Molluscum - has your child had this skin complaint and what worked to shift it?!

[Utka]

DD1 is 5 and has had molluscum for the last 6 months. It's now all down one side of her body, including the armpit, but not her legs. She has bad eczema and hayfever and food allergies.

We've been trying a homeopathic remedy courtesy of a qualified homeopath, but she's on hayfever medication that may be delaying or suppressing the effects of this. The GP and dermatologist view is that this is a benign skin condition that must just be left to itself and that will go away - but that we should be prepared for it to take a couple of years!!!!

Just wondered if anyone else has encountered this and had success with any treatment. It's unsightly and upsets DD - not surprisingly.

Both my boys had it. Ds1 went quite quickly - about 6 months. Ds2's lasted much longer.

We didn't attempt to treat it, and it suddenly went away by itself.

ds2 & dd had it - and yes it lasted almost 2 years.

Sympathy with regard to having excema too - dd had both together and often scratced the excema, knocked off the molloscum and got them infected.

time workded. took about 6 months

Nothing has worked and dd's got infected so she needed medication for that. Ds's is finally clearing up very slowly. THe most successful solution I have come across and it is guarnateed is a friend of mine who bit the heads off all of her son's. They cleared up in a matter of weeks and haven't scarred. so altho' I was appalled when she told me, I have envied her the success of it.There are some threads in archive about people who have had success with homeopathic stuff.

sorry, but what is this?.my dd has white spotty skin on top of arms and since weather been warmer on forearm too??..doc says dry skin, but it def not that..trying to put a name to it thats all..sorry to butt in

the only thing that some people have success with is, wierdly, elizabeth arden's 8 hour cream. I wouldn't go out and buy it specifically but if you happen to have any around, slap a bit on every night. it works for some people quickly, not at all for others.

my lot have had molluscum a couple of times - I think it goes in about 6-9 mths generally although they say 2 yrs. when it starts to look very red and unsightly it is about to go. hth

that does actualy..as dd's are constant and always white, they dont change colour..so am still no wiser!..but thanks for helping me rule it out

DS1's went in 9 months, DS2 has had his for 18 months now. I've tried Elizabeth Arden, tea tree oil, manuka honey, and nothing has made a difference. Finally it looks as if no new ones are appearing - his have reddened and disappeared in cycles. His bum was covered

I have been to docs repeatedly with ds as his keep getting infected :( and though they give him anti biotics, they can do nothing for the molloscum. He has had them for nearly 2 years now and they keep spreading. Doc suggested squeezing til the white centre comes out, then slapping some tcp or smilar on. Do not try this unless you are extremely hardened of heart. DS screamed and screamed with pain and I cried too! It mostly worked, but has scarred in a couple of places. However, his remaining ones are responding quite well to a tincture of calendula.

I used the 8 hour cream and I think worth every penny. They went within a few days after applying.

I will try anything - I am desperate now, they are worst on his bottom.

ds had it for at least 5 months . Went when he had chickenpox.

try manuka honey - this \link{http://www.comvita.com/eng/skinclearcream.html\this} seemed to help dd's.

Wow - thanks everyone for your quick responses. I have 2 tubes of Elizabeth Arden upstairs - I find it's the only thing that helps with my chapped knuckles that I get in the winter. I shall definitely give this a go. I can understand why the biting the heads off them thing would work but don't think I could do this - dd's eczema has been really really bad until this year and although it's flared up with the heat this summer it's nowhere near as bad as it has been, so I don't feel I can inflict anything on her like this.

Hers look like small pale, almost translucent spots, bigger than pimples, sort of wart like but clearish and smooth surfaced. They started very small, in small groups and gradually spread. We have the same problem with her scratching, and causing some to bleed, though we haven't had an infection yet. I'm interested to know whether it's just children with other skin issues that get them, or whether it can happen to everyone. My homeopath says that just as you get people who always get chest or throat complaints, so you get others whose key 'issue' is skin. Seems like dd's is that, poor thing. Only thing I comfort myself with is that she apparently is unlikely to get acne. Strange how it seems to last 6 months - 1 year - almost as though there's some sort of cycle.

Elizabeth Arden cream apparently comes from an ointment created to treat horse skin conditions - they realised that it also was wonderful for human skin. I love it, though it's expensive and quite greasy. If it works for dd, I don't mind how much it costs though. Shame you can't get it on prescription. Here's hoping!

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be really keen to know them. Thanks so much in the meantime everyone.

Molluscum is an extremely contagious skin condition, which can affect anyone, but is most commonly seen in children as they spread very easily around schools and so on. It is related to the chicken pox virus. It is harmless but annoying! Basically it is spread by contact with the infectious spots, especially when scratched, thus the reason why children end up covered in them. The virus is best left to burn itself out which can take months, but the only other option is to pick the spots out so they scab over and heal, and this is very painful to a small child - especially if there are lots, so most GP's etc would tell you to leave them alone.

Molluscum is sometimes also seen in adults as a sexually transmitted infection where it is found only around the groin and genital region and spread by sexual contact from another infected person. Because of the small area involved, this is most commonly treated by cryotherapy or 'freezing' treatment. This is uncomfortable but well tolerated by affected adults who just want rid of it.

thanks for the background info HelloMama. As dd has eczema she is obsessed with the state of her skin generally, and tends to pick at it a lot - hence I guess why it's spread. We are trying to deal with this, but without much success so far.

The Elizabeth Arden cream has now been applied twice, and it's already looking less inflamed, so here's hoping.

me toochicken pox shifte it