Seeking Advice on Molluscum Contagiosum

I was just reading on-line that you do NOT become immune to it once you've had it and adults can get it just as easily. Keep it covered and see a dermatologist.

Thank heavens I never had to deal with this. I did do a search on google that might be interesting for you. If I were you, I'd go and do a search just to see what you can learn.

L.

My brother had them when he was 5 or around that age... my other 2 brothers and myself never got them BUT I think my mom did all she could to keep clothes, bed and what not super cleand (and she cleand my brothers stuff by it self).

I do remember my mom rubbing some doc perscribed cream which really helped... not sure he had any "burned" off but I am sure my mom would not take all us kids along to that so it might have happened and I just did not know about it.

Hi K.
I know exactly what you are going through. My son had this over a year ago,and there IS a cure,despite what your doctor tells you. You need to get on the internet and google "molluscum contagiosum" and look for the link for SILVER CURE. The video is informative and the stuff really does work. My son is now completely clear and has been for a long time now. You really need to follow the treatment exactly as it says,and believe me,the warts will look alot worse before they get better. The core of the wart needs to come out leaving an open sore which you paint the silver cure over to stop it spreading - once the core is out it will heal over. Because your daughter is only 17 months old,I would suggest you buy the whole package because she may scratch the sores which makes them spread. If you use the soap and the whole package you will see results. Just persevere because it does work - it can be hard to persevere with the treatment when the sores are going through the healing process because they look pretty terrible,but I'm really glad we did because my son is completely cured and it was well worth it! Good luck!

A.

I actually had this when I was in the 4th grade and the dermatologist froze off all of my bumps. I remember not being able to go to school for about a week because the bumps turned into big blisters and then popped and then it was gone for good. My husband recently had it and they told him to put wart remover on each of the bumps and then scrape them off with a razor blade. This worked and he has not seen anymore come back. I would honestly go see another dermatologist for a 2nd opinion because this is something that is easily taken care of and your daughter should not have to live with this for 5 years. I have had many dermatology issues and I see a great Dr at Metropolitan Dermatology in Wayzata. You could go to any of the Dr's there but I see Dr Corwin Vance. Hope this helps.

DO NOT USE THE PRODUCT "SKIN CAP"! THIS IS NOT AN FDA APPROVED DRUG AND CONTAINS A REALLY HARSH STEROID THAT NO DR WOULD PRESCRIBE FOR MORE THAN A WEEK. THEY DON'T LIST THIS STEROID IN THE INGREDIENTS. I USED IT ON MY PSORIASIS FOR OVER A YEAR ABOUT 12 YEARS AGO AND I WENT THROUGH A YEAR OF HELL TRYING TO WEAN MY BODY OFF OF IT.

My son and I had this a couple of years ago.
My Doctor at Riverway in Elk River: Dr. Rabe
gave me one of two choices for my son to burn them off
with dry ice or to use a cream: Hydrogen Peroxide/heb Cr 1%
I choose to do the cream for my son which took about 6 months to cure all the sites. I choose burning them off for myself which took two treatments.
Good luck, those are no fun.

I dealt with this just a few months ago with my 2 year old daughter and also posted on her with the same topic. I started noticing spots when my daughter was only 15 months olds. The pediatrician said that I needed to let them run their course, which can take many years. They started to spread and were across her abdomen, on her low back and starting on her thighs. I looked on the internet and tried a few things with no success other than making my daughter very scared of having them touched.
I finally made an appointment with the dermatogist. She put a substance on that comes from Beetles, CANTHARIDIN. And it worked. You leave it on only for 2-4 hours and then wash off. It causes a blister over the molluscum that then causes it to fall off. My daughter never seemed to be in any pain from this procedure. We did have to go in 2 times to hit all the spots and we have never seen any since. She does not have any scarring from this either. Definitely go to the Dermatologist ASAP, it will help.

Both of my boys have had it. It didn't take 5 years--it was more like 1 1/2 years to go away. For my older son the pediatrician actually kind of "popped" or scraped off one of the bigger ones. I'm not sure I would recommend that; it was pretty painful and he was only 4. If you do a search on line there are some recommended treatments. I don't know how well they work. As far as keeping it from spreading don't let the two of them bathe together or share towels. I have a question if anyone knows the answer please email me--my younger son had a mild case of it in his diaper area when he was 1. He got it from my older son. I am concerned he now has a mild case of it on his chest and stomach. I thought you were immune to it once you had it. Can you get it again? I have heard that adults are usually immune to it so it shouldn't spread to you and your husband.

I called my pediatrician and molluscum can reoccur. My son must have it again. My doctor said the most important thing to avoid spreading it is to avoid sharing towels.

My daughter had this when she was about two. They did spread across her chest, etc. We did nothing special and they went away within a year. If I remember right they spread the most right before they went away. Her big sister, dad and I did not ever get them. I would avoid popping or squeezing them, because then they can leave (very small) scars. I think my daughter has one, if I remember where to look.

I would possibly avoid skin to skin contact betwen her and a new baby. But I took baths with my daughter and her big sister did, too, and these never spread to us. She was also at YMCA daycare during this time and never spread it to any of her classmates. This condition bothered us more than it ever bothered her. They didn't seem to itch or hurt, she rarely scratched or picked on them herself.

I would not put a young child through the pain of any burning/freezing treatment! I had this done to me for a different reason (Plantar warts) multiple time when I was a child (very painful!). And now, guess what, doctors recognize that these go away on their own if you leave them alone!

K. , my daughter had molluscum a few years ago, she "caught" them from a friend . We left them alone and they went away for good after about 6 months. you do not need to worry about catching them unless you have contact with the outbreaks . when the spots look like they are like a whitehead they will "pop" if the spot became inflamed or red the Dr. told us to put an antibiotic cream and a band-aid on them. we also had a new baby when this occured and she did not catch the molluscum.Our daughters friend had hers chemically removed at the Drs. and basicly her mom wishes she would not have had that done because it burned alot and the cream they had to use afterwards wasn't any better . good luck J.

My son is 7 and had the same thing this year. It will eventually go away, but they can also freeze them off. It isn't overly pleasant but it does make them go away. My son was covered on one side and around towards his stomach. I think we froze off about 27 of them.
I would talk to your doctor about that option.

Hi K.,
I've had those several times during my life, just not very many at once. My daughter also has had those, but again not very many in one spot. What I do is I put alcohol on it, using a cotton swab or a cotton ball.

She had one on her cheek that grew to be huge! Probably a dermatologist would not recommend this but I had her pick it and then I applied the alcohol. The alcohol dries it out.

Of course you don't want to open or pick your little one's molluscum, but you can apply alcohol to keep it from spreading.

Try your hardest to keep it dry and not moist. I know there may be some creams recommended, but in my experience the ONLY thing that works is to make it dry out and hands off to quiet it and keep it from spreading. Good luck. No fun!

K.,

My son had this for a year. The doctor told us to leave them alone and they would eventually go away or burn them off which we wouldn't do. I was told this by 3 different doctors. (yes.... I'm anal and had to get more opinions) Of couse I could not leave it alone. So I found a product called "skin cap" on the internet. It is designed for eczema and psoriasis, but worked great on the Mollusks. He cleared up in just a week. The website we ordered from was www.beautyworks.com. It was amazing stuff. We use it for any skin condidtions we get. Usually eczema. The cream the others are talking about were given to them from the doctors to clear up the underlying condidion of the contagiousm. Usually, dry cracked skin which the mollusks love to grow in. My nieces and nephews got it too.... the skin cap cleared up there skin too. It is not painful and definately worth the $$$$ to order. We did not share towels/ baths, and I made sure they did not wear his clothes more then once. It helped keep the mollusks contained to just his under arm and the rest of the house from catching it. My son got his from his cousin..

Good Luck!
Kim

K., my youngest daughter just had this last Winter/Spring. Our doctor said that there wasn't anything he could do either and that we should just ride it out. Not true!! I went on the internet and found and awesome product called SilverCure!!! Love it and it works!! You have to follow the directions or it will keep coming back. It doesn't disappear overnight, so you have to be patient. Go to the website www.molluscum.com and it will explain everything you need to know! You can pick and choose what products you'd like to order. We chose the Phillips Molluscum Treatment and Prevention System Family Pack. We assumed that we would all get it, especially having 2 other children that shared the same bathtub with our youngest. It turned out that after using the SilverCure products none of us got it! My youngest daughter's skin improved and soon it was gone!! You have to be diligent in using these products correctly! They do work!! They also work on my other daughters' eczema! They're wonderful! Our doctor couldn't believe his eyes the next time I took my youngest in to see him! Now, he recommends this product to others when diagnosed. I hope I've given you the information you need! If you have any further questions regarding this issue or these products, let me know! I'd be happy to help! Good luck!!

K.
Mom of 3 girls

I have a friend who sent me this info below. If you have any questions about it, let me know.
L. L
http://www.livegreeneveryday.com

My three year old son was diagnosed with Molluscum Contagiosum, caused by a weakened immune system brought about by allergies. He’s also suffered from eczema since infancy, again, because of his weakened immune system. I put him on Shaklee supplements for two weeks one month prior to his allergy tests, plus started using Small Wonder Baby Oil for his eczema, and both conditions began healing within two days! The eczema actually went away completely!

I had to stop the supplements for ten days before his allergy appointment, and now the eczema is back and the Molluscum Contagiosum is spreading again. He was diagnosed as being allergic to milk, but not to any environmental factors, so the doctor advised removing all milk products from the home. I agreed, but when the doctor started recommending different pharmaceutical remedies for his allergic symptoms, I stopped her and informed her of the difference Shaklee had made, and of my intent to put him back on the supplements, rather than pollute his system with chemicals. She had never heard of Shaklee (?), but agreed to let me try that approach. He goes back in three months for a recheck with the allergy specialist, and I’m confident that his little immune system and the allergies will be MUCH better

Josi

Hi. My son has the same thing and I did get a medication from my doctor but it was very expensive and didn't work. I did some research on-line and bought a natural medication called Zymaderm which is specifically for Molluscum Contagiosum. I have been using it for about 4 days and it seems to be helping. It has made some of it go away. I also have a 3 month old and was concerned about her getting it. When I mentioned that to my physician she did not seem worried. She said my son would actually have to rub his belly (that is where it is) on her. He has had it for close to a year and so far none of us have gotten it. Hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you have other questions.

My son had this when he was littler, probably around 3yr or maybe 4yrs. We took him to the dermatologist and they did put something on the spots to "burn" them off. He had to leave it on for so long then he soaked in the tub, which was a little painful for him. We did this procedure 2 or 3 times as there were quite a few of them and they didn't want to make his entire bottom sore & they kept showing up in different places(they were all on his butt and privates area). It helped with most of it, the rest we eventually left alone and it did go away, but his were in an inconspicuous area so it was a little easier to handle. No one else got it from him (his little sister or the daycare kids in our home). Research it on the internet and get a second opinion if you feel you need one. Good Luck.

I don't know what your doctor is talking about. Unless there is more to the story it sounds like there absolutely is something you can do. My son had them. His regular pediatrician used a medicine (sorry I don't know the name) that she would dab directly on the molluscum. All I know is she had to be very careful not to get it on the skin because the whole point of the medicine was that it would chemically "burn" them. (It did not hurt him at all.) Then, I had to give my son a bath 4-6 hours later to wash the medicine all off. Very effective on the ones she treated. (He had a TON so she only did a few at a time and then we went back a couple of weeks later to do a few more.) It was also supposed to help his body start to fight them off on his own, but, for him, that didn't happen. (We also didn't get the treatment as often as we should have due to the birth of #4 and the flu going through our house at that time.) The other option we were going to try was to have them cut off. You put a numbing cream over the infected parts and then the doctor takes a little instrument, like a scalpel I think, and basically flicks them right off. We never actually got to this point because, of course, after a year of having them they all went away about a week before the procedure! Anyway, we used Dr. Bloom, a pediatric dermatologist, ###-###-#### if you are interested. Hope this helps!

Get a 2nd opinion. Yes, it can take 2-5 years to go away when left untreated. Maybe she is too young for some treatments? Not sure. But my son got it and his pediatrician told us to let it run its course...This was when he had just two bumps. The ped also said we could try to irritate the bumps and thus get our son's immune system to rush to the spot to investigate by putting duct tape on the bumps. We should have never listened to this advice. The bumps got irritated all right and retaliated by spreading across his back and under his arms. ARGH. Finally went to a dermatologist and they were horrified at the ped's advice and immediately painted 1/2 dozen of the bumps with something that contains goo from a Blister Beetle...Can't remember what it was called (Cantharidin...?). She called it a 4,000 year old cure. She also sent us home with samples of Aldara which seemed a little over the top so we didn't use it. Anyhoooo...The beetle goo worked like a charm. Bumps scabbed up within 24-28 hours and went away. We brought our son in for 3 more visits and she painted up a handful at a time.

My little one did eventually get MC about 18 mons after this. Just 2 bumps in his hair line. This time we left them alone and they went away on their own. My niece had it on her face and her pediatrician gave the same advice as ours...Let it go. But it was on her face for gosh sakes and so finally went to a dermatologist and she too was horrified that a pediatrician would recommend letting something so long lasting and virulent to others go.

If your dermatologist is saying to let it go, the only reason must be she's too young to handle the beetle goo or Aldara. The Aldara did come with very strict usage instructions...Which scared us a little and that's why we didn't use it. This is small consolation, but we were told that at least 80% of kids entering kindergarten have had to MC.

My son also had it for about 2 years. It never spread to others. We put a bandaid on once when some friends were visiting in the summer. I got a prescription that we never used the doctor said it was not a gaurantee just something to get the immune system going.
When put on tea tree oil (same as melaluca) on all the spots we could find. Our 6 year old son would ask us to do it if they were itchy or in a bad spot like the feet. It seemed to take away the itch and helped that spot clear up quicker.

I had molluscum contagiosum as a child, and I know my siblings and parents never got it from me. They actually popped every single bump with a needle when I was about 5. It was pure torture. Thank goodness they've given up that treatment! Sorry, I have no good advice, but some reassurance that maybe everyone else won't get it!