucous membranes. Capsaicin also makes you sweat, which is why it is popular in hot dry climates. Apparently capsaicin was developed by plants as a way of preventing animals from eating the seeds of the pepper. Chili peppers with more capsaicin produce more pain, the “hottest” being the habanero pepper.

To measure the heat level of chili peppers, the “Scoville” test is used. The heat factor of chili peppers is measured in multiples of Scoville units. Sweet bell peppers at zero Scoville units, while the mighty Habanero pepper rates at 300,000 plus Scoville units! Pure Capsaicin rates between 15,000,000 and 16,000,000 Scoville Units!

I learned by researching the Internet that when using fresh or dried chili peppers, it is highly suggested that you wear gloves to protect your hands because the oils in the peppers can cause severe burns (My wife got this information a little too late). Also, don’t touch your face or eyes!

Coming to the rescue, I promptly informed my wife that I found a cure. WebMD said:

“Chili pepper burns are caused by an irritating substance found in the skin of the pepper. This burn can feel like a sunburn, a throbbing and prickling feeling, or a very intense, hot pain.

“The best treatment is to wash the area with soap and water and then put a large amount of vegetable oil on the area for at least an hour. If the burn sensation is on your hands, dip
your hands in vegetable oil for the hour.”

Tara began to treat herself with half a bottle of vegetable oil that covered her hands and arms. After about 15 minutes she still complained of severe burning. My wife than began to make some phone calls: The pharmacist said, “vegetable oil wouldn’t do a thing”. He recommended ice water and a possible trip to the Emergency Room if the burning persisted. My wife’s doctor also recommended a possible trip to the ER.

I did some further research and found a recommendation to soak hands in a bowl of milk. Tara tried the milk bath and found it to be the most soothing, yet the pain continued. After a large dose of Benadryl, some ibuprofen, vicadin, and a last ditch treatment of butter, we finally decided to make a trip to the ER.

Chili peppers originated in South America, and then spread to Central America where they are most popular today. Chili peppers were among the first plants to be domesticated. According to an essay “Red Hot Chili Peppers” by Tom Giesler, the remains of a pepper were found in Mexico dating back to approximately 7000 B.C., showing that chili peppers were established long before Columbus arrived. When Columbus landed in the New World, he named the chile “peppers” because they spiced up the bland food he and his sailors had been eating just the way black pepper did.

The seeds of the chili pepper were brought back to Spain, where it was grown in monastery gardens. Eventually, Portuguese traders then spread the chili peppers to the rest of the world.

While most people know the chili pepper as a food, it had other uses in ancient times. According to Chili Peppers-Some like it Hot, the pre-Columbian Indians used chili peppers as a medicine, as a punishment for children (inhalation of the smoke of burning chili peppers), and as a kind of tear gas during warfare (chili peppers were burned and the smoke blown by the wind over to enemy lines).

One chili pepper provides one and a half times more the amount of vitamin C found in a orange and is also a good source of vitamins A and E. According to BellyBytes.com, today chili peppers are used for a number of different things: as a sore throat cure, for neck aches, headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, tumors, as a blood clot preventive, boosting the immune system, as a food preservative because of its strong antioxidant properties, as a safe food-coloring, and as a flavoring for such products as ginger ale, to clear sinuses, and also aiding in digestion.

According to Science Daily, the chemical capsaicin found in chili peppers puts the sting in pepper spray, and is used in pest repellent sprays as well. Chile peppers have become the most widely used spice in the world, and are eaten on a daily basis by at least one quarter of the world’s adult population.

Studies have shown that eating spicy food is addicting. Your brain interprets the pain signals from hot chilies and automatically releases endorphins (the body’s natural pain killer). This creates a temporary feeling of euphoria. Hot and spicy food lovers soon begin to crave this feeling and become hooked! Fizzy drinks like Coke also release endorphins.

The pain produced by the chili peppers my wife cut up were too intense and left welts on her hands and arms. The only endorphins that were going to work on her were going to have to be administered by a doctor. The ER doctor concluded that Tara was having an allergic reaction to the chilies and not just a chemical burn. By the time it was all over, my wife was given an IV filled with steroids, more Benadryl, and some serious painkillers…also the learned experience that you should never handle hot chili peppers without gloves, and that I should assume to expect more various adventures to the ER in future years.