Any Suggestions on How to Treat Molluscum?

We had excellent care from this doc. He treated both kids with a very specific topical treatment, applied carefully to each wart. One child recovered fully given two treatments over 3 months. The other child (highly allergic) had a severe reaction to the treatment and blistered, but the doctor called us back immediately and managed the reaction. So, this treatment is not for every child, I guess. But, he was excellent with his care of the kids and I'd highly recommend him as a pediatric dermatologist.
Dr. Edward J. Keuer, MD
1s 224 Summit Avenue Suite 106
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181

Both of my children had it but a year apart. It takes a long time to heal and it really is contagious but you won't see it rear its ugly head for a while. My son and daughter had MANY frozen off because, what can happen is, once one opens, they do spread. They're called "Mollluskum...." because the inner "core" to each of the pimples, when totally squeezed out,resembles a "Mollusk or shell" If you don't remove the whole core and treat it with something, it can continue to be contagious. They can be squeezed but they can also cause scarring if this happens. The spreading especially happened with my son because his were mainly in areas that had constant friction - under his armpits.

They can be easy to freeze off (the dr. just used a funnel and freezing spray) and you have to know your child's pain tolerance because they can briefly hurt to do this, especially depending on how many will be done in an area at a time - my son had 17 and he reached his limit!) We had one ointment that did nothing an another that could only be used for a short period of time. With my daughter, she had some persistent ones on her leg and we finally froze them off - no scarring. Good luck.

My son had it pretty bad and it kept coming back. We did the beetle extract. It's kinda gross, stings a bit, and doesn't always work on the first try, but it ultimately was the only thing that cleared it up.

Cryotherapy involves killing infected cells by "freezing" them with a pressurized liquid spray, usually liquid nitrogen or nitrous oxide. The procedure is relatively painless and can be performed by any health professional, including nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The infected cells may fall off immediately or fade over several days.
Another suggestion, essential oil, tea tree oil is reported to at least reduce growth and spread of lesions when used in dilute form.[15] Tea tree oil may cause contact dermatitis to those with sensitive skin, although less often in dilute form.
There is also a way to try reducing spreading the virus from commonly shared areas of your home. Free trial of a proven safe air machine and laundry system that kills viruses that reduces the risk of spreading person to person.
Try an over the counter calamine lotion to reduce the itching. If your daughter scratches it may cause worse infection. Another home remedy a Colloidal Oatmeal bath.

Both my children had it. Our doctor used an ointment kind of like compound W. I used compound W on it and it seemed to help stop the spreading as well as start taking it away.

I recently was a nanny for a 4 yr. old who had Molluscum really bad. The doctor told his mom the same thing "leave it alone." There were other things they could do to remove the bumps, but he had so many it would have been too painful. They researched it online and found something called Silver Cure. It was a cream that had to be applied twice per day. It worked amazing and he no longer has ANY bumps! I guess it doesn't contain silver which is what one of their concerns were. The doctor actually asked his parents to send her the website and information on the medicine, she looked it over and said it is fine to put on children. You may want to research it yourself, but it definitely worked.

S.,

You know what the doctor once told me that I had that as well and I could not remember how to spell it. I am going to the dr. soon so if he gives any information that will be helpful to you I will let you know.

I will pray that things for your baby get better!
God Bless,

Claudia

my son(3) and daughter(5) both went through cases of Molluscum last year. The pediatrican also said to leave it alone and that it would go away on its own in a few months but my son had it for over a year before I went to the dermatologist. We tried a cream, then a type of acid before we did liqiud Nitrogen (?). even though this was treatment was upsetting to everyone (includeing myself) it was the only thing that eventually got rid of it. You see if they touch and scratch it which my son was doing they are spreading it and you might think that you have got it all cleared but it comes back in full force. It can also be contagious to other family members due to constant contact with them. This is how my daughter came in contact with it as my son had it for so long. Since we choose the Liqiud Nitrogen way I think they only had to have 2 or 3 treatments of it and it was totally cleared. And my son had a lot of it believe me.

I hope that your daughter is able to clear it with out having to go the way that I did.

A.

Hi S.,
My son has it too. Our doctor told us the same thing...that it could take a year or 2 to clear up. I "popped" the blisters (they were also in his "knee pits" and began to spread to the front) and then used a natural astringent/toner and then followed up with a probiotic (orally), since its really a fungus type of thing. The popping and keeping the area clean along with the probiotic definitely slowed the "growth" and there are less and less bumps, but its an ongoing process. Keeping a good natural lotion on it seems to help too (nothing with any scents).

My niece also had a huge patch on her elbow and my sister in law took her to a pediatric dermatologist and they did something with beetle juice (yes, really!). I do know that the beetle juice worked, but they did have to take her in for a 2nd application AND it got better before it got worse.

Hope this helps.
B.

My daughter had it when she was five. When she first got it I didn't realize because it was the dead of winter. It steadily got worse where when summer came I panicked as I didn't want it to progress to her face or other more visible areas(it was at least 7 or so months as it itched her and can be contagious). So we saw a pediatric dermatologist (Lawrence Solomon in Park Ridge who is fantastic but he is about 80 years old). He mentioned we could do some treatment if it didn't go away and first started her on antibiotics (I think oral and topical). It went away pretty quickly and she was able to start kindergarten without a problem. She will be 7 and hasn't had a return. Good luck!
T.

I see that you already had a response about tea tree oil. We have this available through The Body Shop. I would offer to send you a sample to try, but since it's a liquid that wouldn't work. Maybe you can find a local rep or stop into a store. If you do want to purchase it, here's a link to my site: http://www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/abbeyhall. Good luck!

S.,

I work in a pediatric setting so I was curious about your question. Go to the C. S. Mott's Children's Hospital web site and search molluscum. It has good info on how to keep it from spreading which can happen with your child that has it and it can be spread to your other two kids. All of your info is accurate and it is painful to treat. It will go away on it's own and there is no OTC treatment just prevention from spreading. It suggests covering with bandaids. I would suggest letting her go to the store to pick out her favorite kind. Kids usually love bandaids. When they have to be changed I would let her soak in the bathtub and then take it off herself so it doesn't hurt and become negative. She might have to keep it covered a while. You don't want her to get impetigo from picking it. Good luck. If you use bandaids let me know how it goes. A.