What's causing my eyes and lips to burn?!!

[Meerkat]

Tonight I was watching AI and rubbed my eye, and it started burning immediately. I mean stinging burning, #8 on the pain scale. Not just the eyeball but the skin all around the orbit. I flushed with cool water, no help. Washed my face, no help. It started to subside and then my lips started having the same burn. The burning kind of 'migrates' right now, it is over on eye and one side of my lips. OUCH

The only thing I can think of that I have come into contact with that I never have before is sunchokes.

I ate about four bites of sauteéd sunchokes this evening. Could that be what is causing the burning?

[veegeern, BSN, RN]

Not giving advice here...Just saying that I've had this experience with peppers and citrus fruits...I use ice water to relieve the itch/burn, but I can remember my mother bathing my face in cold milk when I was a child. What is a sunchoke???

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

My husband once touched a really hot pepper and then touched his lips- they were hurting for hours. I've heard that some really hot foods can actually cause chemical burns if you get them on your face.

What is sunchoke?

[veegeern, BSN, RN]

http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/how_to/food_dictionary/entry?id=3102

you can go to this link to find out about a sunchoke...don't know that this would/would not cause the itching or burning, though.

[gr8rnpjt, RN]

I get this with peanut butter and/or other nuts. Do you eat sunchokes with peanut butter?

[Meerkat]

Hmm...it seems to have rezolved. I don't if it was the sunchokes or not. The burning occurred on my forearms as well, and they actually turned pink and blotchy...never felt anything like that before...it was excrutiating, like someone had hald my arms in scalding water. I guess I'll chalk it up to the sun chokes.

Everytime I go to the grocery store I try something I've never had before. Last week it was sunchokes (jerusalem artichokes), root of the sunflower. So much for that adventure!