Molluscum warts in children

[bapcap]

Has anyone had in experience with Molluscum warts in children? My 5 yr old grandaughter has them and doctor says to leave them alone and she will "outgrow" the virus. I think she should see a dermatologist for more aggressive treatment because the warts are spreading slowly.

 

[AnAmericanInDisney]

There definitely have been other posts from people struggling with these. Do a search and good luck.

 

[elphaba91]

Has anyone had in experience with Molluscum warts in children? My 5 yr old grandaughter has them and doctor says to leave them alone and she will "outgrow" the virus. I think she should see a dermatologist for more aggressive treatment because the warts are spreading slowly.

Where are they on the body? Unless they are somewhere visible that she's embarrassed about or they're really itchy, then it really is best to leave them as treating them is likely to leave scarring (I have 5 small dints in the crook of my arm from molluscums). So it's really up to you to decide if you'd prefer the warts for a few months (it can be quite a long time though) or scars for a lifetime.

Treatment involves aggravating the warts to kick start the immune system. This can be done by putting tape on top and ripping it off, picking out the core (should only be done by the doctor), using strong acne treatments (e.g. benzoyl peroxide) or rubbing them with something abrasive.

To stop them spreading, you end to avoid contact between the warts and other areas of the skin. If she has a bath, make her take showers instead (as they can spread through water) and dry the areas with the warts last, or, better still, with a separate hand towel that you can then throw in the wash. Cover them up with a waterproof bandage, especially if they on an area where she can easily touch them or if she goes swimming. And, most importantly, encourage extra hand washing (or hand sanitizer).

 

[indimom]

My son was treated with a medication that made them blister and peel off. It was miserable and he still talks about how bad it was. They also caused pox-type marks which are still there today (after ten years). We only treated him because it was making his eczema worse, but I really wish we had just focused on that and let the molluscum go.

I know several others personally who took the wait and see approach, and they all went away eventually with little to no scarring (they only scar if they dig at them).

 

[tink20]

Has anyone had in experience with Molluscum warts in children? My 5 yr old grandaughter has them and doctor says to leave them alone and she will "outgrow" the virus. I think she should see a dermatologist for more aggressive treatment because the warts are spreading slowly.

My DD had them when she was 3 (I think maybe 2-1/2). Leave them alone, keep clean, keep covered while at school. Hers went away about after a year. Unfortunately, my DD had it on her face, usually just one at a time. Once, there was this lady in the store, (kind of rudely) ask, what's wrong with her, does she have chicken pox? My MIL (at the time, ex MIL now, thank God) made me take her to a dermatologist (this was after my pediatrician told me to just leave them alone) the dermatologist, wanted to strap her down and burn them off, I said absolutely NOT. My mom and MIL actually got into about this LOL. My mom had babysat my DD since she was 6 weeks old, she got all momma bear....haha. My DD doesn't have any scars.

Good Luck!

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

DD14 has some on her thigh. Her pediatrician gave us a few packets of a cream that is used to treat skin cancer. We are still in the treatment process. It doesn't hurt, don't know if it will work yet.

 

[kidshop]

I agree with leave them alone. My ds had them whey he was about 10 or 11, and for the most part they were in areas covered by clothes. Mostly the trunk area and upper thigh. It was less than a year, and they all went away with no scarring.

 

[Skippy918]

My son had this last year. He got treated with the beetlejuice medicine. It worked. He had 3 treatments done since he had so many. The worst part was band aid removal. The rest cleared up a few months later.

 

[Turn the Page]

My DD8 had them last year. She kept getting a rash on her tush that we thought was just a regular rash so we kept putting hydrocortisone and bag balm on it and it would go away then awhile later it would come back. Finally in the early spring of last year I took her to the doctor to have it checked out and her pediatrician diagnosed her with molluscum warts and referred her to a dermatologist.

It is true that they will eventually go away without treatment. However, it can take 18 months or more. We decided to treat them because while they didn't itch they were really sore and given that they were on her tush she was sitting right on them and they were hurting her. I'm not sure exactly what they used to treat it but it was some kind of ointment that caused them to dry up and blister. Sometimes I wondered if it would have been better to just let it run its course as the treatment made her even more sore than she was anyway. If I recall correctly it took about 7 treatments to finally get rid of them so all told she had them for about 6 months before treatment began and then about 5 months of treatment (1 treatment every 3 weeks) to get rid of them. She really doesn't have any scars from the treatment and roughly 18 months later they haven't come back.

 

[Music City Mama]

My 7 year old had a cluster on the inside of his elbow (where his eczema flares up) for months. I just had a feeling they weren't going to go away for a long time unless we did something about it (his pediatrician said to just leave them alone and they'll eventually go away, although, it could take a year -- or to try OTC wart cream). I had read about putting apple cider vinegar on them each night with a Q-tip and then covering them with a bandaid. They would get really white and then kind of scab over, but then come right back. I finally decided to to try and remove the white stuff. Once they got really "juicy", I gently pressed a Q-tip to the side of it and got the white stuff out (I also had an alcohol swab ready to clean up so it wouldn't spread). The next day, some more white stuff appeared, so I pressed again -- this time a seed-like thing came out. We did that to about 3 of them (over the course of a week or two) and not only did that make them go away completely, but the remaining 3 or 4 just disappeared after that.

 

[cassandrap83]

No way! Do not "leave them alone". Both my girls had them. They slowly spread from groin area and then down the legs. We too were told to leave them alone and our kids suffered for months. Then I found ZYMADERM online and read rave reviews. I plunked down the $20 for it at Walgreens that same day. It was THE BEST thing I ever did. We followed the directions, and after 2 weeks none of the bumps looked inflamed or pus-filled any longer. One month after and they were all completely gone.

I tell everyone about Zymaderm b/c it was the ONLY thing to work. Friends have also had similar success.

Good luck!

 

[tink20]

No way! Do not "leave them alone". Both my girls had them. They slowly spread from groin area and then down the legs. We too were told to leave them alone and our kids suffered for months. Then I found ZYMADERM online and read rave reviews. I plunked down the $20 for it at Walgreens that same day. It was THE BEST thing I ever did. We followed the directions, and after 2 weeks none of the bumps looked inflamed or pus-filled any longer. One month after and they were all completely gone.

I tell everyone about Zymaderm b/c it was the ONLY thing to work. Friends have also had similar success.

Good luck!

Wow, I wish I would have known about that 17years ago, the one dermatologist we went to wanted to burn them off, no one ever offered any kind of cream.

 

[BensDaddy]

My son had them. They just went away on their own. Took about six months.

 

[Hrhpd]

Has anyone had in experience with Molluscum warts in children? My 5 yr old grandaughter has them and doctor says to leave them alone and she will "outgrow" the virus. I think she should see a dermatologist for more aggressive treatment because the warts are spreading slowly.

What do the parents want to do? Are they satisfied with what their doctor recommended?

Because, if they are satisfied, don't interfere. Leaving the warts alone is a perfectly acceptable treatment.

 

[desamnik]

she had them on the back of her knees, dr. said they would go away in about 18 months, really nothing we could do, according to him. He never said they would spread, and spread they did. She was covered w/ them from her shoulders to her wrists, both arms.

We brought her to a dermatologist in Boston, twice. They treated a few in each location and within a month they were all gone. /They daubed some liquid on them, and it didn't hurt, burn or flare, they just disappeared.

I wouldn't wish that virus on anyone.

 

[aprilchem]

All 3 of my kids had them several years ago. We chose to take them to the Dermatologist, who used the beetle serum on them. They blistered a bit but it didn't bother the kids at all, and were all gone in one treatment. Nobody has any scars from them.

Our dr said that if you have multiple kids when them they can just pass them back and forth indefinitely.