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Children's health

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Original poster

Molluscum in nappy...and a question about herbalists

25 replies

littlelamb · 01/04/2009 21:09

My ds is 9 mo and has had molluscum for a few months. It has slowly spread, starting as a small cluster in his armpit, to all down the arm and trunk, and it's beginniing to ap;pear on his other arm and legs
He also has some in his nappy area. What do I do with this? Should I put a barrier cream on it? His spots have all changed from flesh coloured bumps to red and scabby looking ones.
My HV recommended that I see a herbalist. Has anyone had success with a herbalist?

OP posts:

pointydog · 01/04/2009 21:15

good idea to try a herbalist. There's nothing that doctors can do for molluscum and various planty rememdies are sometimes recommended like tea tree oil. So, nothing to lose.

Kbear · 01/04/2009 21:20

usually when they go red and scabby they are clearing up, I would leave them alone - DS had them in that region and they went after about a year. Not sure what a herbalist can do but someone might know.

Snowstorm · 01/04/2009 21:29

In my experience (DD1 had them very badly for around 2 years, DD2 had them for around 9 months) ... you just have to sit molluscum out and wait for their time to be up. I tried EVERYTHING I was recommended/heard of on the DD's and even paid a load of money to a homeopath but nothing shifted the horrid little things. So, with the experience of hindsight, I would keep the molluscum sites as clean as possible, keep a layer of clothing between these sites and any other areas of skin they might be next to/rub (ie. between the side of their body and the underside of their arms) in order to try and limit the spread and keep your child's fingernails trimmed (in case the molluscum are itchy). Other than that, I think it's just a case of letting them run their course because I really don't believe that anything else will get ride of them.

I agree with Kbear - when the molluscum start looking 'nasty' (like a big inflamed whitehead) then that's when they are (hopefully, fingers crossed) starting to clear up ... and when ones starts to go then I think that they others start to go, even if it takes a while.

Snowstorm · 01/04/2009 21:30

PS. Once they've had them once, I think that, like chickenpox, that's generally it and they shouldn't get them again.

Original poster

littlelamb · 01/04/2009 21:35

Thanks snowstorm. I have been keeping ds dressed all the time because I don't want his skin touching the rest of his body Hopefully it's on its way out then. Everyone seems to have a different story about what will clear them but I am reluctant to try a few purely because of the expense and the fact that there is no guarantee it will work. Do they leave a scar once they clear up? And would the warmer weather (if when it comes) perhaps help speed up the healing?

OP posts:

pointydog · 01/04/2009 22:08

they shouldn't leave a scar. They can do if they are burst apparently

DarrellRivers · 01/04/2009 22:14

Seriously nothing works apart from time

Elibean · 01/04/2009 22:23

Sorry for hijack, but...dd1 (5) had one or two Molluscum when she was about 2 - or so I was told by GP - then none for years, and now has a nasty crop around her genitals and upper thighs. She must have scratched one, which has become infected, and got very painful - she is now on ABs and its clearing up fast. They are red, look just like spots, but seem to be fading already....

....the GP (not the one I trust most, I have to say) said they were Molluscum, but from what I'm reading here, is that likely?? Do they fade fast? Do the spread fast? She has one on her arm, but all the others are on her bum, upper thighs and genitals

Is there anything I should or shouldn't do? Am putting Sudacreme on sore ones, and thats it...

Musukebba · 02/04/2009 08:04

Elibean: it doesn't sound like molluscum contagiosum because from your description they are developing quickly and responding to antibiotics. Molluscum is caused by a poxvirus and antibiotics wouldn't have any effect.

The lesions are quite characteristic once they develop, as they are relatively wide and have a flattened or concave surface. In the later stages they actually look like little tumours - although they certainly aren't - and can be easily knocked off. The Wiki has a good photo of a group of them at different stages of development here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluscum_contagiosum

The virus sits in the lesions and the immune system can't get to it effectively, so they stay for ages. My DD2 had some all down her inner arm and trunk when she was about 18 months, and they didn't go until at least six months later.

Snowstorm · 02/04/2009 10:24

Littlelamb - I would just keep them clean and solider on. They'll go when they are ready and you'll have saved yourself a lot of money and effort and your DC a lot of potential discomfort. Oh and never be tempted to squeeze them - even when they get to the 'infected whitehead looking' stage, as apparently that's the worst kind of agony that you can inflict on your child .

Some of DD1's big ones have left faint scars but it seems she was particularly susceptible to them and got them really badly - by that I mean really big ones, (which turned into really big bloody ones) and lots of them but only around the sides and front of her torso and along the underside of her arms - not on her neck or face thank goodness.

Mind you she had chicken pox (again, very badly, she ended up on anti-b's) at around the same time, so some of the tiny little scars (which you just get a glint of in certain light conditions) might have been from that.

As a final note, because DD1 had them over the summer, I used to put plasters on the bloody ones on her arms, chest etc in order to reduce the mess, potential reinfection etc. etc. After a period of time I realised the plasters weren't helping the warts dry up and so I put DD1 in old long sleeved t'shirts and just rotated those until the worst of it was over - that allowed the air to get to them and that meant that they dried up faster. Probably very basic common sense but something I had to learn!

Original poster

littlelamb · 02/04/2009 10:34

Thanks. My ds doesn't have them on his face yet either, and I am hoping they don't spread there. It is surpriseing for something that the HV and GP insisted was so common that I had never heard of it or seen a child with it, so I know that people will look if they do spring up in a visible place It's a good tip about the long sleeves though, so I will keep that in mind

OP posts:

Kbear · 02/04/2009 10:36

A story... my friend came up one summer's day (remember them?!!) and all the kids were in the paddling pool.

Her two year old wanted to go in and kept trying to take his top off but she made him keep it on and obv the little one was kicking up a fuss as the others didn't have tops on (the pool was shaded).

My DD asked her why her DS couldn't take his top off and she stuttered a bit then told me she had an embarrassing secret - he had molluscum all over his back and she was mortified. She practically sobbed with relief when I told her DS had had them previously and it was FINE and not to worry about it and her DS dived in!

They are awful, but they are very common and they do go, but in their own time.

Snowstorm · 02/04/2009 10:46

They are really, really common littlelamb and if anyone doesn't know about them then it's not a bad thing that they find out because I think that at least 1 in 4 children I know have had them, albeit of the 'had two on his leg for 6 months and then went' variety.

Think DD1 got them from a small naked playmate when they were playing in my garden in the summer when she was around 2. He had a small patch on his bottom but never had them for very long or very badly.

Some people think you shouldn't take your child to swimming pools if they have them (because of them being contagious) but I've never really understood if that was fact or fiction - I presumed it's an actual contact thing, like chickenpox.

LadyPenelope · 02/04/2009 10:47

My DD had them for about 18 months and in last month they have all gone. She had some very large ones and they have all disappeared without a scar. Thing to be aware of ... the white in the middle is very infectious (or do I mean contagious?) So when it pops, make sure you wash the area and hands. Doctor told us you can gently squeeze them to make them go ... but we only did that on one very large one as it began to pop/go

LadyPenelope · 02/04/2009 10:53

Yes snowstorm you can get them in swimming pools but there are no guidelines to say you shouldn't take kids if they have them AFAIA

naswm · 02/04/2009 11:01

I have read this with interest. My DS1 has a rash on his torso which does seem very like moluscum from the description - but it dosnt look the the pictures and his paediatrician said it wasnt that and said it was something else (which I cant remember the name of). but reading this thread and from talking to others about their experiences of moluscum, I am seriously thinking that this is what he has. Not that the name of it matters tbh, but I am intriued. Our consultant said he could go swimming btw - but advised against naked cuddling (which is easy enough to stop in the swimming pool, but not so easy to prevent my DC from doing, especially as they bath together as well - but DS2 has not caught anything, yet....)

Snowstorm · 02/04/2009 11:32

Sorry LadyPenelope but what does AFAIA mean as I can't find the MN section that explains the abbreviations any more!

Elibean · 02/04/2009 13:12

As Far As I Am Aware

I think...

Hello Musu, O Wise Woman of Viral Knowledge! Thanks, I have been wondering too - though I misled you, I think, its the infection thats clearing up really fast and responding to the ABs, not the spots themselves iyswim. I think she scratched one and got a stapph infection - insider her labia, poor thing, she was stopping herself peeing because it stung so much.

The thing that I wonder about is, can molluscum spring up already reddish, or are they always pale to start with? Because dd's are reddish, and crust up fast - more like a pox-y virus (not CP though). I'm still wondering about a Coxsackie type thing.

Also, she had molluscum - the pale sort - years ago, never many, but they popped up occasionally when she had a cold, then haven't seen any for at least 2 years.

Kbear · 02/04/2009 14:23

My kids always bathed together and DD never caught them by the way - I think they are viral in the same way cold sores are, some people get them, some people just dont.

Original poster

littlelamb · 02/04/2009 15:51

My dd has never caught them either, and they bathe together.
About the spots, when my ds first had them they were like flesh coloured bumps. But now the older ones have gone red, the new ones appear red almost instantly as well. I hope that means they're on their way out.

OP posts:

Elibean · 02/04/2009 19:25

Thats interesting...but I'm sure dd didn't have any on her upper thighs/genitals before the red ones appeared. Puzzled. Maybe Musu is right and they aren't molluscum

Either way, they were infected with strep - got a call back from GP today - and the infection is gone with ABs. The reddish spots remain, but aren't bothering her.

Original poster

littlelamb · 02/04/2009 19:32

Does anyone know whether I should be doing the laundry at a higher temperature while this is ongoing? I usually only wash at 30 for clothes and 60 for his nappies.

OP posts:

Musukebba · 02/04/2009 22:28

Hi Elibean Glad the antibiotics are doing their stuff on the staph superinfection!

I'm still not sure what your DD has, but it sounds really awkward developing where it has. Molluscum lesions can start reddish, but as was described earlier, that tends to be at the end of a larger scenario associated with the first attack, where the immune system has slowly become well-primed and eventually able to deal with them much earlier.

It's obviously hard to tell, but doesn't sound like MC to me as the spots are appearing and crusting over very rapidly. It's also an unusual distribution for coxsackie virus infection. Hmmm.. if they're not bothering her too much and the antibiotics are still going down all right then you are probably safe to just keep an eye on things.

Oh and chickenpox is very badly named - it's a herpesvirus and not a pox virus

Musukebba · 02/04/2009 22:33

littlelamb: molluscum is not a very hardy virus and the infectivity should be knocked out by the detergent. Maybe just to be sure you could wash at 40 but I wouldn't be too concerned.

Elibean · 03/04/2009 13:50

Hey Musu

Yes, of course, herp and not pox. Thanks, keeping eye - though reading what you've said, she did have molluscum ages ago, so maybe super-charged immune system and more molluscum?! Ah well, as long as no problems!

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