Molluscum Contagiosum Help

i confess to confusion.
you don't think a dermatologist, who is trained in skin care (and not just on the face) won't be any help, but people on the internet will?
khairete
S.

I'm confused why you think a dermatologist couldn't help with a contagious skin condition on his skin.

All of my kids had molluscum a couple years back. I was told the treatment was very painful and not necessarily guarenteed so we decided to let it run its course. My oldest son had it the worst because he would scratch at them and they burst and that's how it spreads. I started covering them with band aids so he couldn't get at them as easily and they finally went away. It took him almost a year to get completely rid of it but it was much faster with my other kids.

I NEVER, NEVER mess around with eyes or genitalia. Take him to a Dermatologist and let an expert treat those areas.

And a 1000 flowers to Suz T!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter had this at age 2-3. We let it run it's course and it went away with no scarring. It did take over a year to go away. I think the decision to treat depends on location on the body, severity, and if the child is bothered by the presence of the nodules. In our case, nothing warranted painful treatment - located on her midsection, they didn't itch or bother her, and they didn't spread significantly. Also, for all the warnings of how contagious this is, no one else in the family got it, despite having close contact (baths together, etc.).

Our doctor told us that treatment is painful and ineffective. It is viral, so medication will not help. It just needs to run its course.

I'm not clear about why you think a dermatologist isn't an appropriate referral. Because the rash is on the child's genitals? Dermatologists don't just do faces! They do the whole body - from areas exposed to the sun to those hidden areas that are heavily affected by moisture & sweat (anal area, genitals, other body creases). Can you elaborate more on why this wouldn't be their area of speciality? Maybe I'm not understanding your question.

Skin is skin. A dermatologist isn't just limited to the face for acne or something like that. I'd follow the docs suggestion and see what happened.

My daughter had it on her back and feet. The dermatologist put some purple stuff on them that cleared them up when they were at their worst, a few little ones have popped up here and there but nothing like that first outbreak. Take your guy to the dermatologist! They specialize in skin care all over the body, not just the face.

My daughter had it when she was in first grade. A healthy immune system makes a big difference.

We did go to the dermatologist, and like another poster, opted for the "beetlejuice" treatment. It wasn't anything awful. The worst part of the treatment, really, was the removal of the bandaids 3 hours after the application of the mediation.
(They apply a pinpoint dot of medication onto the top of each "wart" and then cover with a bandaid. At 3 hours after application, you remove the bandaids and wash gently with soap to completely remove any remaining medication). This irritates the "wart" (which has a thick protective skin) and causes it to open up (looks like lesions after a few days in some cases). Then the body can heal it.

Daughter had about 3 of them (one on her neck, two on a leg/knee) and it only required one treatment. Prior to doing that, she had a couple in her scalp, and brushing/combing her hair scraped them, (which is another actual way to treat them...) and got infected. After applying neosporin to the areas the infection cleared up right away and the molloscum didn't come back in her hair.

She probably doesn't even really remember any of it... she's 13 now. It wasn't traumatic at all. But, hers were located in a different area, so there is that to consider also.

when my oldest son had this - they said they could do the "treatment" - however it would be painful and leave scars.

The virus takes anywhere from 3 months to 2 years to leave the body.

If it's not bothering him? I would leave it alone and let it go naturally.

I didn't read through all of the responses so I apologize if this is a repeat answer. My 9 year old son had this just a few months ago on his arm and under his arm and a few on his torso. The doctor said that the typical treatment is pretty painful and not worth doing. She also said that they eventually go away on their own but it can take up to a year. The problem with that though is that if the child scratches and pops it and then touches other areas, it can spread. I did a search online and a lot of people recommended using apple cider vinegar. I did it and they were gone in a 2-3 days. I soaked gauze pads in the vinegar, placed them over the molluscum and covered with a bandaid. I did it at bedtime so that he could sleep with the bandaids overnight and remove them in the morning.

I have to add that my son did say that it stung a little, especially the initial application but it worked. We saw a difference after just the 1st night.

That being said, I strongly suggest that you speak to your pediatrician or the dermatologist first. My pediatrician said that the apple cider vinegar was worth giving a shot but my son did not have the molluscom on his genitals. I did see something online too about kids sitting in a bath of water/apple cider vinegar so that may be an option for your son but again please ask a doctor.

Good luck!!

My daughter dealt with molluscum for about 4 years. The majority of it around her eyes. A little on her arm and some on her butt. We saw our doc about it a couple of times. There isn't much they can do with it. Our choices were to have it scraped or frozen to remove the core. We tried to freeze one of her first and it didn't do anything. They didn't want to scrape them because of where they were located. We finally saw a pediatric dermatologist when one got infected after being at a water park. They treated it with an oral antibiotic, then scraped and froze it. It was very painful for her. You can see a dermatologist, but it is very likely they will tell you it just has to run its course. It's viral, so meds aren't an option.

Oh my goodness!!!!! Regarding the poster who wrote about popping the bumps on her son's face---B., DO NOT do that!

[ETA: I know she said she did this with her Dr.'s instruction and recommendation, but that does not mean this generalizes to your situation, and popping any skin bumps, growths, etc. poses certain risks].

Back to original post:

The molluscum virus is spread by person to person contact with the bumps or by coming into contact with objects contaminated with the virus (mayoclinic.org).

You can also cause a secondary (bacterial) infection by scratching. Bacteria can be introduced from hands and fingers into the breaks in skin caused by itching.

Because of the age of your son and the fact that some of the bumps are in the genital region, you should take him to a dermatologist.

There are different options for treatment, but the choice of treatment varies considering the age and overall health of the patient, the location and number of the bumps, potential for complications, etc.

When you are at the dermatologist, ASK him/her if it is okay for you to use liquid skin (liquid bandage) on the spots on his chest and back. We did that (in addition to beetlejuice on some of the other bumps) for one of our boys.

PLEASE take him to the derm for evaluation and recommendations for his specific condition.

J. F.

My son has this right now...
I did take him to the dermatologist and he told us it would eventually go away on its own.
There is a spot treatment for it, but you can also just leave it alone. The virus doesn't thrive in moisture, so the suggestion from our derm was to keep putting lotion on him all day, and not let his skin dry out.
So far, it's working and slowly going away by itself.

My son got these in a big patch of around 30 around his eye when he was 2 or 3..... Surprisingly, my doctor said to pop them like zits!!! I know that sounds horrible, but the alternative is to wait it out. He said treatments don't really work. They are not easy to pop, they're like hard cysts, so it's painful and at first I did not want to do it. But it was so hard seeing his face covered like that I eventually asked the doctor to demonstrate popping one for me, so he did. We pinned down my son's head so he wouldn't flinch away, and he washed his hands and popped one with use of his nails, making sure to get the core out and leaving a bloody little sore like a popped zit. :( My son was screaming, but fine as soon as we said, "OK, all done". In a couple of days, that one was healed and never came back.

So every day we popped one or two with a piece of chocolate as a reward. I let him scream a couple of seconds and gave him lots of comfort after etc, and in an odd way, we didn't mind the ritual, he'd actually ask for me to pop them each day after a while. In a couple of weeks we had gotten them all. They never came back. There are no scars.

To be honest, if they were in a hidden location, we would have left it alone. But everywhere we went people were asking why he had zits all over his eye area....

So I'm not saying it's the right thing for you to do, but maybe ask your doctor.

I would go to a dermatologist and ask about using Aldara for him. Aldara is typically used for herpes warts but I have known it to be used sometimes by dermatologists for molluscum. It doesn't cure it but I believe it can suppress the outbreak. They might not want to use it for him due to his age but it's worth a try,

You can also try tea tree oil on a q-tip & dab a little bit on each bump and or put some drops in his bath water.

We bought this ... http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/zymaderm-1-skin-rash-liq... ... It helped, but we didn't have a huge outbreak. It's not cheap, but it did work for us.