Status
Not open for further replies.

DK_engineer

Very helpful member
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
579
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
05/2015
Country
US
State
OR
Tomatoes and peppers are both ripe where I live. Yesterday I made salsa with a bunch of garden fresh tomatoes.

Here's the weird thing - the skin on my hands started burning. It kept me up till 3 am. It think it was from handling the peppers even though I was careful to wash my hands with soap and water frequently.

This never happened to me pre-fibromyalgia. Anyone else have this kind of problem when cooking?
 
It was definitely the peppers. Wear gloves when you handle hot peppers.

I have all types of skin abnormalities since my diagnosis, and I've noticed that my skin becomes irritated, itchy, flaky and red often. I use coconut oil, but it doesn't help much. Sometimes my face feels burned, for no reason I can discern, but that's different from your hands burning, because you now know the cause. Hot peppers are hard to wash off, and your skin probably over-reacted like the rest of the body with fibro.
 
Thanks LucyJane, I will do that in the future

I used to have problems with dry skin too. The backs of my hands get so dry the skin would crack open. It was extremely painful to shave my legs. I tried every moisturizing and shaving product that came out to find relief.

Through a coincidence I went shampoo free for a week and all my dry skin problems went away. I am pretty sure it was the SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate) that was drying me out. SLS is used in most shampoos, soaps and even toothpaste. I have eliminated as much SLS as I can. I can now shave without pain and my skin is much healthier. My hands are still a bit dry though because they get exposed every time I wash up in a public restroom.
 
Vinegar and vegetable oil on your hands will counteract the base of the peppers. My mom did this once and had bad burns from the chilis. Poison control recommended vinegar. The oil is because the capsaicin in the chilis is fat soluble. I hope this helps!
 
I react to the oils in peppers much worse now than pre-Fibro. I have to be careful not to breathe in the oils when my bf is cutting and cleaning them. Caps axon cream is usually too strong for my skin now, too.
 
Thanks Getemgirl, if prevention doesn't work it is good to have a back up plan!

CindyKay, I had a bad experience with a capsaicin rub too. I had thought as long as I did a good job washing up, it would be ok to cut up a few peppers - now I know better :)
 
My hands became all dry and burn when i use them for long...after 7 years it just started when i was cleaning with rubber gloves on one day. Now it just happens holding things sometimes.

My face skin is also super sensitive and if i am stressed more so.

Recently i went for a short walk and the fronts of my legs burnt and broke out in a rash where they rub my soft trousers....that's new too...oh the joys of fibro.

I moisturize with ALLERGENICS body lotion or ointment or rub in olive oil after washing with very gentle ph balanced cleanser by the same brand.

All natural ingredients no preservatives.
 
I've had tummy issues more recently to foods with chili flakes or chili powder in them. However, I ate chili verde the other day with no adverse reaction. Maybe less capsaicin in that recipe. I wondered if some of the crimes with capsaicin in them would also not be good for me. I think maybe I will avoid them.
 
Willow, I work in a cleanroom where we have to wear gloves It is not uncommon for people to become sensitized to the gloves over time. They get dry skin, rash excema etc.

Sometimes it helps to switch to nitrile gloves. Nitrile tends to be less irritating. You can also try glove liners - usually a light cotton inner glove that keeps the outter glove from touching your skin. Also, If you need to change gloves it is a lot easier if you are wearing glove liners.
 
Man this happened to me one time when I was making stuffed peppers and didn't use gloves - it was soooo awful. I used vinegar but they still bothered me for days after.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top