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Here's to Your Health:  Kids ear infections and wood stoves...  |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 05 2009 : 3:24:55 PM
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My dh brought both of the girls (11 & 12 years) to the doctor today and came out both with ear infections and we're told it's caused by the smoke from our wood stove. I did check into this on the computer and yes indeedy that is one of the causes. The problem? They came here last Friday after a week of not being here both sick with runny noses & sore throats, they're ears started hurting them last night (Wednesday) and we got them right in to the doctor and on antibiotics today...they have maybe 1 ear infection/year. We only heat with wood and I'm not sure if we can afford the whole propane thing. Any suggestions on what we can do? No one else in the family 2 adults, 2 other kids are getting this.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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obventions
Farmgirl in Training
23 Posts
Liz
Lexington
KY
USA
23 Posts |
Posted - Feb 05 2009 : 4:52:10 PM
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| Well. The smoke disturbs the mucous membranes in the ear. Solutions.. ummm wellllll. Stay away from the stove? That's a tough one. I only had one ear infection in my life -- my doctor attributed it to how much I swam -- ocean water = salt. Apparently it's a home remedy type? That's something you may be able to try. Either a couple of salt water drops in the ear, or I've also seen some suggestions on various websites on putting salt into a sock/bag/ect and warming it in the microwave as hot as you can bare, then laying your head down on it, and it'll draw out any fluids in the ear. |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Feb 05 2009 : 5:10:14 PM
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Thats a new one on me. All we have is wood heat and it has been that way for 5 years. Never had an ear infection here and my youngest (now 17) spent the first year of his life on antibiotict for ear infections. Didn't have wood heat at that time. I would say their infections were due to their colds they had, but I am not a doctor. Just a Mom.
Lillian |
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obventions
Farmgirl in Training
23 Posts
Liz
Lexington
KY
USA
23 Posts |
Posted - Feb 05 2009 : 5:20:08 PM
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| Yes'm it sure does. I'm not a mom, but was a lost college kid and took a hodgepodge of classes. There's a plethora of things that can cause ear infections. What effects one may or may not effect another. But for some, things like wood burning stoves, cigarette smoke, etc. What typically happens is it starts as an upper respiratory infection that carries over to the middle ear and causes infection there. |
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Buffalomary
True Blue Farmgirl
199 Posts
Mary
Caldwell
ID
USA
199 Posts |
Posted - Feb 05 2009 : 10:52:37 PM
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Hmmmm, Melissa, I'm not a doctor either, but I do have over 35 years experience in the medical field and something sounds fishy to me. If they were gone for a week and showed up sick, then I would say they already had the infection and it just hadn't advanced to the pain stage. Ear infections is one of the most frequent complaints for a pediatrician's office and few of the patients are exposed to smoke from a wood burning stove. I've never heard of smoke causing it and I don't quite understand it. We used wood heat while the kids were growing up and all our smoke went outside! My grandparents used a wood stove for heating and cooking and I don't recall any ear infections. So, now I'm curious and will have to do some research on the smoke angle, but I'm inclined to believe they already had the infection and the timing was just coincidental.
Buffalomary
Farmgirl Sister #293
You can take the farmer's daughter off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the farmer's daughter!!
Please visit me at my blog: http://buffalomaryscorner.blogspot.com |
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Suzan
True Blue Farmgirl
659 Posts
suzanne
duncannon
pa
USA
659 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 05:18:32 AM
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| Hmmm, when our kids were little and had ear infections we were told to blow a little cigarette smoke in their ear and stuff with cotton - I suppose it was the heat that was to help....seemed to work, anyways it didn't hurt. |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 05:26:22 AM
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Thank you for all your help! I have been trying to research this over the world wide web but most websites just say second hand smoke and wood stove smoke can cause ear infections.
The fact that they were sick with a cold/sniffles/sore throat when they got here after being gone for a week and the fact that the rest of us now are starting the cold/sniffle business but no ear infections to speak of leaves me clueless. The doctor stated that the girls got it because they're young (11&12). My step son has been living with us full time for 2 almost 3 years and no infection (he was 12 when he moved in) and my daughter the same was 13 and no infections from her either. I'm afraid the fight will be that their mom won't let the girls stay here with the wood stove and that is and has been our only heat source. I'm just up in the air on this one and not sure what to do. I also don't like them on antibiotics...I know if you take them alot they say eventually they don't work anymore. Any home remedies or websites to find them would also be appreciated!
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 05:29:41 AM
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I wanted to add but hit the submit button to fast! (I'm late for work!) I know that with a wood stove there is some smoke that comes into the house putting wood in and such but ours is well ventilated, smoke going outside and up to code. This just puzzles me...
Melissa
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 07:55:46 AM
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When my kids were little they had a lot of trouble with respiratory problems and the doctor diagnosed it as being caused by our heating with wood - what he said was it was caused by mold spores that came in on the wood. We stopped piling wood by the stove, - went outside for an armful every time we needed some and it did seem to help. I don't know if that's the case for you, but it also happened to a friend of mine. They stopped using wood altogether and their kids cleared right up. Sounds weird I know.
Farmgirl Sister #98
Check out my new online store
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Buffalomary
True Blue Farmgirl
199 Posts
Mary
Caldwell
ID
USA
199 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 07:55:48 AM
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Peachy,
I thought of a couple things. How long had they been sick with a cold before they came to you? I am finding it very hard to believe they got their ear infection from you. It sounds more like they have spread the cold to you!
Another thought is how much milk/dairy products do they drink? Milk will increase mucus production which will lead to increase swelling in the throat tissues. This can cause the small tube that goes from the throat to the middle ear to swell and leave any gunk caught in the middle ear. This becomes "food" for any bacteria caught in there and they grow until we have a ripe infection! Limiting milk and increase their water intake should also help.
I'll keep checking on the smoke thing and let you know what I find. Good luck at your end!
Buffalomary
Farmgirl Sister #293
You can take the farmer's daughter off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the farmer's daughter!!
Please visit me at my blog: http://buffalomaryscorner.blogspot.com |
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CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2009 : 2:55:25 PM
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I suppose wood fires could cause it, anything is possible. We have heated solely with wood for 35 years, neither one of my kids ever had an ear infection. The same for my grandkids too. Maybe we were just lucky. I know I got a doozy from a little wading pool I had as a kid and ended up deaf in one ear from it.But,can you imagine how many kids had wading pools and no problems! So who knows. I know wood smoke can be a definite trigger for asthma.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Feb 07 2009 : 10:46:18 PM
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Same here....always have had at least a fire place and most of the time a woodstove and none of my 7 kids....from 11 up to 31 have ever had a single ear infection. And they are all big milk drinkers too. I really think some kids are more prone to them no matter what you do. (5 of my kids are adopted so it can't be "healthy ear genes" even in our case. I hope things get better..I have always felt so bad for kids with ear infections...it has to hurt so much!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2009 : 11:45:56 PM
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Thank you all for your responses and trying to help us out! I have this awful bug now so I'm just typing a quick reply and crawling under the covers for a few days...the kids aren't big on dairy, I've been adding soy products slowly into all of our diets. Dairy may have some effect but I'm not sure how much.
As far as the girls coming down with this, they had headaches, sore throats and stuffy noses when they arrived here on Friday. I'm not absolutely sure how long this was before they got here but it seemed to progress fast with them as it is with me. My daughter (16) felt great all weekend...by Wednesday night it had hit her and Thursday she was home all day in bed. I'm hoping I wake up feeling great tomorrow but today feels like I could sleep forever.
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
Edited by - peachy on Feb 09 2009 09:18:06 AM |
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Here's to Your Health: Kids ear infections and wood stoves... |
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Kids ear infections and wood stoves...
