Good things to know about Cayenne Herbal Properties

Botanical Name: Capsicum frutescens/Capsicum spp.
Common Names: Capsaicin, Chili Pepper, Red Pepper

Overview

Native Americans have used cayenne (or red pepper) as both food and medicine for at least 9,000 years. The hot and spicy taste of cayenne pepper is primarily due to an ingredient known as capsaicin. Although it tastes hot, capsaicin actually stimulates a region of the brain that lowers body temperature. In fact, many people in subtropical and tropical climates consume cayenne pepper regularly because it helps them tolerate the heat.

The popularity of cayenne pepper has spread throughout the world, and it has become an important spice, particularly in Cajun and Creole cooking, and in the cuisines of Southeast Asia, China, Southern Italy, and Mexico. As well as being an important spice in many ethnic cuisines, cayenne has also been used in traditional Indian Ayurvedic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean medicines as a remedy for digestive problems, appetite stimulation, muscle pain, and frostbite. Today, topical preparations of cayenne are used in the United States and Europe primarily to relieve pain associated with certain conditions such as arthritis, shingles (Herpes zoster), and cancer. Capsaicin is also a key ingredient in many personal defense sprays.

Pain Control

Capsaicin in cayenne pepper has very powerful pain-relieving properties when applied to the surface of the skin. Laboratory studies have found that capsaicin relieves pain by destroying a chemical known as substance P that normally carries pain messages to the brain. This appears to be true when applied topically for the following conditions:

Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis, as well as joint or muscle pain from other causes.
Shingles and other painful skin conditions; pain from shingles can continue to recur even after the skin blisters have disappeared. Capsaicin may help this latter pain, which is called post-herpetic neuralgia, as well, but not all studies agree and the research is somewhat limited. Whether your post-herpetic neuralgia improves or disappears using capsaicin may be very individual. Check with your healthcare provider to see it is safe and appropriate for you to try this topical treatment.

Chronic headaches, including Cluster headaches (a severe one-sided headache that tends to occur in clusters, happening repeatedly every day at the same time for possibly several weeks); for this purpose the capsaicin is placed inside the nose.
Pain from Peripheral Neuropathy (nerve damage experienced in the feet and/or legs) due to diabetes; peripheral neuropathy pain from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), however, does not seemed to be relieved from capsaicin.
Low back pain: Homeopathic gels of capsaicin are available for this purpose. Capsaicin, however, is not generally considered a first-line homeopathic remedy for low back pain because other homeopathic remedies have fewer side effects.
Toothache