We’ve probably all been there at least once.
You get something in your eye, and it immediately starts burning. If it’s a splash of spicy pepper, you’ll probably never forget the pain. Even a tiny bit of pepper juice, especially from peppers high on the heat scale, can seriously burn! Certain spices and seasonings can also leave a mark. Luckily, if you’re ever caught in this situation, there’s an easy fix.
Let’s start with what NOT to do.
Don’t ever try and flush pepper juice out of your eye with water. Sure, it probably works for other things, but when it comes to hot peppers, water could make the problem much worse. That’s because hot peppers contain capsaicin. The spicy compound isn’t water soluble. That means splashing water on your eye not only won’t help, it could make the problem worse by spreading the spicy heat to the rest of your eye. Instead, grab a glass of milk. It sounds a little crazy, but the method is similar to downing a glass of milk after eating something hot. Again, capsaicin isn’t water soluble, but it is fat-soluble.
Downing a glass of milk...
After eating something scorching hot can help your burning mouth, but milk can also help if you get something spicy hot in your eye. You don’t want to splash an entire gallon of milk across your face. Instead, grab a cotton ball and soak it in some cold milk. Then, put that cotton ball over your eye. If you don’t have a cotton ball, you can use a paper towel. Soak it in milk, lie down, and put it over your eye. Once the milk contacts the spicy hot compound, it helps neutralize it and lessens your pain. Of course, if the problem gets worse or doesn’t go away, you’ll probably want to check with your doctor.
