Content note: this article contains descriptions and graphic images of severe burns.

“I’ve always loved a hot water bottle, whether it’s for relieving period pain or staying warm when working from home in the colder months. Whatever the time of day, you’d normally find me snuggled up with one steaming on my lap.

“That’s exactly what I was doing two weeks ago when the hot water bottle that I’ve had for years perished. I’d just filled it with freshly boiled water and popped it on my lap when I felt this awful pain. One moment I was sitting down working on my laptop, and the next, I’d jumped up out of my seat; it was an almost immediate reflex. At first, I assumed the lid hadn’t been screwed on properly, but it later became clear that the rubber had split along the seal at the bottom. I didn’t have time to stop and check what had happened at the time; all I could think of doing was whip my trousers off as quickly as humanly possible.

“I’m lucky that my trousers were baggy because the wet material stuck to the burns on my legs and some of my skin came off with the fabric. The burns were spread across the back of my left thigh and calf, and my skin was red raw. My husband, who was at home with me, could tell the burns were severe straight away just from looking at them. Almost immediately, he helped me to get under a cold shower and called 111 for advice. They told me to stay there for half an hour and put me in touch with a GP, who assessed my burns and advised me to head straight to A&E once my half hour was up.

“When I got to A&E, I was told they were second-degree burns, which means the burn had penetrated both the outer and second layers of my skin. They covered them with dressings, and I have to go back to the hospital or GP surgery to get them changed every day for at least the next month. One of the burns is also infected, so I had to go back to the hospital at the weekend, and now I’m on antibiotics. 

“Once the burns have healed, that’s not the end of the journey: I’ve been told that I’ll need to treat the ‘new’ skin like a newborn baby’s for a couple of years, which means no hot baths and being careful in the sun.

“Before this whole ordeal, I had no idea that this was something that could happen, or that hot water bottles could expire. The first thing I did when I came back from that first hospital trip was chuck out every single hot water bottle I owned because I had no idea how old any of them were. I’d heard about people getting burnt by hot water bottles before, but I always thought that was just because they hadn’t screwed the top on properly or held them too close to their skin.

“In a way, I’m almost glad that I took one for the team: my kids have gone to bed hugging that hot water bottle plenty of times in the past, and I can’t even begin to imagine the damage it would have caused to their skin had it split on one of them.

“I now feel like I’m on a one-woman crusade to make people more aware of how dangerous old hot water bottles can be. I now know that hot water bottles have a little flower on their surface, and the number in the centre indicates the year it was manufactured (eg 23 means it was made in 2023), and they should be replaced every two years – especially if you use them regularly. Your hot water bottle should also have a British Standard mark (BS 1970:2012), which means that it adheres to the internationally recognised UK safety standard for rubber and PVC hot water bottles, and you shouldn’t put boiling water straight from the kettle inside.

“My message to anyone with a hot water bottle that’s older than two years is: don’t risk it. Recycle your old one (rubber is easily recycled) and buy yourself a new one with that British Standard mark – and be sure to follow all the recommended safety instructions when using it.” 

Images: Emma Grace