Molluscum

One of my 3 year old twins has had molluscum since this winter too. He's now had the beetle treatment twice and I'm hoping we're nearing the end, but the doctor said it can take more than one treatment for some kids. We have 2 other kids and before we knew what we were dealing with, they were bathing together, wrestling and sharing hand towels and none of the others have gotten the bumps. Since we've discovered the problem, we have been very careful just in case, but the doctor did say that it's not unusual for just one kid in a family to be sensitive to it. The beetle treatment did take care of the active blisters, and he's almost clear now from his second treatment.

K.,
I am sorry she is going through this.
My daughter had this as a baby. We ended up having them "cut" off, not burned off.
Gross as it may sound, I even cut any new ones off myself, (as I am a nurse), but they were small, and we would cover it with neosporin and a small bandaid. It wasn't too difficult...
But she did have this for about 6 months around the trunk of her body.
I would not have them burned off. I still believe a dermatologist is a smart way to go.
Good luck.
K.

My son has had this twice - the first time we tried a strong ointment, I can't remember what it was called, but it was for cancer, and it took care of a few, but not many. Then the doctor numbed the rest and used a little instrument to cut them off. It sounds horrible, but he had little cuts on his legs for a few days and they were gone. No problem. The second time he had an outbreak, a different dermatologist burned them off, telling me this was the better option. Well he then had large, open, and extremely painful blisters the size of quarters all over his legs. It took several weeks for them to heal. I will never go back to that dermatologist. Cutting them off was quick, painless, and so much easier.

Hi K.,

When my daughter had molluscum, our pediatrician suggested we wait it out because they said it would eventually go away. As we neared shorts season last year, I asked what else could be done because it wasn't going away. They suggested putting a liquid derived from a beetle on the molluscum. It's not an FDA approved treatment, but they said they used it all the time. What it does is dry up the blisters and they fall off.

So we did that and my daughter ended up having a horrible reaction to the liquid. She developed a huge rash that required her to take medicine to bring it down.

They said they had never seen a reaction like that - but the reaction got better within a week, the molluscum was gone and it hasn't come back.

It wasn't a life threatening allergy, but it did scare me. We do have a history of bug bite allergies in my family (I'm seriously allergic to mosquitos), but she had never shown a reaction in the past so we felt it was okay to proceed with the bettle derivative.

Best of luck!

M.

I applied 100% tea tree oil on a moistened cosemetic wedge directly to each "blister". You don't need to use much just a few drops since it is pretty powerful. It helps clear them up much faster. I always had loose fitting clothing over the "blisters" to try to prevent them from spreading. He took a shower nightly and used a clean washcloth and towel everyday. I wore gloves whenever I would have to touch anything that came into contact with the blisters, and washed towels, washcloths, and my son's clothes in hot water to try to prevent another outbreak. It does take a while for it to go away my son had them for about year. Our doctor wouldn't refer him to anyone until at least 6 months since it goes away on it's own. I found out about tea tree oil at about 9 months. It helped the blisters go away faster than it normally took, and help decrease the damage to the skin. My son had them start under one arm and it spread to underneath the other arm and in both armpits. My son has them gone completely, but it was so difficult to get him not to touch the blisters. It is important not to touch the blisters and wash any skin that comes in contact with them to prevent them from spreading or reinfecting the same area again. A breathable bandage or the clear cut spray might help keep them from spreading to far, and hopefully make her less self conscious about it.

Unfortunately with how anal you have to be about containing molluscum it really can make the children very upset. I kept reassuring my son it was only temporary, wasn't his fault, and we were doing everything we could to make the "bumps" go away. Try to be positive, and let her know she is still very beautiful with or without "blisters".

My son had it last year. I used an all natural product called Molluscum No More. I ordered it from Amazon.com but if you do a google search you will also find it. It worked within a few weeks. The only thing is it does havea very strong smell.

HI K.,

When they thought my daughter had this I ran across a large amount of people who used "Liquid Bandage" on the lesions, and after a few weeks it dried them all up.

Also tea tree oil seemed to work.

Good Luck!

I had this when I was in high school and the only thing that worked was the dermatologist "burned" them off. If you are not getting results from your dermatologist I would suggest seaking a second opinion. Also, this is very contagious if the bumps are open so try to keep them covered b/c it will spread on her and possibly to your other children.