# Burned hand felt worse in cold water! why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238 "2000-12-06T02:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/1 "2000-12-06T02:16:59Z")
Howdy, I stuck my hand in water that was much hotter than I expected. I yanked it out and put it under cold water - and it still felt like it was burning. Why? I had heard something once about how nerve endings sense only certain temps and warm + cold = hot or something odd like that. Is that true? Junior ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/2 "2000-12-06T02:51:17Z")
Yes, a mixture of stimulus of cold water and warm water will have the sensation of extreme heat, but that probably wasn’t what happened in your case. Either you really burned your hand badly and damage to tissues continued even after submerssion or else the water was too cold and was potentially damaging causing your pain to continue. After burns your skin becomes less sensitive to temperature, yet retains sensation of pain, causing the sensation of pain without cold. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/3 "2000-12-06T03:26:33Z")
quickly apply regular ole yellow mustard straight from the squeeze bottle. Makes it hurt a little worse for a few seconds, then it hurts no more. Also seems to give the least tissue damage. I did not believe it so I tried it the next time I had a smnall burn. No I do it on all burns. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/4 "2000-12-06T04:39:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CatBiker \* > \*\*quickly apply regular ole yellow mustard straight from the squeeze bottle. Makes it hurt a little worse for a few seconds, then it hurts no more. Also seems to give the least tissue damage. I did not believe it so I tried it the next time I had a smnall burn. No I do it on all burns. > > YMMV \*\* If you’re out of mustard can you use ketchup or pickle relish instead? Should you use a hot dog bun as a dressing? _Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😉_ Actually, I suspect the spices in the mustard that cause the initial burn have the same pain-deadening effect as oleoresin capsecum (sp?). I suspect it causes the pain-sensing nerve endings to fire so rapidly they eventually get “tired” and shut/slow down. ~~Baloo ---
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/5 "2000-12-06T04:45:43Z")
Actually, I would have guessed it was the vinegar in the mustard. I’ve heard that vinegar helps with burns. Has anyone else ever heard this? J ---
**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/6 "2000-12-06T07:08:26Z")
Yeah, according to the movie _Fight Club_, vinegar is effective for neutralizing lye burns. ---
**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burned-hand-felt-worse-in-cold-water-why/44238/7 "2000-12-06T07:21:13Z")
No, I don’t get all of my knowledge from popular culture, much less _Fight CLub_. :rolleyes: