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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

molluscum contagium - anyone had experience, any tips?

23 replies

Narnia72 · 02/09/2016 23:12

Both daughters have had this for a couple of months. One has had to have antibiotics as the spots got inflamed and sore. The other has developed loads under her armpit and they're also becoming inflamed. I think they keep spreading because she is scratching them a lot and so the infectious pus is coming out. Now they're looking really sore and they're really itchy and uncomfortable. The dr said she could have the spots for up to a year but she's really struggling and they're getting worse. We've tried thuja and molludab but neither has had much impact. Does anyone have any tips as to how to help her? There's so much conflicting advice on the internet and I don't want to make them any worse. I've tried covering them with plasters to stop rubbing against her skin but that's making her even worse. She wears a long sleeved cotton top when she can, but the heat of the summer hasn't helped. She's 6 btw.

OP posts:

daydreamnation · 02/09/2016 23:15

My dd had this, she was covered in them and nothing worked until we got chatting to someone about them. They had read a theory linking them to zinc deficiency and said all we needed to do was cover them in sudocrem until they cleared. I was very cynical but it bloody worked!! Definitely worth a try as it's obviously harmless stuff. Good luck

cpthen · 02/09/2016 23:17

Mine had this. So strange. I learnt there was really nothing that cured this. It was just something that went of its own accord. It got worse before it got better.

I just treated the symptoms and waited it out!

thatsn0tmyname · 02/09/2016 23:20

They're viral and spread via touch. Adults are immune so don't get them. My son had a few on the back of his knee. For ages they were small red bumps then they came to a white head. The head was a hard lump, similar to a wart. After a bath we gave it a vigorous rub with a towel and it came off and bled quite a bit. It hurt too. The skin behind his knee was itchy and became dry and sore so we use sudocrem. Check the NHS website- they should clear up on their own.

LittleBoat · 02/09/2016 23:21

Strong Manuka Honey. Once I realised dd had MC put a tiny dot of it on each of the spots every night. No more spots appeared from then on and none of them got enflamed. They disappeared about 5 months later.

Yika · 02/09/2016 23:24

I had my DD's removed by the doctor, because although they do clear up by themselves it can take years, and they are contagious, so when she was at nursery she could not e.g. go in the paddling pool or join in water play. It doesn't take long to remove them, they are basically scraped off. Skin was anaesthetised first using a topical cream. We had to go back about three times. She does have one tiny scar behind the knee where one of them was removed (they won't scar if they are left to clear up naturally).

Wish I had known about the sudocrem tip!

Yika · 02/09/2016 23:26

(My DD's lasted for more than a year, I think your dr is optimistic).

MargoReadbetter · 02/09/2016 23:26

Finally used MolluDab (£25) on 8 y.o. We lost the enthusiasm after a couple of weeks as we went on holiday. It worked and only a couple left. Should start again to get rid of them. They've lasted over a year...

0hCrepe · 02/09/2016 23:28

Ds had a couple frozen by the dr. They all went after that.

Pigeonpost · 02/09/2016 23:32

My DS3 had them all down his side. They went naturally after maybe 6 months (as he wouldn't let us touch them) but they have left tiny pitted scars One got infected and then they all died. I was told that's what happens and the virus basically turns on itself.

Original poster

Narnia72 · 02/09/2016 23:39

Sorry so many of you have personal experience. It's a horrible thing for little ones to have to deal with. Will try sudocreme and manuka honey, we have both. Molludab hasn't done anything for us sadly. I will take her back to doctor to see if they'll treat them as it's really bothering her. The other daughter has them on her back and so alhotheu were massive there were only about 4 and they didn't spread.

Re water play, we were told by doc that it was ok to keep swimming but just not to share towels. They're pretty unsightly in a costume though, so she's been wearing a rash vest on the beach. Not sure what we'll do with school swimming lessons though. What do you all do?

OP posts:

LittleBoat · 02/09/2016 23:43

Dd still went to swimming lessons, but they were mostly hidden by her costume.

I think public pools are were most kids catch them. like verrucas I suppose.

If she is conscious of them, would she still wear the rash vest?

LittleBoat · 02/09/2016 23:44

I was also fairly hopeless on the not sharing towels, but ds never caught them.

Avebury · 02/09/2016 23:47

Silver spray worked for us

dotdotdotmustdash · 03/09/2016 13:56

Mine had them years ago. I know it's not popular but I just popped a few mature spots each time they had a bath until they were all gone. No scars that I'm aware of, and it didn't seem to cause any pain.

ReallyTired · 03/09/2016 14:04

I think the treatments are worse than the problem. Unless your child has complications with ezcema I would leave well alone. Possibly it's worth putting a small plaster/ fabric strip over a spot to stop a small child from picking them and spreading the infection.

BikeRunSki · 03/09/2016 14:15

DD had them for about 18 months, but was never e clouded from anything. Sudocreme helped, but didn't completely clear them up. A tip I got from here was to burst the "queen" - the most mature looking spot. This will encourage your dd's body to name antibodies.

OlennasWimple · 03/09/2016 14:19

Find the mother spot (the biggest, possibly the first). Squeeze it until you can remove the white waxy core (may need tweezers). Watch the others go

Original poster

Narnia72 · 03/09/2016 19:35

I'll try finding the big spot, thanks for the tip.

Really tired - we initially left them but they're spreading in droves and driving her mad. I tried putting plasters on, they are so close together that the only way to do it is to put little round ones on, I stopped counting at 36 last time we attempted it... Bigger plasters stick on a spot and hurt. We've tried micropore and gauze, but it just comes off. She's so fed up! X

OP posts:

Theonlyoneiknow · 05/09/2016 20:14

I've been through this with both children. Was a total nightmare to get rid of. DS passed it onto his 6mo old sister! There is a homeopathic Gp at our health centre who prescribed thuja and ant crud. This got rid of DS' within 2 weeks, they just miraculously dried up in front of our eyes. The same treatment didn't work with Dd and after 18 months and them starting to leave scars on her face I paid for a private homeopath who gave her a different homeopathic medicine (carb calc) and they were gone shortly after. I used Manuka honey on some of the big ones. Squeezing the mother spot didn't work for us and just left a scar.

lessthanBeau · 06/09/2016 21:30

DD had them for over a year, we used silver cream and they disappeared after about 3 weeks, but as this was after so long of having them, I'm not sure if it was the cream or if it had just run its course. I hated them they are awful, and painful, DD wouldn't let us touch them and it drove me mad not being able to squeeze them!

superbean · 06/09/2016 21:43

My daughter had this - completely grossed me out but it is very common.

She had a small patch of eczema, which got infected. Pretty much at the same time these things appeared. She had antibiotics for the infection but I was told there wasn't anything that would cure the molluscum.

I found loads of threads on mn about what other people did, hideous stories about squeezing etc. My daughter wasn't bothered by them at all unless they were touched or rubbed (which was painful), so I decided to leave them well alone as I didn't want to make her self conscious about something that she wasn't bothered about.

We used some kind of Dermol lotion in the bath and after bathing, she carried on swimming as normal, and after 9 months they just disappeared.

It was positively medieval though! I hope your daughter grows out of it quickly!

Felascloak · 06/09/2016 21:45

Squeeze them! Might as well enjoy them while they are there! They will just vanish one day, it's a weird illness

FifiK · 07/09/2016 12:59

I feel your pain, my son had them and they just spread and spread. Molludab and another expensive internet cure did nothing.
What worked for us was a cream from the doctor called Fuciden which was prescribed for something else but I noticed it was for contagious skin diseases! and tried it and it worked. You need to stop it itching, that stops it scratching, and the puss spreading and this did that. He has tiny dints in his skin where the spots were. I can't believe doctors say just leave them when they spread voraciously, can last 2 years and some poor kids have them all over their faces. Good luck hope they go soon x

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