Mumsnet Talk

I'm a first-timer on MN, but need to hear from parents whose child has this nasty virus. Son has had lumps for 18 months. 2 GPs both say we have to let it take its course, but he is getting distressed, hating swimming & PE, and dreading starting secondary school in Sept. Lumps across torso, both arms, now on back, shoulders and neck. Anyone tried so-called miracle treatments on (mainly American) websites? Should I be more pushy with GP?

try comfrey cream

should be able to get it at boots

this is the only thing that works without breaking the skin I think

google it

DD had it for 18 months, then one day when swimming she knocked the top off one on a rough surface, from then on they began to disappear!

I tried loads of creams and nothing worked tbh but as my GP told me, it tends to run it's course and then when one gets infected or gets brokken skin on it, the rest follow suit and drop off! You CAN squeeze them apparently which helps this process but I doubt my DD would have left me. Be warned - they bleed alot!

I know it's horrible but it does go.

we've had some success with Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour cream...the spots are still there but it's removed the redness of the skin around them

much sympathy, hopefully in that you've had it for 18 months it's on its way out now

It's unusual for MC to last more than 2 years so with a bit of luck it will be gone by September.

Personally I would not prescribe imiquimod (which is probably the treatment you have it mind) for MC because there is a risk of serious side effects. I couldn't justify putting a child at risk of of dangerous side effects (the worst one - Stevens Johnson syndrome - is in rare cases fatal) to treat a virus that it is harmless.

I do understand that this is a very sensitive age for children, but I think you have to support your DS in having a sense of proportion here. There will be other children starting school with him in September with major deformities and disabilites. There are children of his age with terminal illnesses. In the grand scheme of things, MC isn't a "nasty virus" - it is harmless.

I think it is difficult to expect a child of that age to have any sense of proportion when covered with disfiguring growths. That is not helpful Jybay. If I had acne or something, I wouldn't just think 'ah well' just because I know there are people in the world with cancer.

At the age of 11 somthing like this is really hard, especially when they are starting enw schools.

OP - my 14 year old dd had these last year - all over her neck. She was mortified. I tried loads of things - however what got rid of them was a real concerted effort - got some homeopathic tablets - Thuja iirc, she took those for a month, also coated the damn things with manuka honey for a night, then next day spent some time squeezing them. Well, you don't really squeezy them, you just pick off the top of the individual spot with a pin, and pick the 'core' out. Then washed them thoroughly and applied savlon. It is not the nicest job in the world, but worth it, as they scabbed over and they never came back.

Mind you, everyone says that they disappear of their own accord after 18 months. I like to think that I gave these a helping hand!

Good luck - hopefully you will be able to get rid of them for him, bless him.

I took my son to the doctor last week and he too was diagnosed with this.

I have been putting on skin salvation by purepotions which though it hasn't gone it is not red anymore and is less visible. I am also boosting his immune system with supplements from our local health food shop.

My 5-year-old has had them for about 3 years! At the moment she only has a couple left and I'm really hoping that'll be the end of the them as she's finding them increasingly irritating. We have used tweezers to squeeze out the centres of the larger ones, dabbed on TCP and covered with a plaster as they do tend to bleed. Others have disappeared with time, one or two appear to have fallen off but for a couple of stubborn ones on the backs of her legs we've used Wartner - it hurts at the time as it essentially penetrates the wart and freezes it. This seems to have done the job although the applicator is larger than the spot area so surrounding skin can become inflamed.

Search for moluscum contagium + iodine solution in the search. There was someone here the other day saying that there is a way to force the body to create a more aggressive reaction to eradicate them faster.

I think it was something like dipping a toothpick with a iodine solution and stabbing two of the biggest ones with it. Apparently that sets them a reaction off and they vanish soon. I think it was Alypaly who mentioned about it and apparently a lot of people here have successfully used the method.

Another vote for Eight Hour Cream - sorted DSs out really quickly and his excema went with it - he now just has the 8 Hour Moisturiser which really has had a great effect on his excema - although not on our bank balance!

Thank you all for the comments and advice - i'm going to try a combination of several ideas, and I can see the logic of 'attacking' some of the lumps in order to get the body to react to the virus.

We'll see how we get on.

Lansinoh is quite similar to 8-hr cream (and much cheaper!).

DS1 had them and they lasted for ages, but he didn't itch them. When I broke the tops of a few of them, they went within a few weeks. DS2 itched his from day one, and they've been and gone within a few months.

Fingers crossed for September.

My daughter had them under one armpit & behind one knee.
Some from under the armpit-about six were anaesthetised & scraped away.
When we went back next week the rest were gone.

Can children swim with them?
I thought not.

She got them after being in a friends hot tub.

my dd still went to swimming lessons with molluscum. You cant put your life on hold for up to 2 years (or more in some cases!).

Even the NHS website says you dont need to avoid swimming

My daughter had them and they ran their course as promised after 18 months. It never stopped her doing anything and she shared a bath with ds nearly every night - he never got them. Tried various remedies - tea tree oil, 8 hour cream - nothing made any difference.

I'm one of the people Chandra mentioned who has had succes with alypaly's method. It worked for us - pricked them, there was a chain reaction over the next month, they all went red and then were gone.

tried everything...teatree, 8 hour cream etc etc...in the end took him to my homeopath, was gone within 4 weeks.

he only had it for 4 months total.

really really would recommend homeopathy for this.

DD1 had this - dh popped them all over 2 weeks (with choc buttons per spot!) with some iodine first - hey presto. DD2 now has them but v close to eye so can't do that. She is now scratching them herself and they're disappearing.

My daughter had molluscum and DS1 and DS2 ended up catching it. It drove me mad and I tried thuja, tea tree oil etc.

Anyway my neighbour a consultant dermatologist told me to squeeze them all over several nights, making sure I got out the white core and to rub a little crystacide (krysticide?)cream into each one. Then leave them to scab and heal. Thisc got rid of them very effectively with no sarring.

Ensure you wash your hands super-carefully as the white gunk carries the virus! The cream is availible OTC from the pharmacy.

My dd had them for a year, One day I have decided to squeeze them all, it did hurt a bit but after that they have disappeared. She had some behind her knees, on her private bit, in the crack of the bum.

"Seona1973
my dd still went to swimming lessons with molluscum. You cant put your life on hold for up to 2 years (or more in some cases!).

Even the NHS website says you dont need to avoid swimming"

It was the avoid sharing baths I was thinking of

my lo's shared a bath and ds did end up with them too but he had much fewer and they went away quicker too. I did sometimes 'accidentally' dry them too hard after a bath and took the tops of some of them but ds wasnt impressed!

Hope this helps someone!

Whilst not a mother, I have just had this virus on my skin...and I think (touch wood) its gone! 3 months from when the first "spot" appeared, followed by 2 months of very little happening (maybe 3 or 4 appearing) I then found within a week I had 100! I was so freaked out and tried everything I could to get rid of warts (duct tape, acid vinegar, wartner, saylicit acid/wart and verruca treatments like bazucca)...only to find....its not a wart!
Warts come from the HPV virus, mollusucm comes from the pox-virus (as in chicken pox, small pox...) so you have to treat it differently.

Number one best thing you can do is to boost your immune system. Basicly your immune system needs to fight the virus to stop it coming back, children get it more then adults as a childs immune system is still growing.

Next thing is to keep it covered and not to scratch. Spreading is done by scratching the spots which then fall open, the virus is then free to infect the next part of the skin. If the itching is too bad, try ice, menthol cream and wrapping with bandages and keep nails short!

And then there is the treatment. There seems to be little research into molluscum which is probably because it is only skin deep- it doesn't affect the central nervous system so there is no real risk to a childs health (I disagree with the emotional side of that but the physical side is never going to cause any real damage to a childs body-or an adults body for that matter). So as far as scientific treatments go, I have yet to see anything. But there are natural treatments you can try.

I tried acid vinegar for a day until I could get to the shop to buy a homeopathy remedy called Thuja. I took the pills (sold at boots) and used the tincture a day later, it has to be bought from a homeopath as its made fresh and wont be available in Boots, but you can get it quite cheaply, about the same price of tea tree oil. I applied this 3 times a day, washing once a day with a tea tree oil body wash and always wiping over with a tea tree oil wipe before every application. (From the Body Shop, probably not actually much tea tree oil in it but my point is that the area must be kept clean and try to disinfect it.)

I kid you not, 10 days from starting this, it all went!

I did notice the spots turn bright red and look inflamed. They did not hurt (well not the ones I picked- we'll get onto that one in a minute) but I later read that the redness is a good thing, it means they are dying, they become red and inflamed before fading to pink and then vanishing like a normal spot.

Now, picking....
What I found out was that the virus lives only on the skin. This means its not in your blood or your organs or anywhere else. It only exists where the spots are. So, take off the spots and the virus is gone. (though you have to understand it can be very tiny spots which get bigger as the days go on so you may not see them at first but they do grow). I read about picking and its very important you do it properly and maybe get some advice from a dermatologist as it can be very easy to spread the things.

Its the center your after, it is normally yellow and pus like but can be very liquid or firm, I guess it varies from person to person. Heat makes it easier to pick, but you must make sure the are is disinfected and then that all the pus comes out. There may be blood and scarring so its not a good idea to do this with small children. Once pikced, treat/disinfect and keep clean. Cover if you must but be aware that its a very nice warm place that a molluscum looks for to grow, and this could be a good description for the underside of a plaster. I used the silver elastoplast plasters but they are exensive so obviously cannot be used on all the spots. Choose wisely.

I did notice that after I had picked the first one which ever appeared, the rest seemed to vanish at quite a speed, It soon became reinfected and I got a second bout, so I again picked at the same spot only to see these new ones vanish soon after. It could be a mental thing but I have read of this happeneing to other people so see if you can find the original spot if possible, it may help!

Keep the child or yourself (whomever is being treated) in a fairly calm state. As far as the immune system goes, stress can weaken the immune system and make it harder to get rid of the virus, your immune system will help fight this thing but impairing it is going to make it take that bit longer.

Inbetween, use things like medicated talc or lanacane powder to keep the area dry (molluscum likes moist areas) and change any dressings plasters regularly (I did mine everyday as I shower every day). If you spot one which looks like its about to burst, be very careful, this is how they spread. Either pick it or cover it with something like duct tape or medical tape. Acid vinegar can also help to dry out the area and shrink it a little.

Make sure also that whilst being treated, you do try to keep hygeine at the upmost- it goes without saying really but this thing does spread very very quickly and whats worse, you can actually carry it and transfer it without even getting the condition yourself! It can live on the skin smaller then you can see for about 7-14 days and transfers via skin to skin contact. I don't know for sure if it helps but the hand gels which kill 99.9% of bacteria do seem like a good idea... (they do sting any priked spots though- still not as bad as cryotherapy but enough to bring tears to a small child).

omicron........i bet you wish you had a pound for everytime you go on a molluscum thread. I am so pleased it worked for.........you must have been impressed