Water Warts - share your story or tips for coping - chance to win £300 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Are you one of the 56%* of parents who have never heard of water warts? Or are you able to spot the symptoms of water warts? Do you have experience of them in your own children?

In case you didn't know, water warts are a skin condition most common in childhood characterised by raised spots which can look like small pearls under the skin - this can last up to 18 months without treatment.

MolluTinc is a new treatment for water warts now available from pharmacies. It is the only product available in the UK to contain 10% potassium hydroxide and works by breaking down the water warts on the skin and allowing the body’s own immune system to tackle the virus that causes them. Applied twice daily for 2-10 days, it can help clear water warts within 1-5 weeks. It is suitable for those aged one year and upwards. For more information, visit mollutinc.co.uk/

Here’s what MolluTinc has to say: "whilst water warts only affects 5-11% of children aged 16 years and under, over 11% of children affected will experience a severe impact on quality-of-life as a result of the condition - we would love to know what you know about water warts, how you cope with them and your own tips on how to avoid them"

Please share your experiences with this condition. If you haven’t heard of water warts, we’d also love to hear from you about how you imagine them to be. All who share their tips for coping with water warts or their experiences of it on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 John Lewis voucher!

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw.

MNHQ

Standard Insight T and Cs apply

• stats from a MolluTinc survey of 500 parents of children aged 2-14

Yep I'm one of the 56% to not have heard of water warts before! \i will keep this product in mind now though!

If water warts are the same thing as molluscum contagoisum, then my understanding is that they're nothing serious - and seem to go of their own accord anyway.

I have never heard of them, but now I am intrigued. Can they only be passed through water?

I very much doubt they have anything to do with swimming. I swam a lot as a child and still swim upto 4 times a week, my dc went swimming every week from babies , my ds 21 has worked in a swimming pool since 16 and dd goes diving weekly and none of us have ever had mollescum.

Water warts is a terrible name, why didnt they keep to mollescom

My eldest had them and it passed onto her younger sister. They weren't fun and the dr said we just had to wait till they went away. they did eventually. I'd never heard of them before and I've never heard them called water warts.

They aren't passed in water though. They are passed by direct contact with them or things that have touched them e.g. towels, toys, etc. It is a stupid misleading nickname. They also aren't warts and look more like skin tags than warts or a varruca.

Nhs advice on how it is spread:

This viruscan be spread through:

*close direct contact–such as touching the skin of an infected person

*touching contaminated objects–such as towels, flannels, toys and clothes

*sexual contact–this includesintimate physical contact as well assexual intercourse

As you can see, nothing to do with water!

Hi MNers - here is a message and a few responses from MolluTinc.

Many thanks,

MNHQ

Hi everyone,

Thanks very much for commenting– we really value your thoughts on this. It's good to know the common term to use is molluscum and not water warts - we really need to make sure we don’t cause any confusion as you are right it is the same thing. This will really help us to be clearer when we plan anything for the future.

Thanks again,
The MolluTinc team

@HoneyDragon

Hi HoneyDragon,
Thank you for your question about whether the tincture dries out the molluscum spots. The Water Wart virus (molluscum contagiosum virus) lives protected within skin cells so it is difficult for our immune system to fight off the virus. When MolluTinc is applied to the water warts, it breaks down the keratin in the skin, exposing the water wart virus to the body’s immune system. The body can then mount its own immune response and clear the virus itself.

The MolluTinc Team

@mbb1

Hi mbb1,
Thanks for your question. They are slightly different. MolluTinc is a new treatment for water warts and contains 10% potassium hydroxide, compared to MolluDab which contains 5% potassium hydroxide.

The MolluTinc team

I've never heard of these

Never heard of them & if you knew me & my love of swimming you would probably find this hard to believe. I used to be in the pool 6 times a week & now my eldest has followed in my footsteps!

I imagine them to be pale, the same colour as your skin & to look a bit like a cauliflower!

Have heard of Molluscum but never heard them called 'water warts', however I've no personal experience of them.

I haven't heard of them, but from the name I would imagine them to be maybe fluid filled wart type things?

OMG! I think i might actually have one of these myself!! Ive not heard of them before though!!! I think my nephew had lots as a kid too, his left little scars like chicken pox would too!

Also have never heard of them before!

I too have never heard of these! But as a Mum of a club swimmer who trains 5 times a week I am now aware and will spread the word.

I've just read up on this as i thought it was those little water spots that you get on your hands that are itchy and can get very sore and annoying. How wrong was i! Well you learn something new everyday. Doesn't look very pleasant and i feel for anybody who has ever had to endure it.

I have been lucky and my daughter has never had water warts. To be honest I haven't heard of them. I do think it's brilliant they can be treated so easily if your child does get them. Xx

I've never heard of them before, with three kids I thought I'd came across most things aswell.

My daughters just went away - we employed a watch and wait policy x

I've never heard of these called water warts before - i thought that you just left them alone

My DD has these. She's had them on and off for over 4 years now. Just when we think they've cleared another patch will pop up. She's had them on her buttocks, arms, legs and torso. They appear in clusters of 2 or 3 and sometimes merge and look like one big one. We have read up on it endlessly and have taken the non direct watch and wait approach. She won't let us pop them and I imagine it would be agony to do so. This patch on her torso looks angry and is very itchy and we cover it up with a dressing to cut down the risk of contaminating clothing, other parts of her body. I am tempted to try this product - our local Boots hadn't heard of it - I'm worried that it is 5% stronger than other products on the market - has it been well tested? My son has what appears to be a tiny spot/blister on his cheek and again it's been there for over a year - we dread it breaking out or spreading but again don't want to aggravate it. I envy all those who have never heard of molloscum never mind water warts!

I don't have any experience of them but I'd consider using this product if they were bothering an older child but I'd leave them alone on the little ones!

What's the point of the stupid mnhq post?

Daughter had molluscum that started on her neck and spread to her face. Tried loads of stuff. The day that Molludab was released we hotfooted it to the doctor with the information and he prescribed it for us. It cured it in a very short time.