Dear Dr. Aaron,

I skipped church this morning (I know… I know). To make up for it, I decided to justify my decision by preparing a legendary Sunday evening barbecue feast for my wife. Brisket, ribs, the whole smoker setup.

While rushing around the kitchen trying to find the barbecue seasoning, I discovered I apparently have no idea where anything is in my own house. In the process of aggressively searching, I knocked a jar of peppers off the shelf. It shattered, splashing pepper juice directly into my shoes and soaking my socks.

Now there’s broken glass everywhere, peppers all over the floor, and our new puppy running in like I’ve just started the greatest game ever invented. Absolute chaos.

I cleaned up the glass and peppers and thought I had things under control… until my feet started burning. And I mean burning. Apparently pepper juice soaked socks is not a recommended experience.

So I rushed to the tub to rinse my feet off. In my hurry—and still slightly blinded by the pepper fumes—I slipped getting into the tub and tweaked my back.

Now my feet are on fire, my back hurts, the puppy is still investigating the scene, and the smoker still isn’t ready.

Dr. Aaron… did I just invent a new category of barbecue injury, or is this divine punishment for skipping church? 🌶️😅

Dear Pepper-Footed Pitmaster,

First of all… I admire the commitment to Sunday barbecue redemption. However, it appears the peppers had other plans for you.

Let’s review the situation:

• Pepper juice soaked socks

• A slip in the tub

• A burning foot situation

• A tweaked back

• A puppy supervising the entire disaster

Medically speaking, this is what we call a “multi-system barbecue incident.”

Pepper oils can absolutely cause intense burning on the skin—especially when trapped inside socks and shoes. Water helps a little, but capsaicin (the spicy stuff) actually sticks around like that one friend who won’t leave after the party. Soap or milk-based products can sometimes help break it down faster.

As for the slip in the tub… that back tweak is exactly the kind of thing I see all the time. Sudden movements, loss of footing, and a quick twist can irritate the muscles around the spine. The good news is most of these injuries calm down with a little rest, ice, and—when needed—a chiropractic adjustment to get things moving properly again.

The bigger lesson here may be this:

next time skip the pepper jar… not church.

If the burning continues or the back stiffness doesn’t ease up, come see me and we’ll get you straightened out—preferably before the next barbecue experiment.

And maybe keep the puppy out of the kitchen next time.

— Always here for you,

Dr. Aaron