When temperatures are dropping and heating bills are rising, there can be a strong temptation to reach for a low-cost, low-tech heating method – the hot-water bottle.
Hot-water bottles can be wonderfully cosy, whether you’re tucked up in bed or settled on the sofa for the night, but they also carry risks of scalds and burns, especially for some people.
In the UK, over 600 people a year report burn injuries from hot water bottles.
“Hot-water bottles are a quick, easy and cost effective way of staying warm in winter – but they can also cause serious injury,” Professor Adam Taylor, an anatomist at Lancaster University, wrote in The Conversation.
People with nerve damage, including people with diabetes, are especially vulnerable, as they may have less sensation in their hands and feet, and may not notice quickly enough if they are being hurt.
People with spina bifida and cerebral palsy may also have reduced sensitivity in their skin, according to NHS advice.
Hot-water bottles are fine to use during pregnancy, although women are generally advised not to place them on their bump. The pregnancy and baby charity Tommy’s says women tend to feel warmer during pregnancy, so they should be careful not to overheat.
Hot-water bottles should also never be placed next to babies.
And children need to be taught never to sit or lie on them, says the Child Accident Prevention Trust.
The main scalding risk comes from the obvious one, of the water leaking out from the bottle – either because the lid isn’t properly screwed on, or if the container bursts.
Hot-water bottles are often made from rubber, which can crack or deteriorate over time. They should only be kept for two years as after this, the risk of damage increases.
Use-by date
To help people know when they are past their “use-by date”, hot-water bottles should show the date when they were made, usually on their neck. It may be in the form of a wheel, with the last two digits of the year in the middle, and the month indicated in the surrounding circle.
People can also get burns even when the water stays inside, if the bottle is held directly touching the skin. The surface should always be covered with a towel or blanket, to avoid direct skin contact.
Failing to use a cover, or heating up the skin for too long, can occasionally lead to marks on the skin developing, known as hot-water bottle rash, or “toasted skin syndrome”. If the overheating has gone on for a long time, the rash can even be permanent.
To reduce the risk of burns, hot-water bottles should not be filled with boiling water, just very hot water. So, if you have boiled a kettle, let the water cool for about 10 minutes before using it. This is better than using water straight from the hot tap, as this can contain minerals that could damage the rubber over time.
Bottles should be filled up to about two thirds full and then very gently squeezed to get rid of some of the air.
Some health bodies advise that people should not get into bed with a hot-water bottle, but that it could be used instead to warm up the bed, before getting in.
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