And my left hand starts burning. I mean really burning all over.
I know I haven't burned my hand on anything, and so I’m thinking I’m having a heart attack or a stroke. Left hand, left arm, up the jaw and straight to the heart, except doesn't it usually go the other way. Maybe I'm just tired
It had been a tiring day. I had gone with Steve to a complicated doc appointment that morning, then to my own unrelated doc appointment that morning. I had gone to Krieger’s and bought all kinds of organic goodies, including this batch of gorgeous, yummy – aren’t they cute – red peppers. I had gotten all the groceries in the house and put them away, which don't you know means cleaning the nasty refrigerator. I had further cleaned for two hours, cooked for two more, cut up and bagged all those red peppers. I had worked out, then come back home and cooked some more. In between, I picked out a color of siding for the house, did some writing and some photo editing and helped B with homework.
So yeah, I’ll just go to bed and it’ll be all better, I thought.
Nope. Got worse. It was burning like it was on fire and now it was moving up my elbow. Steve rubbed my hand and talked me down from heart attack fears. But still, it hurt.
And so I got out of bed and Googled. I know: Google is usually worse than what ails you. Not in this case.
I Googled "left hand burning sensation." Not a word about heart attacks. That was a relief. Still? What is this?
Peppers.
Post after post: “My left hand is still burning hours after I cut up a bunch of jalapeños...” “My left hand is burning after cutting up a bunch of red peppers, but not my right hand because the right hand was holding the knife..."
My new Google hand-burning community even provided a tip (Latex gloves) for next my next pepper-cutting experience and an antidote for now: Soak the hand in milk.
It didn't really help. Nor did the Vaseline, which I slathered on my hands and then wore socks on my hands all night. What helped was knowing I wasn't having a heart attach -- that and a good night's sleep. An added bonus: My hands, still slightly burning, are really soft today.
