I’ve been scarred for life after my hot water bottle exploded – and there’s a secret symbol everyone needs to know that will show if yours is out of date

A woman has been left scarred for life after her hot water bottle exploded – because she didn't realize it was eight years out of date – and is now warning others to check the labels.

Laura Beeslee, 31, from Diss, Norfolk 'felt like she was dying' when her hot water bottle burst while under her jeans on August 16.

The nursery manager was experiencing menstrual cramps when she reached for her trusty hot water bottle to ease the pain.

After filling the compress with freshly boiled water, the nursery manager placed it under the waistband of her jeans.

Within ten minutes, Laura felt a strange feeling running down her legs. When she looked down, she discovered that the device had been torn and all of its contents had been spilled on her.

Screaming in pain, Laura ran to the bathroom to take off her jeans as her 37-year-old partner Adam Rayner began to hose her down.

Shocking photos show Laura's red raw burns that required skin grafts, leaving her unable to walk.

Laura said: 'I had pain during my period and found that medication didn't help. So I thought I would use my hot water bottle and put it in the top of my jeans that I was wearing at the time.

'I got up to clear the countertops and suddenly it exploded. I've used it and slept with it before and haven't had any problems in the past.

'It almost felt like a numbing feeling, but I knew something was wrong. I looked down and saw that the water had flowed down my legs and was all over the floor.

'I can't remember much, but apparently I screamed and ran to the bathroom to take off my jeans.

'My partner put me in the bath and rinsed me off for half an hour. I went in and out of consciousness because the pain was so unbearable. I felt like I was going to die. It was pain like I had never experienced in my life.”

Adam drove Laura to their local hospital, where she was then transferred by blue light to the burns unit at Bloomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, due to the severity of her injuries.

Laura suffered in pain when her hot water bottle suffered severe burns, requiring a skin graft

Laura was rushed to a hospital in Essex despite living in Norfolk because her injuries were so serious

There, Laura was placed under a general anesthetic while doctors opened the blisters on the most affected parts of her thighs and abdomen.

She spent the next three days in intensive care before undergoing a skin graft to help repair her damaged skin.

Laura said: 'They took quite a large amount of skin from my left thigh and put it on my inner thighs and stomach.

'I couldn't walk for a few days, I had to use a zimmer frame. It's been four months now and I can only now walk relatively comfortably.

'They said it could take at least two years for my inner thighs to heal, but scars will probably remain for the rest of my life.

'If we go out for a day, I have to sit down after walking for a while. I have to moisturize my inner thighs up to six times a day or they get quite tight and I can't move properly.

Facebook user Kaylee Whormsley, from North Wales, urged people to check their old hot water bottles on the date they bought them after seeing a TV clip warning that hot water bottles could rupture and cause third-degree burns.

“It's still swollen now and I still can't wear jeans.”

After researching the safety of hot water bottles, Laura found that the recommended usage time is two years. She was shocked to discover that her own device was eight years past its recommended expiration date.

She also discovered that hot water bottles contain a flower symbol at the top, indicating the date of manufacture.

Laura said. 'I didn't even know hot water bottles had an expiration date. I think we figured out it was about eight years out of date when I used it.

'It's quite scary because a lot of people have had the same hot water bottle since childhood.

Just check the expiration date, don't use boiling water, use tap water, only fill it halfway and be really vigilant.

I will never use a hot water bottle in my entire life. Now if I'm cold, I just put on an extra layer of clothing. I just have to live my life with my scars. They are part of my life now.

'I'm lucky that I can cover my scars. In a way, I'm lucky that it happened where it happened, so I don't have to have it on the show all the time.”