Hot Water Bottle burst over me :(

[Neil79]

I must be having the worst luck with water lately, from cracked liquid cooling spilling liquid everywhere to this... Last night my hitius hernia was playing up so I got a hot water bottle ready, one of those ones that is covered in fabric so it's apparently "safe".

However upon putting any type of pressure on it, when leaning over to turn the lamp off, the worst happened. The hot water bottle, that was not full but did have boiling water, burst all down the corner of my chest and down my arm. Luckily I had a tshirt on, so only a red chest but my arm took the brunt.

I'm very strong with pain and have been through rough patches but this was beyond pain, I had burned the entire top layer of skin off and down to the nerves. Swearing in pain and shaking in shock I had to have it under a constant cold tap. The ambulance did come out as it was pretty bad, but there wasn't much they could do other than pain meds but they did say I Was lucky it hadn't burnt down to the core.

Spent all night with arm in cold water bucket, and today it's airing, but I can't move my arm very well, thus typing with left hand.

The split

After getting this burn, in comparison to what people have gone through with such things as all over body burns, they have my heart felt sympathy

 

[Neil79]

Ouch. Lucky it was just your arm I guess.

Yes, usually I have hot water bottles on my face for headaches...

Never again

 

[Neil79]

Wrap it in cellophane. I think this does something for burns. Looks nasty.

Tried that, I was almost screaming because it was laying on split nerves. Cellophane is good for when the nerves have been burned away completely, but in this instance cold water was the treatment.

Jeez....how old is the water bottle?! If it's not that old I'd be getting in touch with the manufacturer...

I'm unsure, it was my girlfriends

Only reason I'm on ocuk now is because of the codeine and fan blowing cool air on the wound

Ouch My sympathis

Incidentally, I don't think you're supposed to put boiling water in a hot water bottle. I don't use a hot water bottle often, but when I do I put a bit of cold tap water in before filling from the kettle.

Usually I don't, but this water bottle has a double layer of fabric over to stop this from happening. But the water was blasted out the top at full force

 

[Neil79]

You'll probably see on the neck of the bottle and the sides as well. it will say not to put boiling water in there.

Nope

Ouch

If that was my arm I'd be hard pressed to resist peeling the skin off.

I would love to, but I was recommended not to in this situation, especially as some of the nerve endings are still in the broken skin

 

[Neil79]

Ouch.

You shouldn't use boiling water when filling a hot water bottle, for exactly this reason.

Do you only fill 2/3 with water and squeeze the air out before putting the cap on too? If you don't the air expands giving the insides positive pressure.

Ever since I was 15 years old I've always filled hot water bottles in the same way, and have always let the air out. So it goes to show this one was faulty, you can see the split which isn't at the top

I would agree with you if I'd just filled it to the brim

 

[Neil79]

I bet you forgot all about your hernia? Working as intended.

Thanks for the chuckle

Anyway enough posting for me now, starting to become too much again. Thanks for the support everyone

 

[Neil79]

I'm sure it's painful, but calling an Ambulance !

No wonder the emergency services are under pressure.

To put this to rest once and for all, I phoned the NHS line and they recommended an Ambulance to be on the safe side. The Ambulance came out, said it was a good thing they were called as burns can be an uknown, even more so if the body goes in to shock. The Ambulance guy got a lovely cup of tea, he was happy to be there and left not long after on his next call out.

IF it had burned beyond the nerves I would've gone in to hospital yes. And no I'm not angry with the pettyness of some members, it was expected

ps at the time, my arm was red from the wrist all the way down to the elbow in length. This is what you see today

 

[Neil79]

Very sore at the moment, but not as bad as earlier thanks to fresh air and meds. Just gone rather red and feels like I've got leather around my wrist

 

[Neil79]

Luke will be along shortly to say you shouldn't have called an ambulance out for that!

I didn't scroll up

 

[Neil79]

Happened to me with a kettle when I was 11.. I'd rather brake bones then get burnt.. feel for ya

I said the same thing

 

[Neil79]

I'm going back to wheat bags, they may stink but at least they don't do this!

 

[Neil79]

I edited my post afterwards I didn't read that he'd gone to hospital already

A&E used some blue stuff to rub off any loose skin - then bandaged up the whole leg

the doctors surgery which I was referred to prescribed me some funky Silicon pads (Biatain) - padded and they worked a treat

Me? I never went in to Hospital, just spent the night with my arm in a cold water bucket until such time I was able to take it out to dry and heal. Just feeling very sore and very rough at the moment. Typing left handed on a laptop now. Can't put any weight on the right arm just yet

 

[Neil79]

OP I feel for you but come on, how old is that hot water bottle?

By the yellowing tinge and damage I would say 10+ years, that's been filled more than 8 packs reservoirs.

No idea it was the girlfriends and it was covered up with a pretty dressing fabric

 

[Neil79]

On another note even though I got burned, I was VERY VERY lucky not to end up in hospital. If I hadn't have been wearing a tshirt, I would've had severe chest burns, the entire right side of my chest and beneath my under arm was soaked.

 

[Neil79]

Burn goes around each side of the wrist, turning a bit of a funny colour now, but codeine is awesome

 

[Neil79]

hah!

 

[Neil79]

I had to fill a bin with cold water and go to sleep on my front with my hand in it, was total agony. Even now it still shows the burn scar when I get a slight tan.

Ouch man, I feel ya! I did exactly the same thing regarding leaving my arm/hand in cold water to sleep. Although mine was a bucket