You MUST know the expiration date on your hot water bottle…as the woman’s old one exploded, leaving her genitals burned and scarred

A Manchester woman has issued an urgent warning to hot water bottle users after suffering painful burns to her legs and pelvis when her rubber bottle exploded in her lap.

Yazmin Hardy, 27, didn’t know hot water bottles had an expiry date – and used a product that was two years ‘out of date’.

Experts say you should replace your hot water bottle after two years because the rubber deteriorates over time, making it more likely to split.

A number, usually embedded in the shape of a rubber flower, indicates the date the bottle was made – for example 20 for 2020.

Ms Hardy discovered after the accident that her bottle had expired in 2022. Now doctors say she may be scarred for life.

In July, the recruitment consultant reached for her hot water bottle in an attempt to curb period pain.

After filling the bottle to the brim with boiling kettle water, she put it back in its cover and walked to the couch to lie down.

Minutes later, she said the product exploded, spilling boiling liquid onto her legs, abdomen and hands.

She immediately said she undressed and took a cold shower for 30 minutes to relieve the pain.

But when her leg continued to burn, she went to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

There, doctors removed the dead skin and wrapped her wounds.

Ms Hardy said she immediately jumped into the shower, but the pressure of the water ‘made her skin fall off’.

Shocking footage shows the extent of Ms Hardy’s injuries, which extended from her legs to her pelvis.

Initially, Mrs. Hardy assumed the water explosion was her fault because she had not screwed the lid of her bottle on properly. When she returned from the hospital, she noticed a crack in the rubber.

She then returned to hospital every day for a fortnight to have her legs rebandaged and says she may be left with a lifelong scar.

Shocking photos show Ms Hardy’s skin red, raw and blistered as she lay in a hospital bed awaiting treatment.

After the incident, she says she will never use a hot water bottle again and is keen to raise awareness about expiration dates.

“At first I thought it was my fault because I didn’t screw the lid on properly,” she said. ‘But when I got home from the hospital I looked again and there was a small tear in the seam of the rubber bottle.

‘The burns were mainly on my thigh and the top of my vulva and then on my other inner thigh.’

While jumping into the shower immediately after the accident eased the pain, the water pressure caused her skin to “fall” off her leg.

Experts recommend throwing away a hot water bottle after two years because the rubber breaks down and is likely to split. Pictured: Mrs. Hardy’s dead, flaky skin on her hands.

Doctors say Ms Hardy may be scarred for life as a result of the ordeal.

‘When I got out of the shower I had no skin there, it was bright red and more skin was coming off.

‘My leg kept burning for days. A week later it was still boiling hot.’

It has now been two months since her burn and although her skin is healing well, doctors say she may be scarred for life.

She is now speaking out about the incident to urge other hot water bottle users to check the expiry date in theirs.

‘They (doctors) can’t say whether it will cause scarring or not because everyone is different, but you can still definitely see marks. After I shower it still turns bright red.

‘When I go on holiday I now have to make sure my skin (in these areas) is not exposed to sunlight or that I have blocking factor 50 on.’

Ms Hardy said she has learned more safety rules about hot water bottles since the incident.

She said, “You’re not actually supposed to take it all out of the cauldron. You are supposed to do half of it with boiling hot water and the rest with cold water.

‘You are also not supposed to fill it all the way to the top because of the pressure and also check the data on it. I will never use a hot water bottle again.

“It’s just too scary.”