Making periods a little bit more bearable (Kobayashi Cura-Heat)

Member Name: InsaneStar

Product:	Kobayashi Cura-Heat
Date:	23/04/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Individually wrapped, soothing, can be inexpensive and they do actually heat up!

Disadvantages: Have to be attached to clothing and can cause burns if not used correctly.

I suffer from very severe period pain and tend to have to stay in bed with a hot water bottle so when I saw a packet of these in the pound shop (£1 for three!) I thought I'd try them as they might allow me to be a bit more mobile during my time of the month.

They are air-activated so they start working as soon as you open the individual plastic packet. As they're individually wrapped, you can easily keep a spare one in your handbag without having to carry a whole box.

They claim to last for 12 hours but I would say they only seem effective for about 8 hours at most and if you've been wearing one for several hours you start to not notice the heat and so it loses some of its effectiveness. They definitely do get warm though.

There's a warning on the packet that the product can cause burns if not used correctly (and there's a long list of safety precautions). I've never had a burn but I did wear a metal belt buckle over a pad once (I ignored the warning!) and it got uncomfortably hot very quickly and I had to remove it.

You have to attach these heat packs to your clothing and not your skin which isn't very convenient if you're using them for period pains unless you're the sort of woman who wears very large knickers or high-waisted trousers! If you're using them for back or shoulder pain though I don't think that attaching them to clothing would be too inconvenient.

Overall, they're not as good as using a hot-water bottle but they do provide some comfort and I will continue to use them to help soothe my period pains a little while I'm outside of the home.

Summary: If you can buy them cheaply then it's worth trying them out.