“Every Mile Is Two In Winter” – George Herbert

With the first of September fast approaching, the days of glorious summer sunshine are about to fade, turning back to reality and being Scottish, a country best well known for its weather and our “I have no feeling in my feet, hands, arms, legs etc” Winters.

 

The Scottish will use anything to keep warm during the winter months, which for us are September through to March. During this time of year those aches and pains increase from young to old. It’s time to ditch the old hot water bottle and try something new…

 

Enter hotbott.

 

With heat therapy targeting those aches and pains you do not need to fear the winter any longer. Not convinced?    

 

Have a read what Meryl Reis, Senior Director at Rohto-Mentholatum Research Laboratories, wrote about in her report titled “Modern Heat Therapy”

 

“The disposable heat packs do not contain a mechanism for verifying the temperature during application. While this may be a cause for concern similar to a hot water bottle, in this case the various manufacturers maintain that their products deliver a therapeutic level of heat for a set amount of time. Several published studies have evaluated the safety and efficacy of these types of disposable heat packs.

 

One study evaluated a heat pack applied to the lower back, and evaluated the range of temperature when the subjects were lying facedown and when they were lying on their back. The study results concluded that the range of temperatures were within the therapeutic and safe range in both positions. Another study evaluated the effectiveness of a heat wrap for providing relief from lower back pain as compared with over-the-counter internal pain medications, (acetaminophen and ibuprofen). Pain, as reported on a six-point scale, and muscle stiffness, quantified on a 101-point rating scale, were both reduced with heat therapy and internal pain medications. In this study, the heat therapy was shown to provide greater pain relief and greater reduction in muscle stiffness as compared with both internal pain medications. In addition, no serious adverse events occurred during the study and the disposable heat pack was shown to be well tolerated.

 

Disposable heat packs like –re-usable heat packs and electrical heating pads, are medical treatments. Products are labelled with detailed indications, instructions, precautions, and warning on the proper use of the products. As a medical treatment, consumers should be instructed to carefully follow all labelling. As with any heating product, heat packs have the potential to cause skin irritation or burns. Disposable heat products deliver therapeutic applications of heat that provides relief from minor aches, pains, and stiffness of muscles and joints. These disposable heat packs are portable and, especially those that are self-adhesive, easy to use.

 

Heat therapy has been shown to be an effective method for reducing muscle pain and reducing muscle and joint stiffness. The hate gate control theory describes the mechanism of heat stimulating large neurons that close the gate to the small neuron transmission of pain. Heat also reduces the viscosity of collagen, improving the flexibility of joints and muscles. Heat therapy can be applied through warm baths and hot water bottles. The availability today of disposable, self-adhesive heat pads and wraps provide patients with a portable, easy to use, safe, and effective means of obtaining the benefits of heat therapy”

 

Source: http://www.touchbriefings.com/pdf/1092/Mentholatum_tech.pdf

 

What this means for ourselves is that our hotbotts have even more research behind our products, making them a wonderful product with a number of uses, therapeutic healthcare being an important one.

 

What Our Customers Say About Us

With a business having such a great product capable of fulfilling multiple consumer needs, it can become easy to listen to the hype. However, we listen to our customers and their opinions on whether those needs are actually being met. As they say, the proof is in the pudding!

 

As a result we would like you to meet a couple of our customers who have bought hotbott.

First, meet Molly. Molly loves to play bowls yet after suffering from Raynaud’s Syndrome, a condition affecting circulation in your hands and fingers, was faced with the decision to potentially quit the sport she loved. Lucky for Molly, hotbott came to the rescue.

In the past few years I have suffered from Raynaud’s Syndrome which affects the circulation to my hands and fingers. Living in a hot country would be ideal, but as a pensioner in Scotland, living with the condition brings its own challenges.

 

I am a keen bowler but in this past year I have noticed it is becoming more of a challenge to hold my bowls without them slipping from my hands. I’ve tried wearing gloves but you don’t get the same grip.

 

 

I had considered giving up on my bowling due to the fact that I couldn’t feel my fingers, and I felt I was letting my team mates down if I was playing in a team match.  

 

Giving up on bowling would not only be devastating to me in terms of keeping me fit, but I have a good social network at the bowling club so it would have affected me in more ways than just playing a game of bowls.

 

At the point where I thought everything was lost my daughter told me about hotbott. It’s a portable heating system which was initially made for sitting on, but which Scott, the owner of the company gave me to try to see if it helped my hands.

 

It has been a revelation. Now before bowling, I sit with the hotbott and heat my hands. My circulation comes back and I can play as normal. The hotbott lasts for well over an hour, and so in between playing ends I just hold onto the hotbott, my fingers are instantly heated and off I go.

 

Hotbott has given me a new lease of life. I am 76, and at a time where I want to keep active it’s the ideal solution. Thanks to Scott and the hotbott team.

And now, meet Marie Louise. After suffering two major back injuries, the first resulting in back surgery, Marie-Louise turned to hotbott to help her through her road to recovery.

I was introduced to hotbott by a friend following a car accident in May this year. I was suffering extreme back pain an muscle spasms – something that I am only too familiar with having experienced a traumatic back injury in 2009 resulting in back surgery. My instinctive solution is always to turn to my hot water bottle which is often too hot an awkwardly shaped so it doesn’t always hit the mark.

 

 

When a friend suggested hotbott I assumed it was similar to the temporary heat packs that you can buy over the counter……..how wrong was I!!! Hotbott literally became my best friend and I didn’t want to be parted from it. It was really easy to use and my children were mesmerised each time I set it off to self heat…….my wee girl especially loved the pink one.

 

 The biggest advantage over a hot water bottle is the shape – as you apply to any injured or tender area you can literally mould to fit the area. The pouch is an excellent idea particularly when I became more mobile and ventured out on my first post accident drives.

 

 Fortunately this injury has been a temporary setback but as an experienced back pain sufferer I have never found as a good a product as hotbott – trust me I’ve tried them all! I’ve even introduced my physio to hotbott and he is equally impressed at its properties.

We at hotbott, take great pride in our customers. We have provided a re-usable heated product capable of helping those who have to suffer various aches, pains and strains. By introducing heat therapy it can make all the difference on the road to recovery.

 

The Greatest Sporting Moments in History

We at hotbott love sports.

We love sports so much we created a product with a use to enhance YOUR spectator experience whilst watching your favourite team or player so that when they triumph in their respective sport, you know you are comfy, warm and can celebrate with them too. So, in the hotbott hatchery, we started to think of the greatest sporting moments. Can you place a gold medel on a single ‘greatest’ moment? Well, we will leave that up to you!

Comment below about which one is your personal favourite and if we have missed one of your favourites tell us why it should be the greatest sporting moment. (Even we make mistakes)

1. Manchester City win the 2011/2012 English Premier League in dramatic fashion.

Having not won the Premier League title since the 1967-68 season and been known as Manchester’s other team for decades, Manchester City had finally gain a team that was worthy of competing for the top prize in English football against their city rivals, Manchester United.

City entered the final day of the league requiring a win against Queens Park Rangers, who had been flirting with relegation for the duration of the season. Simple right? Well… trailing 2-1 in the 90^th minute isn’t exactly the best of positions to be in considering you would hand hated-rivals Manchester United their 20^th league title should you fall at the final fence.

The want and desire for a first league title in 44 years proved too much though for the Red Devils with late goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Augero lifting ManchesterCity to the title.

2. Manchester United win the 1999 UEFA Champions League.

Perhaps a personal favourite of mine.

I watched this game in my back room, on a television half the size of the monitor I’m looking at just now. With my Sharp branded Manchester United top on and David Beckham as my idol, the 8 year old in me wanted Manchester United to win, badly.

Trailing late in the game (a recurring theme for Manchester teams in this blog so far) Manchester United called upon super-subs Teddy Sherringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to vault them to a 2-1 lead, stunning Bayern Munich, who had led since the 6^th minute through Man of the Match Mario Basler. At the time, I did not fully understand what this meant and the success of winning the Champions League as part of the treble meant to the history of the club but now, with age, I know that this truly was one of the glory (glory) days of Manchester United.

3. Michael Jordan’s Final Shot vs Utah Jazz – Game 6 1998 NBA Finals

G.O.A.T. Four letters is all that is needed to summarise the great Michael Jordan.

The Greatest Of All Time, his Airness has long hinted that the 1997-1998 NBA Season would be his final time in the league. His Chicago Bulls had found themselves in a familiar position, the NBA Finals against Utah Jazz, who they had already defeated the season before.

Winning the NBA Championship would give Jordan his sixth ring, his sixth world title, further cementing his legacy of being that best that ever graced the hardwood.

With Chicago trailing by 1 the ball was in the hands of Karl Malone, the 1997 NBA’s Most Valuable Player. The following sequence of events as called by Bob Costas for NBC describe the sequence of events that followed.

“Jordan with 43. Malone is doubled. They swat at him and steal it! Here comes Chicago. 17 seconds. 17 seconds, from Game 7, or from championship #6. Jordan, open, Chicago with the lead! Timeout Utah, 5.2 seconds left. Michael Jordan, running on fumes, with 45 points”

Then as the replays of Jordan’s shot were being shown, Costas added.

“That may have been, who knows what will unfold over the next several months, but that may have been the last shot Michael Jordan will ever take in the NBA.”

4. Johnny Wilkinson’s drop goal 2003 Rugby World Cup

Johnny Wilkinson had the whole of England on his shoulders during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. A great team effort had rewarded the English with a path to the Final to face the heavily favoured Australia but with Johnny playing, England would never be counted out. Tied 17 a piece, with nerves being tested, Wilkinson once again stepped up. With 26 seconds remaining, he kicked England to champions of the rugby world.

5. Kobe Bryant’s 81 Point Game vs Raptors / Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game vs New York Knicks

Basketball is a team sport. A competitive 5 on 5 affair where who ever scores the most points over four quarters wins the game.

In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks, a record that still exists today. Wilt was a player ahead of his time, playing “above the rim”.

What is perhaps more amazing is that in 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second most points ever scored in a game, against the Toronto Raptors. The modern game of basketball is much more developed that that of the game in the 60s with higher level of detail in plays and defensive adjustments made throughout the game. With that being said the Black Mamba still manage to score 81 points and make history with the 2^nd greatest scoring performance in NBA history.

6. Tiger Woods’ First Major – 1997 Masters

Entering the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods was the young phenom that had huge potential for the game of golf having been introduced to the game of golf prior to the age of two. However, he had not won a major and thus could not be celebrated as a champion.

At 21 years of age, he played in the 1997 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Gerorgia, USA.

Perhaps with nerves, Tiger shot a 40 for the front nine but shot only 30 for the back none to finish the first round with a total score of 70, two under par. What happened next is golf history. Woods shot a total of 270 for the four rounds, finishing 18 under par and 12 strokes better than his nearest rival (all of which were records at the time) What makes this performance ever more great is that Tiger became the youngest player and first non-white golfer to win at Augusta.

7. 1992 Olympics – The Dream Team

Some call it the greatest sports team ever assembled.

The United States of America Men’s Basketball Team dominated each of their games in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona winning each of their games by a margin of 43.8 points is the greatest in Olympic history. The team, assembled with the superstars of the National Basketball Association such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird etc, showed grace and class in uniting to show the world the game of basketball and how to represent your country while at the same time winning the gold medal for the United States.

8. The Rumble in the Jungle

30^th October 1974 –The Rumble in the Jungle – The Champion George Foreman vs The Challenger Muhammad Ali

George Foreman had amazing power and delivered hundreds of blows to Muhammad Ali throughout the fight. Normally this would be too much for any man to withstand but thanks to tactical genius from Ali allowed him to take down world heavyweight champion Foreman.

Ali adopted the “rope-a-dope” strategy where he intentionally allowed Foreman to hit him (although not critically) to tire about Foreman allowed Ali to capitalize later in the fight. Late on into the fight, Foreman struck Ali hard. Ali whispered to Foreman, “Is that all you got, George?”, which he replied, “Yep… that’s about it” Soon afterwards Ali begun to dominate Foreman resulting in knock out by Ali in the 8^th round.

9. Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals in 2008 Beijing Olympics

Winning one Olympic medal in your career is to be considered successful. Winning eight gold medals at a single Olympics is simply out of this world. Michael Phelps, winner of now 22 medals (18 golds) completed this feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. What is perhaps the best medal story of any of the Olympic medals Phelps won is the 7^th he won in Beijing. Before the start of the final of the 100 meter butterfly Milorad Cavic said that it would be “good” if Phelps lost. Phelps responded by saying “When people say things like that, it fires me up more than anything” Phelps later won the final by beating Milorad Cavic by one-hundredth of a second.

10. Diego Maradona – 1986 World Cup – Quarter Final Vs England

Through a football career and life surrounded by drama and controversy, Diego Maradona certainly caused both during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final with England.

There has never been two single goals scored in one game that have had so much to be said about them.

Maradona scored two goals to secure Argentina’s place in the semi final beating England two goals to one. The first of the two goals, perhaps the more infamous moment in any football tournament, no less the World Cup is when he leaped and punched the ball into the net giving Argentina the lead. The goal no doubt if scored today would be a clear sign that video technology should be implemented into the game.

However the second of the two goals was something quite different. Still as extraordinary as the first, but for all the right reasons. Picking the ball up barely into his own half, Maradona ran 60 yards, beating five English players (who probably wanted to break his legs after his shocking goal only moments before), before rounding Peter Shilton and slotting the ball into the net again.

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Also, please watch this if you have time. Two US sports expects, Steven A Smith and Skip Bayless, debate the greatest sporting moment. I get chills everytime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCEedAlHq8A

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To there you have it. Please tell us what your favourite sporting memory is. Is it included in our list of 10 above ? If not like us on Facebook and tell us what yours is or follow us on twitter and do the same. Links will be at the very bottom!

Heat Therapy for Aches & Pains

Working from an office chair for long hours, from your mid twenties till retirement can lead to back pains for millions of people. According to Spine Health, a web based provider of “trusted information for pain relief”, the main reason for this is because sitting in a static position for long periods of time leads to increased stress in “the back, neck, shoulders, arms, legs and spinal discs.” Sitting in an office chair we slouch or hunch over our desks while working away on the computer. Working over a period of many years sitting incorrectly with poor posture will ultimately lead to suffering back pain, neck pain etc.

To help ease these pains why not try using heat therapy through our unique and innovative product hotbott.

The therapeutic effects of heat include increasing the extensibility of collagen tissues; decreasing joint stiffness; reducing pain; relieving muscle spasms; reducing inflammation, edema, and aids in the post acute phase of healing; and increasing blood flow. The increased blood flow to the affected area provides proteins, nutrients, and oxygen for better healing

Spine Health describe how exactly heat helps the body with pains and aches:

“Heat therapy application can help provide lower back pain relief through several mechanisms:

• Heat therapy dilates the blood vessels of the muscles surrounding the lumbar spine. This process increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, helping to heal the damaged tissue.
• Heat stimulates the sensory receptors in the skin, which means that applying heat to the lower back will decrease transmissions of pain signals to the brain and partially relieve the discomfort.
• Heat application facilitates stretching the soft tissues around the spine, including muscles, connective tissue, and adhesions. Consequently, with heat therapy, there will be a decrease in stiffness as well as injury, with an increase in flexibility and overall feeling of comfort. Flexibility is very important for a healthy back.”

Source: http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/heat-therapy-cold-therapy/benefits-heat-therapy-lower-back-pain

So if you have back ache or general aches or pains, why not give hotbott a try?

 

http://www.hotbott.com/