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Children's health

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Original poster

Infected molluscum?

52 replies

PrettyCandles · 09/02/2010 16:34

I know that mollusca often look quite inflamed just before they finally heal. Ds2's molluscum is at that stage, but one of the mollusca looks a bit nasty. It's far more inflamed and swollen than I've ever seen on either of my boys, dark red on the sides, and it's got the shiny, slightly crinkly look that a mega-zit sometimes gets. It's right on his waist, so I've put a loose plaster over it to stop his trousers chaffing it, and yesterday the plaster looked like there had been a little bleeding.

Is this normal, or is this a visit to the GP?

OP posts:

strudelface · 09/02/2010 16:37

My dd2 had this and I was going to leave it but was at the doctor for something else and she said it was infected and prescibed a course of ABs. These did the job and also had the added side effect of clearing up all the uninfected molluscum.

katiemum · 09/02/2010 16:38

This happened to some of DDs molluscum spots. I did go to the doc and was given a dose of ABs and some fucidin cream - it worked. If ever others went a bit over red I put a bit of the fucidin on and the redness subsided. We also went through a lot of plasters.
Hope they are on the way out for your DS.

Original poster

PrettyCandles · 09/02/2010 16:44

Great. Thanks.

I'd better get that done first, then, before he gets his Swine Flu jab - because I don't think he'll willingly set foot in the surgery again once he's been jabbed.

OP posts:

nimiayas · 09/02/2010 21:36

hi i have spent last 6 months on internet every nite...hoping on finding a cure for molluscum....2 kids have it...one very bad and all becoming very inflamed at the moment....got fuciden...dont suppose you remember wot ab you given?

EVye · 09/02/2010 21:38

My DD had this, especially bad with the master spot which was on her tummy. Went by itself but left a darker scar than the others.

nimiayas · 09/02/2010 21:42

hi do you remember name of antibiotic....i am so desparate i will try anything for my two girls....got the fuciden. On thuja etc.x

nancydrewrocks · 09/02/2010 21:49

Don't know about antibiotics but I have had great sucess using tea tree oil. Doesn't damage the surrounding skin and gets rid of the mollescum with no scar.

fatzak · 09/02/2010 21:59

We ended up with fuciden in the end as DS1 had some that got really icky towards the end. It took just about 12 months for them to all clear away - strangely both the DSes got warts on their fingers too, and once the warts dropped off, the molluscum started going. Must have been same virus?? DS1 has some awful scaring on his neck, but luckily DS2's were on his arms and weren't as nasty.

CarGirl · 09/02/2010 22:03

It's them getting infected that alerts the body's immune system to the fact that they are there. Once the immune system realises that they are there they fight it off.

So in short getting them infected is the way to get rid of them obviously if they look very infected you may need antibiotics.

alypaly · 10/02/2010 02:16

nimiayas sending you a link www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/851616-Molluscum-I-hate-hate-hate-hate-it........have aread of my post about pricking them. It is the trauma that makes them go...not the antibiotic.

once you get an inflamed one it tend to trigger off a reaction in the others and then they disappear. Lots of people on MN have tried the pricking method with high success rate

nimiayas · 10/02/2010 22:25

Thanks so much for all the replies....my god why didnt i write on this website earlier...have spent the last year sad and utterly obsessed with these spots!!!! Like i said ds1...all very inflamed tonite so hpfly mite be on way out...ds2...still only has about 10 very small ones on bac of knees. Just hoping 3rd child doesnt get cause i cant cope!!!!!

Thanks for that link...hate hate.

Dont thnk will try the pricking for now as ds1 very sore with all inflamed. Cant tell you wot treatment has worked as smoother them in Manuka Honey,fuciden...take thuja 30 and bathe in tea tree,wash sheets and pyjamas daily etc.....ha ha ha....told you i am obsessed. Only thng cud say is ds1 has been very sick ova xmas..hospital etc and now immune system seems to be attacking them....read somewhere that happens often too...child gets very sick and then when gets better suddenly spots go!!!! Fingers xsd!!!

So nice to speak to people who know as there is only a couple of people i have told. Thanks everyone.xxxx

alypaly · 10/02/2010 23:39

i think they will go once they are inflamed. Its like a kind of chain reaction My DS1 had about 100 or so on his torso, they are horrible things

Mrsshakespeare · 08/08/2010 09:37

Good to hear other people have had same kind of problems. My youngest daughter has has it since she was 6mnths, hasn't bothered me much as I knew it would go eventually. However that all changed when she had chicken pox!!!
Her moluscom has turned sooooo bad. In a month and half she has had 3 terribly infected spots so bad her entire leg swelled and we have had huge amounts of disgusting smelling pus out of them!!!
Will try tea tree and other stuff recommended. Couldn't get AB's into her so now have cream.
She has been getting poorly, flu like symptoms when these spots become in fected.
Really find it upsetting and need a cure!!!
Any help anyone!!??

cutelybananas · 09/03/2011 01:22

hi,i went to the doctor with my ds as they were spreading quite rapidly,just to be told that they will go away when there ready!!great.
then i mentioned them to a friend and she suggested going round them with an unlit matchstick?i was a bit cautious to start with,but apparently the sulphate dried them out,on her dd,without scaring.
so i have decided to do a small patch of spots to c wot happens.and its only been about 2 weeks,but they are going.also the doctor said to keep rubbing e45 on them after a bath,i did this and they went mad,i wouldnt recommend that! x

Amberc · 18/03/2011 21:33

I have just read that you should try Australian Lemon Myrtle essential oil - it's on Wikipedia. Have bought some and waiting for it to arrive. Will repost if I see any difference. I sooooo want to squeeze them though - like a great big spot! I probably shouldn't though right? Does it hurt to prick them? My boy is 2.8 and He probably won't let me. They are inside his elbow (seems a common place) and they are now spreading down. With summer coming I want rid so he can wear short sleeves.

Amberc · 18/03/2011 21:34

Australian lemon myrtleA 2004 study demonstrated over 90% reduction in the number of lesions in 9 out of 16 children treated once daily for 21 days with essential oil of Australian lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora) dissolved in olive oil.[13] However the oil may irritate normal skin at concentrations of 1%.[14][15]

GardenWitch · 06/12/2012 00:54

The BEST thing I found to kill molluscum is ACETONE in the form of cheap nail varnish remover.

Also Germoline liquid plaster is good for individual bumps, especially on face. Do not cover whole areas with this though as it drys out skin and can make it worse.

Acetone is a well known cure for herpes and cold sores, but no one seems to know it also kills molluscum.

Acetone actually healed the skin nod took it from red raw and covered in bumps to healthy and healed in DAYS!

If you try this and it works for you please spread the word via the Internet, so others may benefit.

chrissiejames · 06/12/2012 22:18

Hi there
DD has had it for 3 months under her armpit. It started spreading to her torso. I started getting worried as I know it can spread all over her body. I did some internet research which seemed to suggest that tea tree oil and iodine were good. The pharmacy advised me not to use both together. I bought some tea tree antispetic - not the pure drops but tea tree antiseptic cream.

Within 48 hours, the difference was HUGE. I wish I had taken some photos of the before and after. Before: was about 30 warty "full" looking raised large spots (sorry they are gross). After 48 hours, all of the molluscum had reduced significantly in size - shrivelling up and drying out with a small pinprick scab on the top. It is 1 week on now and she has literally 4 spots left, all of which have a small scab on the top. The area where the other spots were is now flat! She has eczema and sensitive skin and after Day 3, the skin around looked a bit red, so I put sudocrem on 1 night just to calm it down. By that stage, I could apply the tea tree antiseptic to the individual spots rather than having to smear it over the whole bumpy area. I have not had to squeeze them at all.

I urge you to try it. Having battled eczema for years and having found internet research very hit and miss, I am amazed this has worked soooo well.

Good luck everyone.

Ashmash26 · 21/10/2014 15:26

What was the name of the AB...

Ashmash26 · 21/10/2014 15:28

What was the name of AB's they prescribed..

bexincornwall · 23/10/2014 10:46

Hi - antibiotics will clear up an infected molluscum but not the molluscum itself (or any uninfected ones) as the condition itself is caused by a virus and antibiotics have no affect on viruses.

There is a treatment called Molludab which we are about to attempt on our two boys, one of whom has them quite badly. However I have held back from starting the treatment as one looks so manky. Will re-post if Molludab any good though, going to try it on our youngest who doesn't have any infected ones - it is a two week treatment..

Mumof2feelslike12 · 08/04/2015 22:43

Bexincornwall how did the Molludab work? I have been using it on my dd for 5 days now and I'm not sure if it's working?
She knocked one back before Xmas and it got infected, had to have AB but only cleared that one which has left a horrible scar :( Any tips on Beating this would be appreciated

catsilversilk · 12/04/2015 09:51

Hiya - this is Bex, I'm surprised how long ago I posted that, time hurtling by at a scary rate!!

We used the Molludab, but only on my youngest as just as we got the prescription my eldest started having infected ones (which actually is a good thing as they then go - however you need to keep an eye on them as if the infection takes hold then there could be a need for antibiotics as you are then dealing with a different thing - however the antibiotics will just sort out the infection and have no impact on the virus spreading obviously!).

As for the Molludab, it did work - slowly but we were getting them as they just started to develop & whilst they did still leave scars they were nothing compared to the deep pitted scars that the infected ones left on my eldest. It is worth persevering, youngest now has 3 or 4 left (which cropped up after treatment) & I'm going to target them this week.

Eldest who never had any treatment and at one point had maybe 30 or more, is now down to 2, but it took nearly 3 years. I really really wish that the mother of the kid he caught them off had told me before he came on a sleepover, used towels, slept on the same sheets and borrowed a t-shirt all those years ago (hugely catching and anyone potentially sharing clothes or towels or sheets with a kid with molluscum should be warned!! I do warn, despite the awkwardness!!).

Hope that helps - I would persevere, the treatment can be a bit stingy and sore & need to be careful with surrounding skin, but worth it if you can stop them in their tracks! Good luck!

Julz1980 · 24/07/2015 18:42

My daughter has lots of molloscum on her torso and a few on her arms.... Ive been seriously obsessed with trying to rid her of them- tried thin slices of ginger taped onto the worst ones (!) tea tree and molludab all with very limited success. I know it can take years for them to go, and seriously they are so very disgusting I want them gone off my beautiful girl asap!!! So I went to my gp who prescribed something called cimetidine.... It's not licenced for this use but some small studies have shown a therapeutic affect to these horrid lighters! Well it's been 2 days, the liquid is very unpalatable (so she chews a starburst to get fruity spit before I squirt it in then she has another to take the taste away!) and she has since got one that has gone very inflamed (to the point of looking like she has a little cellulitis around the infected one) but as she is not unwell im hoping this will now prompt an immune response and get rid of them- if it works where molludab failed I will be delighted and let you know!! She has had them since feb so if they go now I can be fairly certain it's the meds that have done it!!!

Logan2233 · 19/09/2015 20:57

My son has had these molluscum for a year now. It's such a nasty horrible infection. They r behind his knee and a few on legs, and arm. He's at the stage he doesn't like wearing shorts or doing gym at school. He will be 10 in a few months. He recently had a very infected one and was given antibiotics. 2 days after he finished them another spot was infected. The doctors didn't want to give an antibiotic so he was given decided and to go back 10 days later. 6 days using the cream it's still looking infected but some of the poison is weeping out. I really feel sorry for him. I've read that some people say that's the spots starting to go. We have tried molludab and paid £23 for ml as we can't get it on prescription in Scotland. We also tried zymaderm but it failed to.

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