Pepper juice in the eye = tough-to-bear burning. Read below to find out how to relieve the pain.
When my dad was stringing up hot peppers to dry a few years ago, he accidentally squirted himself in the eye with the pepper juice. I don’t remember his exact reaction, but I do remember a frantic energy in the room as my mom helped him stick his head under the sink, where he stood for a good while letting cold water run over his face.
Pepper juice in the eye was a terrible experience for my dad. But, until last week, I didn’t understand why it hurt that badly. It was only pepper juice after all, and no more than a tiny drop got into his eye. Is it really that painful?
Absolutely, yes it is. Last week, I was cutting up a jalapeno, which, mind you, is not one of the hotter peppers. I sliced the jalapeno in half then seeded it, using my right thumb to push the seeds out of the pepper and into the trash can. I began cutting the pepper into a small dice and then…
You see where this is going. I squirted myself in the left eye with pepper juice. The burning was immediate and painful and – I’ll go one further here – unbearable.
That little squirt of juice forced my eyes shut, at which point I, on instinct, vigorously rubbed both eyes to get rid of the sting, using my right hand – the one that I had just used to seed the jalapenos and hadn’t washed – to wipe my unaffected right eye.
Smart. Both eyes were burning and I had to clench both of them tightly shut. I learned that rubbing a pepper extract-infected hand on the eyelid has the same effect as squirting pepper juice into the eyeball. But after 15 minutes of running cold water on my eyes, the pain passed.
If you are also hit with pepper juice in your eye one day, and it is the first time this has happened, you, like me, might think the burning is never going to stop. You’ll worry that, because you can’t open your eyes, you won’t be able to adequately flush them with cold water, and this will cause permanent vision damage.
Stay calm. Your eyes will be dry and red once they are fully flushed but that passes. And the burning will too. Here’s what to do:
- Never touch your eyes with your tainted hot pepper hands.When my eyes were burning, my first instinct was to wipe them with the closest, most handy tool – my hands. Resist the urge to do this; this left me with two burning eyes instead of one. Of course, in the moment, it’s difficult to remember reason and logic and you too might end up flushing both eyes.
- Flush your eyes with cold water until you feel you can open them again. I’ve read that you should flush your eyes for 5 minutes; I held my eyes under water for 15. Like I said, you won’t be able to open your eye, so in this step you are sticking your clenched-shut eye under water (alternating if both eyes have been hit) until the burning begins to subside and you feel you can open them again.
- Add one or two drops of Visine to each eye.Honestly, my eye felt the same before and after I used the Visine. But perhaps this step serves some internal flushing purpose, one that is not immediately obvious to the eye.
To prevent hot pepper burning from ever happening, this is the most important tip: wash your hands immediately after handling hot peppers. You will read this advice everywhere. But in my experience, the pepper essence doesn’t immediately come off of your hands, even if you use soap. Exercise caution for a while after handling the peppers.
As a last resort to prevent burning, especially if you are working with a lot of peppers, you might want to consider wearing gloves.
[...] 1) In a large bowl, combine the papaya, beans, avocado, corn, raisins, peppers, cilantro, orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp chili pepper, sugar, and salt. (When cutting, take care to avoid getting hot peppers in your eyes.) [...]
This literally just happened to my sister while she was making jalapeno jam. Going online to find out if it would end in blindness for her, I found your post. Thank you!! *^_^*
@Renee: Ugh! Jalapeno in the eye is such a terrible feeling, especially the first time it happens when you don’t know what to expect. I’m glad these tips helped!
I got squirted in the eye by a habanero pepper today.. It sucked.
Vegetable oil or canola oil will most likely remove the pepper oil from your hands. Wash your hands with it, then with soap and water to remove the vegetable oil. I am guessing oil would probably irritate eyes, so I’ve never heard it recommended for that purpose.
yea, my sister definetely just was crying/screaming from jalapeno pain in her nose/eyes, and YOUR POST SAVED HER!!thank you!!!!!!
wear gloves. but, if you don’t and you get it in your eye, put a piece of bread to your eye..the starch soaks up the hot!
@Marilyn: Great tips! Thanks so much for sharing.
My 6yr old grandson JUST did this. Jalapeno juice in his eyes. Due to his age, needless to say we were horrified. To see him in sheer agony. While she put him in a cool shower, I called poison control. I spoke with a very concerned man, Cecil. He agreed with the cool shower to flush the eyes, & also suggested putting a liquid Antacid on the skin, or usiing an alcohol wipe to pat the skin(not the eyes directly). He said either will pull the BLISTERING EFFECTS of the peppers out of his skin. I am half a century old and learned something new. Am so GRATEFUL to Cecil. He not only told us what to do & how. But calmed not only my daughter & myself down. But, hearing his calm demeanor on the speaker phone also calmed my grandson. Thank You Cecil.!!!
@Mimi: This sounds terrifying. I’m glad to hear your grandson is feeling better and that the people at Poison Control were so helpful.
I just scratched my eye after i had cut up jalepenos-ouch! I read this and the bread on the eye really worked! One minute I could not open my eye for the pain and the next I am almost back to normal! Miracle cure! lol:)
after washing, if it still feels hot, it’s good to put a slice of cool cucumber over the eye!
MILK!!! Wash the affected eye with milk and the pain will stop immediately.
My primary physician and chiropractor suggested a drop of raw honey in the eyes will cause your tear ducks to produce sufficient tears to irrigate your eyes and significantly reduce the adverse affects of the Capsaicin irritation. Honey is also a holistic healthy way to help in eye strain as a result of ‘dry eye’ or over-exposure to the sun or light (like that of computer monitors). Apply honey then moist hot compress over eyes. (veganovercome.com)
I recently got Jalapeno in my eye and i was told to wash my eyes out with Johnson Baby Shampoo. When people get sprayed with Pepper Spray/Mace they use baby shampoo to clean their eyes/face. As you know baby shampoo doesn’t burn your eyes because of its no tear formula. Don’t put directly to eye. Lather on fingers and keep eyes shut and massage the outside of your eyelid. Don’t lock your eyelids tightly together. Just keep your eyes shut and the lather will slightly get in. I tried this and it stopped immediately. Seriously a miracle worker. Also, a friend of mine that works in a Mexican Restuarant said if you sprinkle some salt in your hand and lick it then it will also stop the burning. I didn’t try this but he said it really does work.
Thanks for this article… It just happened to my seven-year-old while she was eating a banana pepper. We got her in the shower to keep cool water on her face.
Thank you, i feel much better now
just had a jalapeno peper juice get in my eye it sucks it been and hour and i still cant open it
I just had this happen to my 3 year old niece. We didn’t know, but she was in the kitchen playing with an open Serrano pepper. All of a sudden she ran into the living room screaming at the top of her lungs and spitting. She rubbed her eye and was in so much agony after that. I took her to the bathroom, flushed her eye out with water, then took her to the kitchen and sprinkled salt on the back of her hand and had her lick it. I’m Mexican and this is the cure you hear about all the time. I gave her milk to drink so the pain in her mouth would leave. After licking the salt off her hand she instantly started to calm down. After taking a couple drinks of milk she stopped crying. It worked well!
Awsome advice if only it were for a ghost pepper and it was before it got in my eye. Now im temporary blind
i just got jalapeno in my eye
its the worst feeling ever 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!