The twelfth The Medical Journal of Australia/Wyeth Australia award for the best original research published in the Medical Journal of Australia was awarded during the opening ceremony of the AMA National Conference in Melbourne today. The Journal's Content Review Committee has awarded the prize for 2006 to Dr Conrad Loten and his colleagues: Barrie Stokes, David Worsley, Jamie E Seymour, Simon Jiang and Geoffrey K Isbister, for their research paper, "A randomised controlled trial of hot water immersion versus ice packs for pain relief in bluebottle stings" . The paper was published in the 3 April 2006 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia. The winning team's research addressed a perennial problem for beach-going Australians in the summer months - thousands of bluebottle stings. It recently reached worldwide prominence, when it was featured in the New York Times. In a randomised control trial involving surf life saving first aid facilities at two beaches in eastern Australia, the investigators compared the treatment of bluebottle stings with either hot water immersion or ice packs. Those treated with hot water immersion reported less post-sting pain. The difference in pain reduction was so marked that the trial was stopped after the halfway analysis because of the superiority of hot water immersion. The judges said this practical and definitive research has taken some of the pain out of Australian summers on the beach. They said it clearly shows that meaningful advances do not necessarily require high technology - just a good idea, and a will to see it through.