Jalapenos peppers are one of the hottest food substances known to man and the heat contained within the vegetable is measured anywhere between 2,500 and 10,000 Scoville units varying largely on the kind of cultivation and preparation techniques that it has been exposed to. The jalapeno peppers originally come from Mexico and is a pod type of capsicum. The trees are usually about two to three feet tall and each plant will produce about twenty five to thirty pods which are usually picked when they turn red. The peppers are a good source of vitamin C, folate and vitamin A. When being sliced to be added as an ingredient in food preparation, jalapeno peppers are known to cause anywhere between a little mild irritation to a full blown case of burns on the hands and any areas of skin that come in contact with the vegetable. As a result, a lot of people choose to wear latex or vinyl gloves to prevent this from happening. Considering that so many activities performed during the course of the day involve substantial use of the hands, the jalapeno burns can have quite a disabling effect on your daily life. A lot of people will suggest that you wash your hands with the help of some rubbing alcohol and, while this has been known to be effective on some individuals, it is not a sure fire way of getting rid of the problem.
Alternatively, you could try soaking your hands in some cold milk for about 5 minutes before applying a thick layer of a paste made from baking soda and milk over the affected areas of your skin. Let this paste dry on your hands for about 20 minutes before you scrub it off. You may be required to repeat these steps a number of times before the pain is completely gone, but you will notice a significant reduction in the amount of pain with every repetition of the treatment. For best results, in the last cycle, you should leave the paste on your hands or affected parts of the skin over the course of the night and wash it off the next morning. Another remedy that has some significant rate of success is to simply apply some toothpaste over your hands and scrub it off after some time. The fact that toothpaste is so readily available makes it a very convenient and time saving option.