Title: Hunan Hand<br/>Author: Kathy Prybys<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/121/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p>
<span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Hunan hand syndrome is a painful contact dermatitis that frequently presents </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">in cooks and chili pepper workers after preparing or handling chili peppers. Contact with other body parts gives rise to the terms: "Hunan nose" ''Hunan eye",and "Chili Willie". Capsaicin, found in the </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">fruit of plants from the genus<em> Capsicum</em> such as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">red chili peppers, jalapeños, and habaneros, is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a hydrophobic, colorless, odorless compound that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">binds with pain receptors causing the sensation of intense heat or burning. The "heat" or pungency of a peppers is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), the number of times a chili extract must be diluted with water to lose heat. Habanero peppers generate 30,000 SHU. E</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">ven at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">low concentrations capsaicin is a skin irritant. It is the primary ingredient in pepper spray used in law enforcement and in personal defense sprays. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></p>
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<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Treatment consists of decontamination with water irrigation for opthalmic exposure and milk or antacids for dermal or gastrointestinal exposure. Burning c</span><span style="font-size: 14px;">an be recurrent and of of long duration depending on tissue penetration. Topical anesthetic especially for the eye and cool compresses for the skin can relieve pain. </span></font><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pa</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">rodoxically capsaicin is used as a t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">opical analgesic medication for </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">local pain relief from muscle pain, itching, and painful neuropathies (diabetic, postherpetic).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size:14px;">Capsaicin initially causes neuronal excitation followed by a long-lasting refractory period</span><span font-size:="" helvetica="" open="" segoe="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "><span style="font-size:14px;"> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">due to depletion of substance P</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">,<span style="font-size:14px;"> </span><span style="font-size:14px;">during which neurons are no longer responsive to a large range of stimuli and thus are desensitized.</span></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 14.001px;">Clinicopathological Effects of Pepper (oleoresin capsicum) spray. Yeung MF, Tang WY. Hong Kong Med J 2015 Dec;21 (6) 542-52. </span></div>
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<font face="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.001px;">Contact Dermattitis Associated with Capsaicin: Hunan Hand Syndrome. Williams SR, Clark RF, et al. Ann EM 1995 May 25(5):713-5.</span></font></div>
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