Molluscum

[Bumblelion]

My daughter attends (school) nursery and also daycare nursery 3 afternoons a week.

The school nursery has recently had an outbreak of chicken pox and I was sure my daughter was coming down with it. She had the cold that normally precedes it.

My boyfriend's son also attends the same daycare nursery as my daughter and last summer he suffered quite badly from molluscum but it seems to have cleared up now.

Last night, in the bath, I noticed that my daughter had two little spots on her back that looked like "clear grains of rice".

I am now thinking it might be molloscum as she has also just started swimming lessons and I remember that when my elder two had swimming lessons, molloscum seemed to be quite rife (although my elder two did not get it).

Any ideas on how to help clear it up.

Just leave it alone really. The body usually deals with it itself. If it spreads a lot then see GP.

10 years ago when DD had it, my GP advised me to 'pop' a few with a cocktail stick. They then bled slightly which causes a release of antibodies which makes the rest disappear. Seemed to work however I am not sure that it is supported by any research evidence!!

i think the popping thing works actually.. little girl i used to look after had it quite badly. one under her arm got infected and she was scratching away at it in the bath and it popped and then within a couple of weeks it cleared up!

dd1 has them on her face - fortunately they don't bother her too much. We were told we could "pop" them but when I did pop a very large one it got infected and has left a mark on her face - so both she and I are reluctant to try that again.

Have just spoke to my doctor on the phone and it says it does sound like molluscum and she is not to share a bath with anyone (not that she does any more now that she is 4 and her brother is 9 and her sister is 13)!!! Also not to share towels (which we don't do anyway).

He said it is a virus and can take up to a year to go!! (Didn't know it was going to last that long).

The doctor just mentioned that if she scratches them and they pop, she could then affect another part of her body. Luckily they are in the middle of her back where I don't think she could reach anyway.

Just don't look very nice. I remember my boyfriend's son, when he had them last year, he was covered in them and they were all red, inflamed and got a bit "scabby".

Oh well, just have to wait and see.

Thanks for responding.

My dd had a little bit on her and I assumed it was because she gets dry skin with excema from time to time. I had no idea what molluscum was.

It looked pearly and bumpy. It all flared up out of the blue and looked rashy and sore. The nurse told me it was molluscum when I took her to the surgery. She said it might take ages to go, but is not serious.

In fact, the red rashy, flared up stage seemed to put paid to it actually. It must've been a bit itchy and the little bumps got sore, but seemed to disperse. It looked quite bad for a few days, then totally cleared up. Apparantly it's quite commonplace and not a huge worry.

Just to add my dd always has a bath with her brother and is with him all the time. Neither he nor anyone else in the house got it. I was told it can be infectious but not on a high level like say, impetigo.

Hope it clears up really soon for your dd.

Thanks for your comments.

there was another thread on this no too long ago and someone reckoned they'd found a cure of sorts. my ds1 had them a while back and they went away eventually. cant really rmember details but i can hardly rmember the day of the week most of the time so thats no real surprise

anyways, some people seem to have trouble with them spreading and lasting for ages, and others find them no big deal.

in case it ever was a bg deal for any of mine, i cut and pasted this persons 'cure' for refernce. and here it is (sorry didnt take their name ):

Molluscum treatment that works!

Haven't posted this until it was absolutely gone but both ds1 and ds2 have had this and after various experiments have found a combination of the following used daily has worked over last 3 - 4 weeks if anyone interested:

1. Thuja (30) homeopathic remedy
2. Collodial silver spray
3. Manuka active 10 + honey mix together lavender oil x 2 drops, tea tree x 2 drops, olive oil x 6 drops on cotton pad/bud and dab affected area using new cotton pad/bud in each part to avoid spreading
4. mix lavender oil x 5 drops tea tree oil x 5 drops + unrefined sea salt x 1 cup all in bath

bath every day, lavender and tea tree can be very drying so olive oil important plus dry carefully with clean towel starting with unaffected areas first wash pillow/bedding/pj's daily my ds2 had the molluscum spreading to his face so i was very motivated to find something after docs said it will take up to 18 months to clear and nothing they could do. hope this helps someone

bump, so bumbelion sees it

Neat tea tree oil, dabbed on with cotton wool every morning and every evening cleared my DD up in 7 days. She had them all down one side for about 6 months prior to this.

My DS has this - I can assume he caught it at the swimming pool. They're on his bottom and tops of his legs. About ten in total. They are shrinking now though and he's had them for about 6 months so I'm hoping they're on their way out. I was told not to pop them because that makes them spread (not that he'd let me anyway!).

Why is it adults don't get them then? I've only heard of children having them.

yeah, that is a bit odd. dunno either.

dd (2.2) gets what I think is probably molluscum - diagnosed by
gp as 'probably molluscum' once - but they look like ordinary red zits rather than transparent blisters?

She seems to get two or three, dotted around back/legs or more rarely upper arm/chest and after a few days they go away. Then another two or three appear a few weeks later, often when she's got a cold/run down.
Does this sound molluscum-y to you experienced molluscum-spotters?

elibean - er, not really. i think molloscum spots stick around for ages and they look more like a small blister.
mind you, even the docs dont seem to know what they are so who says i know what im on about??

yours sound like maybe a heat rash? or a kind of mild excema (sp?) ??

Thanks nappiesgalore for the "bump" although it is only today that I have managed to log on again.

Will definitely try something. Although it doesn't seem painful (but then again my DD doesn't seem to feel pain like we do) I want to try something to help it clear as it is not very sightly.

Thanks.

I'm new to this, and this is my first post. My dd is now 6 and has had molluscum on her legs for about a year. Over the last two months they have started to bleed and she was getting distressed by comments made by other children at school and dancing, so I took her to the Dr. Just to confirm what so many of you have said, vg Dr says no real treatment but when they start to bleed it means the body has noticed they're there and is 'fighting them off' - so this is the start of the recovery. Suggested popping with tea tree bu dd found this too painful! hth

hi hermit - welcome

yeah, my doc said it would hurt so not to pop them. i actually cant remember what happened to ds1's molloscum in the end, nor how long he had them. guess they just went away in the end, but was told in the beginning that this could take up to 5 years !