Molleskum

Hi L.. My daughter had molluscum for about 2 years (started at age 3 or 4). Not a lot of bumps but they were on her face, some near her eyes and a few on her torso. Her pediatrician recommended a pediatric dermatologist. He used one ointment, Aldara, which didn't help. The second treatment he tried was the chemical to burn off the bumps - He put it on, you leave it on for about an hour & then wash it off w/ warm water - this was when it burned and hurt her - poor baby!

Like you, I did some research on the internet. I came across a website that offered a treatment plan that contained silver - an ointment and a spray to wash down EVERYTHING because this is highly contagious (as I truly found out because then I got it).

The site is www.molluscumsilvercure.com - don't know if they're still around but try it. I'm not sure if it was the treatment or that she was on the way out of molluscum hell but it worked! She was soon bump-free!

Like others mentioned here, the derm said to try piercing/opening the bump but it was too painful for my daugther. While I too used the ointment, I did pierce each bump to remove the hard, waxy "seed" and I then disinfected w/ alcohol before applying the ointment. Luckily mine only lasted a few months - I was dilligent about checking the area EVERY day/night.

I'd suggest the website treatment & get yourself some small circular-shaped bandaids where you can apply ointment & cover each individual bump. We did all day (put on a fresh band-aid w/ ointment in the morning & evening)on the few she had on her torso but at least overnight on those on her face.

Good luck! I know how frustrasting and helpless you feel. Oh, and they say they can spread through baths, swimming pools, and bath towels. Be careful w/ the rest of the family - I'd wipe down door knobs, fridge handles, pretty much her whole bedroom (I was obsessed I guess trying to contain it), etc w/ alcohol and/or lysol spray (and still got it).

I hope this info helps.

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You are right it is very contagious. My daughter had it and we ended up taking her to an excellent pediatric dermatologist (who is older and not sure if he is still practicing, Dr. Solomon) in Park Ridge. She had meds and he told us she also had eczema though we weren't sure where it came from. It took a while to treat though but it has been gone for over two years. Good luck!
T.

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My 5 year old had this and it is now going away after about 6 months. Nothing worked to get rid of it but applying tea tree oil did reduce of appearance of the bumps and made them less noticeable. I used something called medicated tea tree ointment. It had the consistency of vaseline and we put it on at night before bed. Good luck.

Hi L.,

My daughter was just to the doctor a couple weeks ago for this. The pediatrician said it could take 7 years for it to run its course and that although it's closely related to something like a plantars wart, burning or freezing these is not a good idea. She referred us to a dermatologist. She said they use a chemcal (can't remember what it is called) and basically it causes a reaction or someting on the bump and that causes the body to attach the bump and get rid of it.

Some of my daughters bumps were getting red and the dr said her body was finally trying to attach those bumps. This chemical or medication or whatever it is just speeds that process. Supposed to be harmless from what I hear. Haven't made it into the dermatologist yet though.

Good luck.

Jen

Hi L.,
My son had this rash too and unfortunately we had to take him to the dermatoligist to get him treated, it was spreading. They put this liquid on the bumps and called it beetlejuice. I don't remember what the real name of it was. But my son thought it was funny. We had to go for a couple of treatments and it's was not that comfortable for him, but he did good and the rash is gone now. Best of luck.

My daughter had it on and off for at least a year. I was able to "cure" it by pulling out the little white head of each one. (doc said I could try this) Luckily my daughter was very good about it b/c often it would take some picking but eventually, little by little, I was able to get them all. She only had like maybe 7 at one time though. So yucky!!

My two children got molleskum on their bottoms and legs. It is not a rash it is warts. they go away when the children get older, about 4-5yrs. old. My sons were worse so I took him to a dermatologist (I have yet to meet one I like) and the dr. had the nurse put acid all over the bumps to burn them off. It reminded me of something akin to leeching blood. The effects were far worse than the bumps. It did not effect half of the bumps and left my child blistered and sore and not able to sit down or be comfortable for a few days.

It may take a few years for them to go away, but they are not painful. Don't let your child pick at them. and if you have two children give them seperate baths.

my daughter had mild molluscum on the back of one of her thighs...we did go the route of getting them burned off. While at first we were letting the pediatrician do it...We ended up going to a dermatologist who i think either used a stronger medication to burn them or pressed harder..i don't know..but when the dermatologist did it while the blisters were bigger, (knock on wood) the ones she burned off did not come back like they were with the pediatrician. Im not sure how many your son has, but the derm. told me if it is less than 10, she wouldn't worry about it. hope this helps!

Yes! My son had that too! Letting them run their course can take a looooong time, and they do spread in the meantime. Our miracle cure was swimming! I think that something in the chlorine must have done the trick, because they cleared up relatively quickly after we started swimming once a week. And it's much more fun to swim than to have them burned off, and much nicer than having to wait it out!
Good luck

Hi L.,

My daughter got the same thing from her 4 yr old cousin & still has it. My pediatrician said to let it run its course. It has been quite sometime, & it is getting worse, so I will be asking that at her 3 year visit in two weeks, but I have only heard the same---run its course or burn them off.

I used a natural product called Molluscum No More. I ordered it through Amazon.com but they also have a website that has more info about the product. I would not use it on spots on the face but my older son had them on his torso and it worked within a few weeks. I will tell you it doesn't have the most pleasant smell but it does go away after a bit.

Hi L.,

My daughter had this over the summer and we took her to a dermatologist, Dr. Alan Lasser he is located in Skokie (Old Orchard Prof. Bldg.). My pediatrician did not suggest letting it run it's course she told me that there is a "beetle juice" that removes it on children an alternative to burning them. We have had three treatments and it has worked. Sometimes they will go away with one treatment and other times it takes several...hope this helps, good luck!

Someone mentioned that they got rid of them by swimming! Please don't try this because they are contagious and my children got them in the summer...guessing because they went swimming and a few kids in the neighborhood had them, too!!!! Never a good idea to swim with anything contagious.

Our pediatrician froze many off of my son and my daughter. My son's were in his armpit area and he had about 17 that were frozen - he was a trooper! My daughter had more on her thigh area and had those frozen off too. Quick office procedure - using a funnel, that was positioned over each, individual pimple and quickly spraying it with some kind of freezing spray. The kids tolerated it but it did get uncomfortable and finally didn't want to do anymore. Dr. also gave us some samples of Elidel, which is only supposed to be used for a week or so. The freezing really had the best effect on them. If you squeeze a couple and remove the shell-shaped core, without contaminating the skin or other areas around it, you will successfully remove a few. I did this to a couple, as my children permitted. I also tried to "dry" them out by using a little rubbing alcohol on them, at night. Seemed like it moved some along.

We stayed diligent with them and a few may have lingered but the majority were gone in 4 - 6 weeks.

Hello L.. You definetly need to take him to the dermatologist. They will continue to spread and need to be taken off. It takes several treatments with a safe chemical but it worth it because it can be dangerous-if they go into the eye they can blind him. It is very serious.
Good luck!

All my kids have had this at different times. My doc says because they tend to have dry skin they are more suseptable(sp?) to it. Some doc have this liquid they could put on it that makes them go away. But it sounds like your son has a large area that it covers so they most likely wouldn't do it. What I did was after their bath I would pop the ones that were bigger and had a lot of pus. The problem with it is that they will get pock marks, very very tiny but still get them. Even with the chemical to burn them they get the pock marks. My oldest had it on his whole torso so we prayed got heal and remove them and after three days; I forgot we had prayed actually, I looked at his pj top and it had little blood spot from all the popped molleskum, all at one time. It was amazing and an awesome testimony that God heals.

Have you taken him to an actual dr. yet? The internet is fine for information if you're positive about a dignosis. Otherwise, many alike symptoms can be many different things. You could be spreading the rash without knowing.

Hi L.,

My daughter had this a few years ago. It was on her thigh, so we let it go for the winter, hoping it would run its course. When it was still there by the spring and her legs would be showing again in shorts, we went ahead and had the doctor apply a non-FDA approved liquid that is derived from some beetle.

Well, my daughter had a TERRIBLE allergic reaction to the liquid and it made her skin swell up in with a diameter of about 6". After we treated her for the reaction, we didn't try that again. The bumps went away after about 9 months total. They say the reaction is unusual, although not unheard of. If your child has any skin allergies, as my daughter does, I would suggest not trying that method.

Good luck!

M.

My son had molluscum contagiosum for 18 months. We never had any treatments done because our ped told us that it needs to works its way out of his system. With it being very contagious, my nephew caught it from my son and my sister in law did take him to the dermatologist who burned them off. That treatment does not get rid of the virus but it does burn off the contagious bumps. He had to go for several treatments for it to work. It would have been very expensive for me to follow that treatment for my son, so I just kept a watchful eye on them. He had them on his torso and upper thighs so they were always covered by his clothes. He was also four at the time so we would constantly explain to him not to touch his bumps. If his bumps were in an area on his body like his hands or face, where he could have spread them to many children, we probably would have seeken some kind of treatment. Since we have other children, we were very careful not to share towels or clothes or anything where they could have spread, and none of my other kids got them. Good luck!

Yes our son had molluscum contagieoso (not sure of the spelling now)The Dr told us they are spread by skin to skin contact.She said it was in the wart family of skin conditions and it would go away on it's own and they did. It was on his chest it he got a couple more and then as mysteriously as they came they went.I found out from a friend her daughter had them as well.(however the two kids did not play together)That mother told me her daughters moved to places that could be seen in a sleeveless shirt so she had her Dr. remove a couple because of her daughters self esteem and starting school.Patience this too shall pass.

My daughter had this when she was 3 or so. She had it on her neck and it was so unsightly. It would get dry and itch, but the dr. said that it would take 3 months to 3 years to go away, but that it was harmless and noncontagious, so we just left it alone. It was gone in less than a year, and she has had no further issues with it and she is now almost 12. I am a "rashaphobe", so it was VERY hard for me to see it every day and do nothing, but it wasn't hurting her, so I dealt. Good Luck!!

My son has had molluscum for almost 8 months. We have tried both approaches. The dr. puts some type of chemical on the little bumps, they blister, pop and then heal. They look horrible during the cycle. When he got more, we tried a natural method of putting tea tree oil on them. I bought a bottle at whole food, and dab it on with a qtip. This actually kept them under control. We recently went to a new dermatologist for his eczema (poor kid) and she applied some more of that chemical on a few patches. His arms look bad, but they have blistered over and are healing quickly. I think they need to run their course. The object is to keep them from spreading and getting infected when they break open.
Good luck.

My 5 yr old developed Molluscum Contagiosum when he was around 2 yrs old. It started with 1 bump near his eye then just got worse from there. We brought him to a dermatologist earlier this year and he was prepared to cut them off. He said you need to stick a needle under each one to squirt a little bit of something (I can't remember what it was) then slice it off. NO way! I was not doing that in office, especially since he had a lot at that time and near/on his eyes. So my doctor recommended a dermatologist in St. Louis, I haven't had a chance to get there yet since we have 4 kids and it's a 2 hr drive it just makes it difficult. Well over the past 6 months my other 3 kids have developed it. My 21 month old has it bad all over his right arm and right side, my 3 yr old just has a few bumps and so does my 8 yr old. I need to get an appointment for all 4 of them.

You can let it run it's course but I don't suggest it if you have other kids because soon they will all have it. Some cases are mild and some severe. I think there are lots of things that are claimed to work but the best thing is to talk to your doctor about it and she was he/she suggests. Good luck!