Molluscum Contagiosum misery...

[outofthefryingpan]

Wondering if anyone else is currently doing battle with this menace.

My 5YO DD1 has had molluscum contagiosum for over 3.5 years.

Most of the time the spots have been fairly small and not much bother at all, however, in the last year they've been getting quite a bit bigger, bleeding, sore and getting secondarily infected. It's horrible for my little girl as they are really painful at times and just keep on coming. I'm also worried that other kids will start to notice.

All the literature I've read says that they're harmless and don't cause any trouble but I beg to differ on this front!

Doctor can't really offer much help as there's no treatment and the virus/bumps just have to run their course.

Has anyone else's child/ren suffered with this affliction for this long?

Looking at the other threads on here about children going through life threatening illnesses I must apologise for what must seem a comparatively trivial affliction but MC is really beginning to get to my little girl.

Oh yes and my little 2YO DD2 has also just started with it too......aaaaaaargh!

3.5 years??!! Oh no...my 5 year old also has these. She has them on her legs at the moment. Im hoping they stay there! And that 1yo DD doesn't catch them!

DD has had them since september...3.5 years..eek i thought seeing as we have had them 6 months we may be nearing the end!

I read somewhere that once they start getting sore and infected the body realises they are there and so they start to dissapear. I hope so for your little DD :(

Thank you very much for your reply.

I'm sorry if I've alarmed you! Everyone else I've spoken to who's children have had it, it only lasted a few months which is why I posted my original msg. I think it's quite rare for it to go on as long as ours has.

My DD1's are limited to legs and bottom. None on face or trunk thank god.

It might be worth making your 2 bathe separately and don't share towels if you want your little one to avoid catching it. It's such a common infection though that she still might catch it from some other cause unfortunately.

I was very heartened to read what you said about the body beginning to recognise them and fight back though! That would be great!

Thanks

apaprently if you pop some of them then the body wilkl start fighting them and it'll clear up

this definitely worked for a little girl i looked after once.

Yes indeed, the grisly stage is them going - I remember dd (at about 5 & who'd had them for a couple of years if not more, starting as mini pearly bumps you'd hardly notice) suddenly turning into a volcano of eruptions - and a month later she was completely clear. Hers were on her face, too, and she's now 10 and there's not a sign of anything.

Somebody mentioned that tea tree lotion was a good thing to put on the exploding ones - helps heal & protect against infection.

Ds2 has had it for about a year on his back and trunk. I totally sympathise with you op. It's awful. Ds2's spots have become more blister like recently and I'm hoping it will go soon.

dd1 had them for about 18 months. she had 3 on her lip. we tried everything!

dd was in bed one night when the biggest one started bleeding. I don't know if she caught it or something. it bled loads, then after 2-3 days they were virtually all gone.

fingers crossed they stay away!

There's a herbal powder you can get on the NHS if your dr. can prescribe them. (They need a specific qualification to be allowed to prescribe it.) Cleared dd1&2 up in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I didn't note down what it was and I can't remember.

Arrggghh! Here too, both DS1 (3.8) and DD2 (1.6) have it. DS is starting to clear up, we had to pop lots of them to get the immune response on him.

DD has them on her face and torso, she howls everytime we touch them but I'm desparate to get rid, I know I'm just being vain but they are so unsightly.

If you do get any inspiration DeWe do share, clutching at straws...

My DS had them at the age of five, my friend whos daughter had also had them recommended going to a herbalist (Napiers) . We had a consult and were given some god awful tasting "tonic". One to two weeks later they were gone. Can't say if they were on their way out already or if the tonic worked, maybe worth a go.

Dd3 had them for about 3 years. A doctor advised putting plasters on them all, or even just the main ones, so that when they burst the virus was contained. It worked like a miracle! Within a month there wasn't a single one left. Good luck, I know how frustrating they are.

Will try that hocuspontas, thank you!

I agree with hocuspontas.

My DS had this really badly and I read up on it. I think that the following is right, hope so. The fluid in the bumps is infectious and when one bursts the fluid causes new bumps to develop whereever it touches.

Each bedtime I would inspect DS and put hundreds of tiny bandages on every blister in order to limit the spread of the fluid when they burst. It also stopped him scratching them and causing it to spread to other parts of his body. It worked eventually. I think it is also important to do this to stop your other DCs or friends being infected.

You also need to make sure that the DCs have their own flannels and towels and to wash these frequently. Good luck.

My daughter had them tbat long. Doctor told her not to scratch them. She was due to be a bridesmaid. Friend who was gp told me to burst them all as we needed to develop the immunity. She likened it to cow pox (like milkmaids had and got immunity to small pox) She was 4 and we were on holiday abroad. Everynight for 2 weeks When she was asleep I popped them. They were gone within 3 weeks and never came back.

I'm so curious as to whether DS has this. He has two or three recurrent (but not always there) whitehead spots on his forearm. That's it, but he has been getting them for about 2 years ... they come, linger, clear up, and come back a while later

I just don't ever feel like they are significant enough to see a doctor about ... I mean, two spots on the arm is nothing really. I do wonder though.

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It is a misery this thing. My DS now 4 has had them across his eyes for nearly 12 months and now DD3 (age 2.5) has them all down her left side from under her armpit. This week they have started appearing on her left leg and groin. I think I might have made it worse because she has some excezma (sp?) in the same place and rubbing cream on seems to have spread them further.

Fortunately the two older dcs have not contracted them, our gp did say that older children don't get them as there immune systems are more developed.

I know the gp told us not to touch them at all and of course they will grow out of it . . . .

I will try the cream mentioned by Gooseberry. Thanks.

My DD over the last year constantly seems to have pimples in various parts of her body (look just like the normal spots I would get with a red outside and a pus-filled centre). Some are small and some are so big that if popped about a teaspoon of pus comes out! We saw the doctor a few times who said it was impetigo and gave antibiotics but they keep coming back. At the moment her bottom is covered in small ones. Does this sound like the same thing as your DCs have had?

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Nikki. They have a hard whitey creamy lump in the middle. When you pop it comes out with some fluid- they then bleed very slightly

Nikki -- that does not sound like molluscum to me. Molluscum look like pale warts without the speckly bits.

on my dcs they are small, round, skin coloured lumps with a tiny white centre. Neither child has complained of pain with them except when they pop and bleed a tiny bit.

Molluscum early on are not at all like pimples - the bumps aren't red or angry, they're just plain bumps in the skin and only if you look closely you can see there's a sort of 'pearly' core to them. When they're new they aren't something you can squeeze easily, because the pearly core is tiny and deep. The core comes near the surface after a long time (months at least, more often a year or two), and you don't get masses out of them when they do pop. So I think nikki what you're describing is something different.

DS has had them for 8 months, I think they are going I have not seen any new ones for 8 weeks.

The Dr told me to shower him everyday no baths. Clean towel used once only and washed on hot wash.

Put sheets on bed and wash 3 times a week. Wash any cuddlies once a week.

I think this has helped.

Thank you annapolly and all other contributors.

Nikki, your child's syptoms don't sound like MC. Google the images of MC to compare but it sounds like something different.

Doesn't sound like impetigo either as that has a characteristic amber coloured crusting rash rather than pimples.

I would go back to GP and ask for swabs to be taken to identify the infection so it can be treated effectively.

It's probably something that a more targeted course of antibiotics will sort out.

Have washed all towels and sheets etc. and covered every single on eof the little blighters with plasters.

Will let you know how we get on.....