We just installed a wood burning stove in our house, and was wondering what damage if any we are doing to our daughters skin? We have had it running non stop for about a month and a half. Haven't really noticed a change in Claire's skin, but maybe it's too soon to tell and the dry weather really hasn't set in yet.

All of the carpets are now gone. Thank you to everyone who posted their thoughts/comments. I recommend hard wood flooring 100%! You should have seen the crap that was underneath the rugs. Totally disgusting!

A wood burning stove is going to suck up a the moisture in the air just as the furnace does in the winter. You may want to run a humidfier in her room as well as the main area of the home if you are not already doing so. I don't really think there is a "good" way to heat your house and keep her skin from drying out. We set our furnace at 65 degrees so that it kicks on less and our house is new and well built so that helps hold the heat in a bit better. We run humidifiers in each of the kids bedrooms (our two youngest children both have Lamellar...ages 3 and 1 year) and in our living room 24/7.
Lisa

Hi Libby. I have moderate LI and we had a wood burning stove in our house for three years. It did dry out my skin more and it caused my one son that does not have ich to have nosebleeds. So, we would put two large pots of water on the wood burning stove to try to keep the air from being so dry. I'm in Michigan and we are getting slammed with the cold weather and my skin is definately feeling it. Whatever you do I wish you and Claire the best. God bless! [img]http://www.ichthyosis.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

OUR HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1860, SO WE REALLY CAN'T KEEP THE TEMP. SET ANY LOWER THAN 68 (DON'T THINK WE HAVE MUCH INSULATION AT ALL...MAYBE SOME NEWSPAPERS STUFFED IN THE WALLS HERE AND THERE!) WE DO KEEP POTS OF H20 ON THE STOVE WHICH HELPS. WE ALSO HAVE STEAM HEAT, WHICH I AM LIKING MUCH BETTER THAT BASEBOARD (WHICH WE USED TO HAVE IN PREVIOUS HOME).
I GUESS WE WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE HOW THINGS GO. IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THIS WOOD STOVE, THE OIL MAN WOULD BE HERE EVERY 2 WEEKS, AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE BEING BLASTED WITH COLD AIR HERE IN THE NORTHEAST. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR POSTS SO FAR!
LIBBY

Well, my company shares an office with another nonprofit that does "weatherization" for people who can't afford to fix their homes & make them energy efficient. I was visiting with their "head guy" the other day and he mentioned that any new furnace (about 5 years or newer) actually does not suck moisture out of the air, like the older ones do. So if you have a new(er) furnace, it's the cold weather that's sucking the air out of your house, not the furnace.

Of course, wood burning stoves are different, they WOULD sap the moisture out of the air. You just have to run the humidifier constantly, basically. And bathe her in the morning and evening, of course following up with her lotions!

I just want to toss something in here (without making this post about how a furnace works LOL). I am not sure if you misunderstood the guy who was talking to you about the newer furnaces but all furnaces work pretty much the same. The furnace sucks the air out of your home (this is what the cold air return vents in your home are for), it takes the air into the furnace and it heats it up which takes all of the moisture out of the air, and then it finally sends it back into your home though a heating vent. The heating if the air is what sucks the moisture out of the air so any furnace will take moisture out of the air because it is heating the air. Perhaps he was thinking that some new furnaces have humidifiers on them but I don't really find them efficient because the humidifier attached to the furnace only runs when your furnace runs. A room humidifier can be turned on at any time and run all of the time so it puts more moisture into the air than a humidifier that is on a furnace.

Phewww...I hope that made sence. That being said I just want to add one more comment and that is that my kids with Lamellar only get a bath twice a week or so. Our kids dry out with frequent bathing. If we gave them a bath everyday (let alone twice) they would be cracking and bleeding terribly. Some people with Lamellar do best with multiple baths a day and others don't...everyones different. I think I would keep whatever bathing routine works and instead of chaning it, I would just use the lotions and ointments a little more frequently to combat the dry air.
Best of Luck!!!
Lisa

When I was a kid, I'd bathe about once or twice a week, too. Now it's best for me to shower at least once a day! If I do twice, my skin gets twice as soft.

Interesting how people have the "same" thing, but still require different treatments!

My daughter's skin is much better when she bathes more frequently. He skin is so much more moisturized and silky (thanks to aderma exomega!!). It's also strange how so many ppl enjoy summer over winter. My daughter ( who has cie), does much better in winter than in summer. You would think that it would be the other way around. She really can't tolerate the heat.