Anybody Dealt with Molluscum Contagiouses B4????

My son has molluscum on his lower back and shoulder on his right side. It started with one when he was an infant and it grew. His grandmother 'popped' it last June while I was in Baltimore for work, and it spread. His ped dr. referred us to Dr. Krol at Dornbecher, a ped dermatologist, and he has had 2 treatments to remove them. So far it is working. The last treatment was not quite 2 weeks ago and the 'head' of the molluscum appear to be gone. They are now getting flat and the older ones are fading away. The treatment did not bother him at all, so I recommend it. Good luck!

so sorry. My daughter was diagnosed with this. She only had one growth on her chin. I treated it with tea tree oil twice a day and it did go away. It seemed to dry it up. my doctor told me that what is happening is that any of the recommended treatments irritate the virus, which stimulates the body to fight the virus. so that is why there are so many treatment options. I'm so sorry that this is causing you distress.

Hello Melissa......yes my daughter also has it. We used the topical stuff called.....zyma derm....seems to help it tremendously! its a bit expensive but found its better than having them scraped off. Its an all natural remedy, you buy it on line. Google the disease and then you will find it there! we found its the best thing for them. Good luck if you need any more help finding it...just email me back! :)

My son had moluskum contagiousum as well from about age 3 to 4 1/2. We tried the "freezing" which hurt and didn't really help. The doctor and dermatologist reccommended waiting until his immune system took care of them. They would get really gross and pustule"y". The derm gave us a perscription for some cream- but we elected not to use it as it was for adults and not proven for moluskum. They got really bad before they suddenly went away. He now has lots of little scars where they were (not ugly- I just know they are there). I think "popping" them made more scars. If you do- make sure the fluid doesn't spread- we had some luck with putting little bandaids over them immediately. I hate to say it but "time" is what finally worked for us. I'm sorry you have to go through this- I felt like a bit of a pariah when we were going through this. We tried to keep them all covered if he was in a social situation. Just know, that they WILL go away!

Looking up the pathophysiology, the incubation period is actually 2-7 weeks, although there may be a "latent period" (which obviously doesn't apply) for up to 6 months.

So, yes, it is entirely possible she picked it up at the hospital... but it's also spread by indirect contact. So if you've left your house at any point since she was born (grocery shopping, to the park, pediatrician office, what have you), and TOUCHED anything... the handle of the cart, sat in a chair, etc... you or your daughter could have picked it up there as well. Same token... studies have shown that 80 percent of patients have antibodies to this virus, so someone can be a carrier and you wont even know it.

Flip side of the coin, if you've had anyone over to your house or taken your daughter out of it, (yikes, just think of all the places you've been...) she's shedding virus as she goes. So where exactly she got it, or who she's already given it to... is one of those impossible things to determine.

It's a pox virus, like chicken pox or small pox, but without the pesky death and fevers attached to the others. So, while ugly and contageous, at least you've got one of the "better" ones to have.

In healthy patients, MC is generally self-limited and heals spontaneously after several months. Individual lesions are seldom present for more than 2 months. Although treatment is not required, it may help reduce autoinoculation or transmission to close contacts and improve clinical appearance.The most appropriate therapeutic approach largely depends on the clinical situation. In healthy children, a major goal is to limit discomfort, and benign neglect or minor direct lesional trauma is appropriate.

AKA... usually it's best to do nothing (benign neglect) with young children, and let it self resolve... or to remove individual lesions that are particularly painful, or troublesome. There have been a lot of studies done on the alternative treatments (since this is a reeeeally common - 1 in 6- skin condition), and it's a mixed bag of results. Medically, they ALL have side effects...some that are "worse" then the pox to begin with, so they're usually reserved for AIDS and other immunocompromised patients, that their immune system is NOT going to be able to take care of it given enough time.

Sorry.

I teach preschool and I can tell you they are pretty common. My son had them last year all over his back and stomach (there were about 200), my foster baby still has about ten at a time after a year and my teenager has a few on her neck. They are just a virus. My dr said just let them run their course. There is a clear stage, then a little black thing that comes out, then they scab over and are gone.

My son has had these for a year or more. Our doc said not to do anything about them, and we really haven't. For us it wasn't really a cosmetic issue becasue they were all covered by his shirt. I would have been more likely to seek treatment if they were on his face.

It took several months for them to develop. He had one or two for a long time, then suddenly hundreds popped up. It took another several months for those to finally resolve. They do go away if you're patient enough to wait. The going away part is sort of nasty though. They get red, look like a bad pimple, then scab over and finally heal. He still has a few left, but nothing like he had before.

The pediatrician thought that my nephew had that, come to find out that he had a genetic problem. I would go to a dermatologist.
Even if it is molluscum contagious, the advise of a dermatololgist would be good.

I have four children the first three never got it then the 4th one has. I so not know much about it either so when you find out will you let me know it is on her face but no where else. Thank you!

I had it as a kid in 5th grade. I hid it from my parents because it was all over my butt cheeks and back of my legs. I was too embarrased and thought they were warts. My stepsister teased me about them. I had them for over a year. Finally after they started bleeding through, I told my mom about it (I had over 100 of them lesions) she took me to the doctor and I had about 20-30 novacaine shots on my butt to numb all the lesions before he cut the tops off them. I didn't feel a thing, and they all went away and never came back. I was told I may have picked it up from a public toilet seat. No scars either. I don't have advice except listen to your doctor. Good luck, and hope she gets better! :)

I don't have any different treatments to suggest, however, wanted to caution you to be careful with the tea tree oil. If you are going to try it make sure you dilute it well per directions. I did not know that & applied full-strength tea tree oil & then had large painful blisters for a week.

M. - Both of my boys had molluscom as well as the little girl I nanny and my girlfriends two boys. I never knew it was so common either until my kids had it.
We chose to have beetle juice put on my boys "bumps". It does not hurt when they put the juice on, but the scab up and look painful, although neither one of my children complained about it.
It took two times of going to the pediatrician to get rid of it on both of my boys.
It is contagious, so you should not have your daughter in the bath with anyone or in the pool. Since summer is coming up I would suggest getting it taken care of sooner rather than later.
My son's dr. said that it would go away on it's own, but I have to say that my son had it for 4 years and it never went away.
I would beetlejuice my kids in a heartbeat if I were you. It only takes a couple of weeks and then you don't have to worry anymore.
L.
Also, none of the children that i know that had these removed (and ALL the kids that I know that had molluscom had them removed) have any scars, and each one of their mother's say they wish that had done it sooner.

Both my girls had it as toddlers, very common and very contagious. Doctor says that they do run their course, however, freezing them up speeds up the process. One daughter had them frozen, other didn't (much milder case). The freezing did not hurt and they only have to do one or two of them. I had a dermatologist do it and he said that just burning one will cause the body to start attacking the rest and sure enough, they went away very quickly! I would definitely go that route again.

Melissa,
Unfortunately, both my daughters got them after my first started kindergarten. I swear the "circle time" spreads them. We burned my older daughters with wart creme and covered them. You have to rub the root out with a wash rag or brush or pluck it out with sterilized tweezers. Sounds harsh, but if you don't get the root out, partial removal only stimulates a greater blood supply, and more molluscum. My younger daughter, we started to treat right when they began to show on her skin. I put her in a long salt water bath, and then covered her molluscum with little round bandaids. After a day you can just "pluck" them out because the skin around them softens. This method has worked the best for us because the acid does sting. Good luck with it, I would treat the big ones, and the little ones might go away on their own.
K.

My daughter started getting this when she was 5 years old. She is now 8 and has no sign of ever having this issue. Our pediatrician mentioned the freezing and scraping of the bumps as well, but as a side note, mentioned that you can get natural oils online that will eventually remove the molluscum. I don't think they are supposed to recommend natural remedies for some reason. The one I ordered was made by Forces of Nature and it was called Molluscum No More. It worked very well for my daughter. She only had the bumps on the front & back of her legs and on the outer genital area though. You could look up their site to see about the eye area for your child. The oil does have a distinct odor, but that was the only negative thing about it. The spots did take some time to totally disappear. They would get a head on them and then disappear within a couple days. I noticed that after using the oil the new spots started decreasing in number also. It is not instantaneous, but if you stick with it and use it as directed, it works. In my opinion, it was much less painful than scraping or freezing. Good luck!

I have never heard of this condition but if you go on line to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluscum_contagiosum it will tell you what it is and maybe you can see how you can take care of it. Your daughter being so young you might decide to let it go as it says that it will go away on its own. There is also another way - using duct tape. The other ways of getting rid of don't sound pleasant. There are other alternatives. The best is to look online to see what you would do.

N.
SAH wife, mom, grandma, Wellness Coach