CLEVELAND -- If you like to cook spicy dishes, there are some things you should know, according to Troubleshooter Chris Caswell.

Doctors said that they see many patients every year because novice cooks make a common mistake with hot peppers.

Hot peppers can add a little heat to your food, but you don't want to feel that burning sensation anywhere but on your tongue, Caswell said.

No one knows better than Chili Peppers restaurant owner Steve Newman. He's had a few run-ins with peppers before.

"Just cleaning them and inadvertently touching my face, rubbing my eye, (I was) in pain for a good amount of time," Newman said.

Emergency room doctors reportedly see hundreds of similar cases a year, and there isn't much they can do but flush the eye with water.

"Once you get it in your eye, you have to just wait for the material to stop stimulating the nerve endings and that could take some time," said Dr. William Reinhart, of University Hospitals.

Peppers contain a substance called capsaicin. It's the hot oil in the seeds and ribs of the pepper, so when you clean a pepper that oil sticks in your fingernails and pores.

"You have to carefully wash your hands pretty vigorously after you're done cutting peppers," he said.

Caswell said even then, the oil can linger for hours.

The best bet is to wear gloves. The peppers may be harder to clean, but Newman said he has learned his lesson.

"Sometimes professionals won't use gloves, but with kids especially, you have to use them," he said.