My Son Has Molescum and It Won't Go Away

I would get a second opinion from another dermatologist -- maybe a "pediatric dermatologist" if there's such a thing. The fact that another person who posted said her child's condition did eventually clear without this treatment makes me wonder if this dermatologist is being overly invasive. Bear in mind this treatment might indeed be needed, but I'd still want a second opinion on it.

I hated this. My kids had it when they were about 3 and 4. UGH ! it is awful. I did not read other answers but we chose to go to a derm and have them freeze them. It was not fun but it got rid of them quicker ( 9 months ) Some say that if you let it be, it will eventually go...but I had a hard time just sitting and not doing something. Best of luck. The tree oil sounds wonderful to try....I would try that. But derm never suggested anything other then creams and freezing to get rid of that. However the good news is they are ammune and will never get them again.

My daughter had it and we did nothing. They eventually went away. They can stay for many months, or even more than a year. My daughter's lasted so long, I lost track. No one else in the family got them, no one else at her daycare got them. They were harmless. I would only have considered treating them if they were irritated, painful, or spread excessively.

My children have had this annoying condition, spread from a friend. It spread through most of our children. Don't bath your kids together or share towels. I found a dermatologist who "scooped" out the virus and did this on each individual pimple thing. It was painful and bloody, but got rid of them. They didn't scar and healed pretty quick. The beetle juice stuff that they put on them didn't work. The cream they prescribed was not covered and was too expensive. My only concern was that our insurance is an HSA and we have a high deductible. Our cost for each visit and procedure was $135 approx. I now owe about $600 for just 2 kids and 2 visits. Good luck.

My son had them for 2-3 years EVERYWHERE and his body finally recently overcame the virus. It looked terrible and he was embarrassed. We tried having them burned off at the doc several times (he screamed so bad the last time just at the sight of the liquid nitrogen that the doc refused to traumatize him and wouldn't apply it) and using Compound W, thinking they were warts. We tried having him drink colloidial silver. We tried duct tape to suffocate them. We tried raw apple cider vinegar. I tried oil of oregano, which made him cry since it burns. I think the tea tree oil helped, but really his body just had to overcome it on its own and stressing and trying remedies didn't make much of a difference. Just try to ignore it and let it be. We used a very high grade essential tea tree oil mixed with coconut or olive oil and rubbed it all over his body after bath time and made him wear pants to bed so the mollescum wouldn't come in contact with the sheets and he had his own separate bath towel. But now my daughter has them!!! So we took her immediately to the doctor since we know what we're dealing with this time around and he used the beetle juice on the 4 bumps she had to trigger the immune system. They blistered and popped and scabbed off, then grew right back and now she has more, some even on her face, which was my worst fear. So we're just going to ride this out until her body overcomes it eventually. Sorry not to offer any hope and I'm feeling pretty discouraged myself, but we tried so many things that just ended up costing money and time and adding stress to our lives, so I'll just try not to make a big deal out of it this time around and realize it's out of our control. Best of luck to you!

My son has had a patch of them for almost a year, they are finally almost gone. We didn't treat them. If they don't bother him you don't have to treat them.

I used a mixture of hydrocortisone, zinc oxide (just use some diaper cream), benedryl anti-itch cream, and vaseline (just mix all together in a small jar. Apply to skin, and it really helps. This is good for excema too.

From the way it sounds in this link from Mayo Clinic they should be left alone or they spread. It takes about a year to go away.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/molluscum-contagiosum/DS...
Below is a link from webmd.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/moll...

We've dealt with this before.

The burning was HORRIBLE.

Supposedly once they become open either through scratching or open scabs, they can spread. The key is to either keep them covered or at least get the child NOT to scratch them open.

Once they are open they are HIGHLY contagious to other parts of the skin and to other people.

They are supposed to be self-limiting in about 6 mos - meaning they'll go away on their own, as long as he's not scratching or rubbing them hard with a towel and spreading them.

I suggest just keeping him lotioned up so they stay soft and NOT itchy and let them go away on their own.

I agree with the others that have said to just wait it out. Both my children had them around the same age as your son and as bothersome as it seems, they just went away on their own. It was between 6-12 months for both of them. Neither of my children complained about it much at all--it just looked worse that it was.

My daughter had that. Supposedly they do go away on their own over time...but not usually within 6 months. What I read (and was told) was UP TO 2 years. When they get inflamed/infected (usually by scratching) is when they can both clear up AND spread. So you have to be careful and keep them covered when they are irritated. Also, bathing can spread it (shower him instead) and don't re-use the towel. Wash it after one use, in hot water and vinegar or bleach.

When we went to the derm, we didn't get just acid. Our derm used a combination of prescription strength wart treament AND cantharadin (the bug juice stuff). She just put a tiny dot of it directly on the tip/top of the molluscom bump. Then a band-aid over the top. Directions were to remove the band aid in aprrox. 3 hours and wash with soap and water. That they would get inflamed and blister within a few days. (they did). The treatment is to irritate the bump, to initiate their bodies' natural immune response to foreign/invading bodies/substances. It worked. They blistered a bit, got yucky looking, then cleared up and went away. The whole process (after the treatment at the derm) took about 3-4 weeks. They say it can take up to 6 weeks, and that sometimes a 2nd treatment is needed. We didn't need it.

I also discovered that stressing over it can bring out more bumps. Be careful that you aren't stressing him out more over all this. I have read to make sure he is eating a well balanced diet that promotes healthy immune response. Normally, only folks with a weak immune system actually get these---even though it is very common in children to get them. Ummm probably because school aged kids are exposed to a constant stream of germs from their friends and their immune system is constantly in overdrive learning to deal with it all.

We tried the tea tree oil before going to the dermatologist. It didn't really do anything, except add stress trying to apply it without somehow cross contaminated some other part of the body.... we went through scads of Qtips. And it was a 30 minute ordeal after bathtime, trying to make sure they were all treated....because when you start getting paranoid about it, even KP (keratosis pilaris---clogged up hair follicles/pores--fake goose bumps) starts to look like "baby" molloscum.
Finally, I said enough, and took her to the derm. After that, we were good. Haven't seen anymore around here in a few years. Whew!

Our son had this in preschool and his pediatrician advised doing nothing for it ... just leave it alone and let it go away on its own. It was definitely hard to be patient and wait for that to happen, but in under a year (maybe 10 months or so), they finally all cleared up. Hasn't had a problem since.

kids don't have it forever...it goes away "on its own" within a few months to a few years. typically it doesn't bother the child just bothers the parents cause they can see it...let them be. My nighbors kids all dealt with this and within a couple of years each of them were done with it.

It does spontaneously resolve, but it can take months. We used a vitamin A cream (basically dermatologist prescribed RetinA) for lesions on my son's face. It causes peeling (mild) and I believe just works by turning skin cells over faster. We did another (don't remember what) cream on his elbow. We saw absolutely no improvement for about 6 weeks and then within a week everything resolved. If they are not bothering your son, you can just leave them alone and eventually they will go away.

The worst. I'm so sorry. I actually got this in college because a roommate had it and used my razor. Just, yuck. TWO years of these on my bikini area. (TMI, I know, I'm so sorry).

I did an acid treatment without success but two rounds of freezing them off with liquid nitrogen and I haven't had them in YEARS. The treatment was fine but having them (mollescum) was an awful experience. Just know they are highly contagious and make sure they are covered but able to breathe. I kept a gauze with some medical tape to keep the liquid from spreading / infecting other skin. It's just something you have to get through and stay on top of. It will go away eventually.

Good luck.

My older son got it just on his bottom when he was 3 and I asked the doctor about it and he said they do go away eventually and if it really bothered me go to a dermotologist, but that would be painful. So I didn't do anything and he is now almost six and they are completely finally gone. The bad thing is that they have spread to my younger son and he has them all over his body. Yuck, I put aquaphor on it to make it not so itchy. Good luck.