Molluscus Contaigiosum

My son has had it for about 8 months now and we just got a referral to see a dermatologist next week. They can go swimming in the pool. I was told to just cover any that had erupted with a bandaid. I do bathe my two sons together and have done the bandaid trick and my younger son has never caught it. It has to be direct contact. There is a cream your derm. can give you that will dry them up and clear them up. My ped. told me about it since I told him I was tired of the wait it out game. I would not pop them I was told that could make the condition worse and case scarring.

My son had molluscum - started off small, but then spread all over his diaper area. I didn't want to isolate him, and was worried about the contagiousness of the virus. Basically, any spots that are exposed can be highly contagious as the virus sheds.

I researched a lot, and found the best plan for us was ZymaDerm. It's a homeopathic treatment available online. I really didn't want the anti-viral prescription meds for him because I know how nasty their side effect profile often is.

It took regular use for a while, but we definitely kept the bumps under control and gradually got rid of them all. I also found that as the bumps were about to fall off was when they were most contagious and so I popped them when they got that center core. It made a huge difference in the amount of new bumps. Before he was getting them on his arms from brushing his groin, then his chest where his arm touched it. It wasn't fun for either of us, but not too bad all things considered. I'm sure an older child would tolerate the treatment (& smell) better than a 1 year old.

M.,
I just recently posted a request in regards to this condition on my son. You may want to check out my post - I have received probably 10 responses. Still confused as to what to do.
best wishes

my son had this when he was five and it did go away on it's own after about 6 to 8 months. I don't know if this will work or not, but my daughter had warts on her feet and the podiatrist gave her a 3 month supply of Tagamet (antacid). She took it three times a day and the warts went away without pain. I don't know if the tagamet would work on this type of wart, but it may be worth a try.

Hello,

I would go see a dermatologist. When I was 7, in 1983, I had 4 on my knee. My pediatrician also advised to leave it alone. A year and a half later, they had multiplied and spread, so I had to get 35 burnt off my body with liquid nitrogen. I still remember it being so painful.
Good luck!

C.

There are a bunch of responses to this question under
Molluscum Contagiosum further down the page. Check that out.

That said, my daughter has had a case on her knee for 2 years.
I'm going to try the wart remover recommended by another mom...
YMMV
LBC

Hi M.,
Victoria just posted a request about this. Here is my response to her... I think you should keep him out of the pool but I also think you should actively work on removing them by popping them (described below) as when we tried the "wait it out" approach they just spread like mad and got worse on all three of our girls.

When we joined a local pool my 3 daughters picked this up. We had no idea what it was at first as they were just innocent looking bumps. Several months down the road, they weren't going away and actually were spreading so we took them to the Dr. and found out it was M.C. which is actually a virus. What worked for us: Do not bathe them together! Showers are even better if possible for your 2 yr old. Do not share towels and and wash their towels after each use. We found a product on the internet called "Silver Cure" and we bought some of the ointment and the shampoos. At the same time we also started recognizing that the bumps develop a tiny white tip almost like a pimple right before they are ready to "erupt" This is how the virus spreads. We would "pop" them when they got to this point before they had a chance to spread, carefully squeeze out the white part which carries the virus (sounds gross I know but if you ever popped a zit, it's about the same thing)and wipe it with a tissue and throw it away. We would cover the area with the silver cure ointment or neosporin and put a bandaid on it and keep it covered for a few days to make sure it couldn't spread. It took us about 3 months to get rid of all the warts off all the girls but we were able to avoid all the chemicals and scarring and that was worth the extra time to me. I am not sure how much of our success was due to our diligence in "popping" the ones ready to erupt and keeping them covered and how much was due to the silver cure.. so don't take this as an advertisement for the stuff ;} One thing I ask is that you respect other families and not take your kids swimming while they have M.C. Its not fair to other kids at the pool to get stuck with this nasty condition. While doctors still don't understand much about M.C. it seems that areas with water - pools, tubs, locker rooms at pools etc are a prime site for picking it up. Good luck and heres wishing you a very quick clearing up of their sweet baby skin!

My 6 year old son developed molluscus a couple of months ago and I too took him to see his pediatrician. She told me to wait it out, but as time passed he started to develop more and more bumps. They began to bother him so I decided to schedule an appointment with a dermatologist. After contacting the dermatologist, they said it would be two weeks before I could get an appointment. As a worried mother, I had no idea what to do but I knew I had to find something that would work and cure my baby. As I was researching remedies, I came across ACV ( apple cider vinegar). When buying it you have to make sure it is the organic kind. The first night I applied the ACV to cotton then placed it over one of the bumps and taped over it. I did a couple of them and left them over night. The next morning all the little bumps had turned black. Almost like a scab. Now it's been 5 days since I first started and they are almost all gone. I am amazed at how amazing ACV is. ACV did turn his skin a little red but it is going away. This stuff is amazing. good luck.