Who doesn't like to loosen up with a hot water bottle through the colder months? Hot water bottles are a fast, easy and low-cost solution to stay warm within the winter – but they may also cause serious injury.
In the UK, 5,944 burns occurred between hot water bottles 2014 and 2023. For example, in 2022, Sharon Portingale Consecutive third degree burns After taking her hot water bottle to bed. In 2021, Helen Powell was burned. After the recent water bottle she was using to alleviate back pain.
But hot water bottles aren't the one danger to users of burns and scrapes.
Also often called toasted skin syndrome (redness from fire).
Exposure to heat sources, equivalent to hot water bottles, heat pads, space heaters and even laptops can lead to redness. Fishnet pattern on the skin. This is due to play of the small vessels of the skin as they fight to deal with the warmth.
Usually, the condition resolves soon after removing the warmth source. However, prolonged and continuous heat exposure could cause the skin to develop into thin and hyperpigmented – when some patches of skin are darker than others. Hyperpigmentation is brought on by damage to the elastic fibers of the skin and the discharge of melanin from it. Skin cells.
This loss May be permanent But treatments like Laser therapy or incorporates topical creams. 5-Fluoracil can assist. Delayed diagnosis and continued exposure to toasted skin syndrome may also result in cancer, e.g Basal cell carcinoma, Neuroendocrine carcinoma And Low-grade lymphoma.
Some persons are more liable to heat damage. For example, with them Sickle cell disease And Chronic pain usually tend to be affected by or. Critical burn injuries.
People who’ve diabetes. Circulatory complications Which affects them. Temperature regulation Cold could also be felt more and hence use heating aids often. But diabetics with circulatory problems may experience poor sensation and will not feel the warmth of the skin until they burn.
Do not use hot water bottles to maintain babies warm or to preheat the sleeping area. Infants have Brown fat To help them maintain a Healthy body temperature And protect them from hypothermia. At birth, brown fat accounts for approx 5% of children's body weight and placed around vital organs to generate heat.
stay warm
So, how you can stay warm without using a hot water bottle?
In bed, weighted blankets help prevent warm air from being forced out each time you walk under them. But if you happen to're sitting down, keep your feet up and off the ground – normally the best a part of the room.
Then, as an alternative of wearing a thick coat or jumper, it's value remembering. Folding clothes Much simpler at trapping air and blocking heat.
is at your fingertips. Twice as many nerve fibers As your palms are sensitive to cold. So wearing gloves, even on the within, can assist reduce the demand in your body to distribute heat to your hands – and trap the warmth generated by the body against your skin.
Will move around on a regular basis. Generate heat And like fingers and toes, help flow into warm blood out of your core to your extremities.
If you utilize a hot water bottle, don’t use boiling water and ensure you fill the bottle with cold water. Ideally, the temperature must be About 50°C-60°C.
Finally, you’ll be able to reduce the danger of tissue damage when using hot water bottles or heat pads by distributing the warmth evenly – move them around so the warmth isn't concentrated in a single area.