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Corn Critter Bags are hot commodity

MARY ELLEN DZIEDZIC Times Leader Correspondent

Aimee Jones, 39, of Swoyersville created a product to soothe aches and pains and warm a chilled body.

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Jones

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The result had Country Living magazine’s judges fired up.

Scores of women entrepreneurs pitched their products to Country Living’s editors for a chance to have their ideas featured in the magazine. Jones’s product, Corn Bag Critters, are featured in the November issue. Following this exposure and the recognition by the magazine, “demand for the product soared” according to Jones.

Once Jones met requirements for the contest she spent her own money on travel and expense, she said. She was given only five minutes (including set up and questions) to present her product to a panel of judges in Chicago. The experience was “invaluable and almost overwhelming,” she said. “There were so many women with such imaginative and talented products that it was hard to tell who would win.”

Corn Bag Critters are Jones’s creation to ease sore muscles and promote a feeling of warmth for children and adults. Filled with non-popping feed corn, the “critters” provide a natural “heating pad” when placed in the microwave for a short period. These bags are covered in soft chenille and come in a variety of animal shapes and fabrics.

Though the shape is new, the concept has been around for a while.

Jones recalls that her “grandmother used a corn bag years ago.” She also had one for years and felt more could be done with them. That’s how the idea for a soft, chenille alternative came about.

Providing heat to sore muscles is a non-drug therapy technique and is often used in conjunction with traditional pain medications, especially for moderate to severe pain. A body-based therapy, heat rather than cold is often found to be more comforting. Heat therapy can reduce stiffness and pain and relieve muscle spasms.

The use of heat has also been found helpful for exercise-induced muscle soreness. This type of pain is essentially caused by microscopic tearing of muscle fibers. A U.S. Spine & Sports Foundation (October 2006) study reported that heat had more of an effect on pain related to exercise soreness as compared to the use of cold packs.

Jones started the project to ease muscle cramps and aches in her children. The family also found that the bags provide comforting warmth in cold weather and during illness. Jones’s husband, William, who is athletic, uses the bags, especially for his sore back. She also uses the bags for her two children, ages 3 � and 5, to relieve aches and pains as well as provide comfort at night as an alternative to medication.

Jones’s mother, who suffers from arthritis, is her biggest fan. She uses the bags on her sore knees along with other treatments to ease the stiffness that often accompanies the disease. Jones said her mother encouraged her to enter the Pitch Your Product contest with the corn bags. “She used them and knew they worked.”

The bags are currently made by a Pennsylvania manufacturer. Due to demand, delivery may take 7 to 14 days, according to the company Web site.

To order

Corn Bag Critters cost $19.99; smaller, fabric-covered corn bags begin at $2.99 for a rectangular sinus bag.

To order or for more information, visit www.cornbagcritters.com.