Molluscum Contagiosum So Gross Skin Virus

[Anonymous]

Help! My son was diagnosed yesterday and his one elbow is covered with giagantic ones. We went to the dermatologist and she put beetlejuice on it but said the stupid pox will come back and we have an appointment in two weeks for the next round. I don't want it to come back. They are blistering now. She didn't mention this would happen. How do I keep the ooze from spreading? I'm covering with bandaids.This is so gross. I can't believe he has it. I'm a type A mom and I want this gone yesterday. Reading the internet that this could last years makes me want to cry. I'm thinking of trying Appke Cider Vinegar.

[Anonymous]

I am glad to hear you are working with a dermatologist. We went to my dd's pediatrician for a while, with no success. We needed the big guns! After the first treatment with the dermatologist, some of the bumps came back, so we needed a second treatment. They did blister, but that didn't last too long. We did not cover it up, but the location (arm pit) made it hard to do that. Here's the good news... it hasn't come back in at least 6 months. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

One treatment for my DD with the beetlejuice did the trick. It's only been a month but still nice to have them gone. I was told that after they're gone, moisturizing is key. Dry, cracking skin allows the virus to get inside. The blisters will turn to scabs in a few days and with a little luck they fall off and all gone. Then moisturize regularly. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

I did vinegar and band aids. They spread, and spread and spread. Keep them covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did vinegar and band aids. They spread, and spread and spread. Keep them covered.

Did that work?

[Anonymous]

Patience. They will go in time! My daughter just had them. She had them about 10 months. If your child is careful and doesn't scratch, and always washes hands after touching them, they shouldn't spread too much.

But it is incredibly annoying. It's easy for me to be calm now, because the last ones are disappearing. I didn't try any dermatologist treatments because that only gets rid of ones you see. There may be more on the way. (and it causes more suffering.)

That said, I did see one NIH study that said a combination of iodine and tea tree oil makes them go away faster. I put that on each bump with a q-tip every night. I also told my daughter always to put clothes straight in the wash after taking them off (ie, don't wear the same clothes two days in a row.) Also, don't share clothes with anyone. And wash the towel and wash cloth after every shower.

I'd be careful with some of the derm. treatments if they cause pain or discomfort for the child.

[Anonymous]

I did it all to deal with this. If you are proactive early you can limit spreading. We had some done at the peds. Like you, they did not tell me about the gross festering mess that was going to occur or what to do about it. We just cleaned it and kept it covered. DD had to miss a birthday party at the water park and swimming lessons for a while.
It was horrendous, insufferable, and like you, I wanted it gone yesterday. I think our problem was we had one big one and did not know what it was and while she was away grandma popped it thinking it was some big zit or something and then didn't take care of it. It spread all over her stomach from there.

When she came back we went into aggressive mode. Vinegar and bandaids each night on each one. We read conflicting stories about whether to pop it when it got bigger and take out the "seed" inside. Some say never do it others say you must do it. We did it. We found that once we started doing this as instructed online and then treating with vinegar, they went away one by one. They are now all gone and have been for a while. But I think we had them for at least a year. Very frustrating. I thank goodness there was no spread to the face.

[Anonymous]

They can be burned off, but it hurts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help! My son was diagnosed yesterday and his one elbow is covered with giagantic ones. We went to the dermatologist and she put beetlejuice on it but said the stupid pox will come back and we have an appointment in two weeks for the next round. I don't want it to come back. They are blistering now. She didn't mention this would happen. How do I keep the ooze from spreading? I'm covering with bandaids.This is so gross. I can't believe he has it. I'm a type A mom and I want this gone yesterday. Reading the internet that this could last years makes me want to cry. I'm thinking of trying Appke Cider Vinegar.

Probably not a good idea to let your kid know just how skeeved out you are. Never mix home remedies (aka vinegar) with ones from the doctor without talking to the doctor first. I could imagine adding vinegar to his blisters would not feel very good.

[Anonymous]

Everything contagious skin-wise a kid can get these days is very hard to treat. My kids had one wart each (not molluscum but warts). It took 5 + years to get rid of one's and we are atill working on the other child's. They spread terribly after the beetle juice treatment, have been through several different creams, freezing, treatments with all kindsif crazy chemicals, tried home remedies like duct tape. Nothing worked. The one's who are gone used special new kind if ointment. The other child is going through experimental treatments for his right now. It sucks. We have really f'ed up our immune systems with the improper and over use of antibi

[Anonymous]

Everything contagious skin-wise a kid can get these days is very hard to treat. My kids had one wart each (not molluscum but warts). It took 5 + years to get rid of one's and we are atill working on the other child's. They spread terribly after the beetle juice treatment, have been through several different creams, freezing, treatments with all kindsif crazy chemicals, tried home remedies like duct tape. Nothing worked. The one's who are gone used special new kind if ointment. The other child is going through experimental treatments for his right now. It sucks. We have really f'ed up our immune systems with the improper and over use of antibiotics and our bodies no longer know what to tack and what to accept. Its awful. Good luck and know you aren't alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did it all to deal with this. If you are proactive early you can limit spreading. We had some done at the peds. Like you, they did not tell me about the gross festering mess that was going to occur or what to do about it. We just cleaned it and kept it covered. DD had to miss a birthday party at the water park and swimming lessons for a while.
It was horrendous, insufferable, and like you, I wanted it gone yesterday. I think our problem was we had one big one and did not know what it was and while she was away grandma popped it thinking it was some big zit or something and then didn't take care of it. It spread all over her stomach from there.

When she came back we went into aggressive mode. Vinegar and bandaids each night on each one. We read conflicting stories about whether to pop it when it got bigger and take out the "seed" inside. Some say never do it others say you must do it. We did it. We found that once we started doing this as instructed online and then treating with vinegar, they went away one by one. They are now all gone and have been for a while. But I think we had them for at least a year. Very frustrating. I thank goodness there was no spread to the face.

Thanks so much for the advice! How long after you went into aggressive mode did it last? Also, what do you recommend in terms of bathing? Showers only? My son is 6.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, my son's are on his elbow's so it is pretty obvious.

[Anonymous]

They can be burned off, but it hurts.

Yes, I had this done as a kid. It did hurt, but it got rid of them.

[Anonymous]

My son had them all over his abdomen. We did 1 medicine treatment at the derm and they mostly went away w/in a week or so. Did 1 more follow up treatment to re-swab any remaining ones at the derm's office and they disappeared entirely. We didn't do anything else at all and they've never been back. They were relatively covered by his clothes (long sleeve shirts). He was pretty little but didn't have a high pain tolerance, yet he didn't complain or cry much.