to push GP to remove DD's Mollescum

[nancydrewrocked]

DD (year 1) has them on her neck - I have tried all the conventional methods of removal with no luck.

I want her to have them frozen off.

Dr told me today that the nurse was unwilling to do this because:

i) of location and the likelihood of scarring

ii) her age and the likelihood that due to the pain she will not sit still.

I realise removal is not ideal but she touches them all the time and they are starting to spread to her face. I fear once they are on her face this is going to become a bigger issue as:

i) removal may scar and I would like to avoid scarring her face

ii) even if they are not removed they are likely to scar as she scratches at them and several on her neck have scarred so the soo ner they are done the less scarring she is going to have.

iii) she has been excluded from swimming and their is concern about her doing PE.

iv) She is extremely concious about the "spots" and tells me that lots of people in her class talk about them - this will get much worse if they pread to her face.

v) I have concerns (although not medically based) about what might happen if they spread to her mouth/eyes.

Anyway Dr has refused to deal with it saying that they are "best left well alone".

AIBU to be unsatisfied by this response and if I am not unreasonable where do I go from here?

Any thoughts?

HA!!! My 2nd post got lost in there:

also - she shouldn't be excluded from swimming - www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Molluscum-contagiosum/Pages/ Prevention.aspx "The Health Protection Agency (HPA) advises that molluscum contagiosum is not a serious condition and, although it is easily spread, most people are naturally immune to MCV. Therefore, there is no need to exclude yourself or your child from participating in activities such as swimming."

I am a non-believer generally when it comes to alternative stuff, but when my ds had them and they were bleeding, hurting and multiplying - I went to a herbalist, attached to a university polyclinic, and they were disappearing before she had got to half way through the bottle.

I'd try everything before freezing them.

You daughter has been excluded from swimming? Is that the school's policy or from lessons? I have never heard of that before with molluscum as she won't be the only one to have it, guaranteed. Probably a third or half the class has it. She shouldn't be excluded.

My DD has it on her knees and has had it for over six months, it is slowly going I think. Dr also told us to leave it alone which is what we have done, but then it's not that visible now she's back in tights. Our Dr said live life as normal. I'm sure you know it is a self-limiting viral infection which goes away on its own but can take up to 18 months.

Almost without exception every five/six year old we know either has them now or has had them so don't feel alone.

Have you tried squeezing the round 'pearly' ones? I've found if i've squeezed the big mature spots the whole centre/goo/core comes out and they have healed very quickly again.

I feel for you but I think you will have to follow the Drs advice on this one.

Psssst! Cargirl! I think your enter button is stuck

i wondered what was so controversial about molloscum that it had attracted so many replies! lol

:D well that certainly gave me a laugh cargirl!

OP - all 4 of mine have had them, ds2 had them round his eyes and even on his eyelids while in Reception. It had absolutely no implications for his eyesight although it look a very long time to get across to school that he didn't have conjunctivitis...
We just had to keep reinforcing the 'no touch' rule. Ds3 is currently covered down one side.

Where possible we 'traumatised' the spots after a soak in the tub, although with ds2 we found that we couldn't do anything because of where they were, nor would the gp act either. They went of their own accord, after a good six months. We found that when his immune system was strong, ie. no coughs/colds for a while - it seemed to help.

ds had it for about 3 weeks then accidently knocked one of the spots (on his knee)whilst playing football.. dissapeared in days.

I think cargirl really needed to get her point across !

We got our GP to prescribe some homeopathic medicine (stronger than we could get in the chemists).

Once dd started on that they were gone within 10 days and she had them for over 18 months.

Sorry I missed that cargirl, could you repeat it for me please?

:o:o:o

Sorry, Cargirl, I didn't quite catch that....

My DD had molluscum.....i squeezed them and picked them off and there is no scarring....they were only on her upper body though,not her face don't think i would have squeezed them on her face.

Fucking hell cargirl

I suddenly got them in my late teens, around my fingernails, inside of my wrists, and then one day a massive one sprouted right between my eyebrows bloody awful it was.

I froze that one off with Wartner, wasn't pretty, I was obsessive about freezing it as I wanted it gone so much, it got slightly infected, but eventually got smaller in size and healed completely. Left with no scar at all which is shocking considering what I did to it! And soon after, the others just magically disappeared, I don't even remember them going, I just know I looked down one day and they were gone

Potato/banana skin is supposed to work too isn't it? No idea where I heard that, probably in Take A Break

My friend popped her dds and they went - I used Elizabeth Arden on ds's and they never got started. Definitely couldn't leave them, for all the op reasons. When dd had a wart on her face, we paid privately and had it frozen off (she was 3) and it was fine.

Agree with Cargirl

I live in Japan and when my DD got them (on the backs of her knees) I had no idea what they were. The doctor told me they were molluscum and said he`d remove them - he used something that looked like a blackhead remover and pressed it over the spot so that the white head jumped out (not a very elegant description but hopefully yswim!) - I had to go back each time they appeared. I think I went back 3 or 4 times over the course of a month or two and then they completely disappeared. She has no scarring whatsoever, but like I wrote - these were on her legs.
I had no idea until I googled them later that in the UK the route is to just let them run their course, but certainly for us, it was no bad thing to have had them removed.

For those of you have squeezed - didn't it hurt?

I tried squeezing a few of DS's when he was asleep and he would wake up screaming. I am scared I will traumatise DD and myself if I do that.

I did wonder how a thread about mollescum was over 300 posts long'
I thought 'surely that can't have kicked off'

I can remember DD's being sore, and also a couple got infected and she had to have some flucloxacillin, but they definitely went away by themselves. (Can't remember exact details as it was several years ago now!)

Three of my DCs have had them and we've tried everything from tea tree oil to eight hour cream with no success. They do all literally disappear within a few days though and I would imagine it will be fairly soon if your daughter is in Y1 now, my bet would be that they'll have all disappeared by Christmas. I would repeat cargirl's advice but think you have probably got the gist of that by now

PaisleyPumpking, this is MN dont'cha know

nancy - The doctor removed all my daughters. She did wince with the pain and certainly wasnt happy to go back on the 2nd and 3rd time, but it only hurt for few seconds. He numbed the area with antiseptic first too and put tiny plasters over each spot.

The roundy, raised translucent ones don't seems to hurt if squeezed and pressed down as opposed to sqeezed and bringing your thumb nails together.

DD has yelped but that's been the smaller flatter spots which prob weren't ripe for squeezing.

It's the ideal affliction for a mummy who loves a good squeeze. Sorry DD.

Nancy only do it when they've been softened by a bath, it will hurt like hell otherwise. It'll also become more obvious which ones will respond to 'tweaking' - if they have a head or a visible dot rather than being just a raised red spot.

Can you tell I've done sooo many in my time!

Yes the squeezing does hurt them but it does work! we've found using tweezers the best and quickest way, and the trauma is easily cured with a mini packet of sweets as a reward .

DD had molloscum for about 14 months when she was about 7yo. On GP's & experienced friends' advice we left well alone and just nagged DD not to touch them (as much as was possible). We were advised that freezing is highly likely to scar.

She had them inside her elbows, on her stomach, and loads on her thighs and knees. They did eventually disappear within days, as others have said. One on the inside of her thigh did get irritated by her trouser seam and got infected, and it has left a scar and she is almost 13 now. On her leg it's not so bad but it would have been a real shame had that been on her face.

I do understand what you're saying about them being on her face, it's crappy for littlies to have to deal with that, but IMO the less fuss you make of it the less your DD may be bothered by them.