A great alternative to frozen peas! (Kobayashi Cura-Heat)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	Kobayashi Cura-Heat
Date:	27/03/09 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Does exactly what it needs to do.

Disadvantages: None for me.

In my haste, one day last week, I stretched up to reach something from a cupboard, without going and getting a step.......I'm not particularly tall, so I did that sort of wobbly, standing on tiptoes, thing trying to coax my desired item from the shelf.......resulting in a pulled muscle in my back. No one to blame by myself.

I am very lucky in that after a few days of pain, I had access to a fantastic phsyio who worked wonders, leaving me with rather less pain. The pain had become discomfort rather than out and out "ouch" and I was very much aware of it.

The physio said that if it continued to give me problems I could put a bag of frozen peas against it to ease it.......now, I don't know about you, but I didn't really fancy walking around the office with a bag of petits pois sticking out of my waistband.......

So, instead of heading to the freezer cabinet in the local convenience store, I headed to Boots, and bought a box of 3 Cura-Heat patches for back and shoulder pain. At £3.80 they are quite expensive per patch, but Boots have an offer on at the moment for buy-one-get-one-half-price which brings the price down quite nicely.

The instructions are simple, just take one of the pads out of its sealed packet, and stick it to the area that is giving you pain or discomfort.

They claim to provide targeted 12 hour warming relief from minor muscular and joint aches and pains - that sounded just the job to me, and a whole lot more discrete and comfortable than a bag of frozen peas.

So, armed with my patch, I went back to the office and slapped it on the offending area. Within minutes the patch is pleasantly warm, and the discomfort definitely subsiding.

Now, I must point out, that the packet says that you should not apply these directly to skin, because they might burn, but instead you should apply them to your clothing or your underwear........

I totally ignored this instruction and slapped it straight on to my back, and I had no problems at all - I find the patch pleasantly warm rather than hot, and I did not ever feel at any risk of burning. However, the packet does say different, and I don't want to be held responsible for anyone's personal burning issues, so please use your own judgment, not mine!

The patch stayed nicely in place - I did not have to worry about it slipping out and showing itself to my colleages, yet it was not so firm that it pulled my skin at all.

I removed the patch when I got home, so had been wearing it for approximately 10 hours - it was still gently warm, so the claim on the box that it will provide relief for 12 hours is probably not far wrong.

The patches have a shelf life (provided you keep them in their packets) of about two and a half years, so it is something that will keep in the medicine cupboard "just in case" without much of a problem.

Don't be tempted to open the packet unless you need the patch though - they start warming up as soon as they feel air, so only open them when you need them, otherwise you will have wasted your money.

My back feels a lot better now - but if I get that niggle again, I will not hesitate to reach for one of these patches rather than painkillers or the frozen peas.

Summary: Soothing and comfortable - just what the doc ordered!