Best long hot water bottles to help soothe all your aches and pains

The 81cm x 13cm YuYu Bottle, which is crafted from a biodegradable grade-A rubber – as are all the bottles we tested – is a dream to use. It comes complete with a cute, branded canvas tote and a velvet-feel fleecy case, and also has a genius wearable strap. We filled the bottle up to two-thirds capacity. As the top rolled down smoothly, pouring in water was a breeze.

Attaching the bottle onto our back, the wearable strap ties easily in place with minimum faff, which is essential when you’re in pain. Being able to drape a hot water bottle over all our aching areas – including back, tummy, shoulders and neck – made our day-to-day tasks much more manageable. Bumps on the surface of the bottle are there for retaining heat, and we enjoyed comforting warmth and relaxation for hours on end.

Made from natural rubber, this long hot water bottle has a cream-coloured teddy fleece cover with both a neck and flap opening further down. We found that it was better to remove the bottle top from its case via the flap opening when filling, to stop the cover from getting wet. The material is of medium thickness, making for a lightweight feel that worked well when balanced on our neck.

Note, the light material shows up dirt, and, although it can be machine washed, it did bobble slightly with regular wear and tear. Nonetheless, this is a cosy bargain buy.

Presented in a luxuriously thick case, the rectangular bottle’s open neck is wide enough for filling without removal. Equally, the heavy cover meant there was sufficient insulation between it and our body to avoid burning or overheating. The bottle stayed in place while draped around our neck, without slipping or falling off, and allowed heat to radiate down our back, too.

At 79cm x 12cm, the shape is long enough to cover a substantial area of the legs, back or neck. Above all, the tactile cover looks and feels super plush, and, even with daily refilling, the quality wasn’t lost over time during testing.

One for leopard-print-lovers, this rectangular natural rubber bottle measures 80cm x 11cm and comes with an acrylic cover. Sleek and strokable, the case folds down to open with ease, and we appreciated being able to pour from the kettle while experiencing joint pain, without worrying about hot water spilling onto the material.

The cover is reasonably thick, and holds heat well overnight, which soothed our pain and helped us sleep. This bottle is also available in other designs, if leopard print isn’t for you.

This is the widest long hot water bottle we tried, and, as a result, it was ideal for full body heat therapy while lying down. It has a chic ribbon tie for unfastening before adding water into the rectangular natural rubber bottle, though it is a little fiddly to tie back up. That said, among the long hot water bottles we reviewed, this product’s medium-density cover was the easiest to take off.

The exposed top on this 81cm x 12cm rectangular number took away any filling hassle. Different from other products tested, the bottle is a transparent rubber and extra long – which is optimum for back pain – and is covered in taupe fleece that’s satisfying to the touch. The lightweight material made the bottle less bulky, which was a plus for storage, but didn’t retain heat for quite as long. Saying that, the cover’s pom pom detailing offers a fun aesthetic.