Mulluscum Contagiosum

Yes. Not a big deal. You can cover any active lesions that are not covered by clothing with a band aid. My son went to daycare the whole time and no one else caught it from him. Neither did we. It will be fine.

My son had it for over a year (just went away on it's own about a month ago, actually). It was all over his back and buttocks.
For the record, I used to bathe him with my DD every single night, and my DD never once caught it.

It's frustrating to see and not be able to do any thing about it, but it will, in fact, run it's course. It just tends to take awhile.

Ugh. I HATE molluscum. I don't know why doctors recommend that you let it run its course when it's treatable. The treatment is unpleasant, but not ridiculously so and it is effective.

When my youngest had it last year, it was a few months before I really noticed it and figured out what it was because the "mother" lesion was on his scalp and he wears collared shirts. It wasn't until it spread to his neck, shoulders and chest that we started treating, and he had dozens and dozens of lesions. We opted to take him to a dermatologist and have the lesions treated with "beetle juice" (cantherone), which is an ointment that causes the lesions to blister and peel off. After a few treatments, the body's immune system kicks in and kills the virus. His took 5 or 6 treatments, each treatment 2 weeks apart.

There is no way I would not treat unless the lesions were in the groin area, which would be too painful. But anywhere else? Get them taken care of. No need for her to walk around with these nasty sores on her for up to 2 years, infecting anyone who swims, bathes, or shares a towel with her. Ick!

Oh and ask around for a dermatologist recommendation. It's very common and no doubt someone you know has had their child treated. A good dermatologist will forego unnecessary steps like taping the lesions. While it makes sense to put a bandaid on a treated spot if something is going to rub against the skin and irritate it, there is no need to tape the spots as the cantherone is in a colloidal liquid that forms a tough skin and seals off the lesion until it loosens on its own. I've heard a lot of complaints about the tape and my dermatologist said that it's unnecessary and irritating.

My DD had it when she was just a bit older than yours after a visit to a Florida waterpark. Hers was just on her legs. The outbreaks mirrored on the legs because where the legs touched, it would spread. It was kind of ugly, but not severe. Like mosquito bites or zits. It itched. She was a kid prone to rashes and eczema, so no fun.

The doctor told us it was a virus. No effective treatment. It would resolve on its own. And it could take a long time. We got the same advice about no bathing her with others. Also no sharing towels. I have 2 girls, and we were not exactly careful about this rule. My other DD never got it, which actually shocked me.

Of course this "no treatment" wasn't easy for me to accept. I had to internet research it on my own. Not helpful. Pictures of extreme cases just freaked me out. Caused me to mail order an expense product to try to get rid of it. That was really foolish. I really don't think it made a difference one way or the other.

It did just go away on its own after several months. I think it cleared up in the fall after she was no longer wearing shorts. But yuck, it was a pain. I feel for you. Just know it will pass.

My son had it for close to two years. We just didn't share towels. He still did everything he usually did, including swimming. It is actually a quite harmless condition but treatment is painful and ineffective.

ETA: What my son had could not be characterized as "nasty sores". He only had little flesh coloured bumps.

We have dealt with molluscum for 3-4 years or more at our house. Our daughter had several spots near her eyes for about 3 years. Usually just 1-2 spots at a time. Even though we had been told it was highly contagious, our son never got it from her during that time period. They bathed together, swam together, shared blankets, pillows, and towels. None of her friends got it, and no one else at daycare got it.

We did nothing to treat it. With one of her first spots the doc we saw tried to freeze it. But it was so close to her eye that she couldn't do much, and the treatment did nothing for it. They normally didn't bother her at all. A couple left small scars. One near her eye scarred and I think it was because every time she was tired and rubbed at her eyes it was also rubbed. She had one on the bridge of her nose that scarred. I think because my MIL tried to scrape it off. The scars are small like chicken pox scars. The only one we had trouble with was the one that was probably the "mother" one. It got infected after we were at a Disney water park. She ended up having to take an oral antibiotic and we ended up seeing a dermatologist who scraped it and froze it. That finally cleared it all up, but it was traumatic for our daughter.

We thought we were done with it, but then our son developed some spots on his back and on his side. Our daughter also had some develop on her butt. I think I might have a couple of spots on my leg. No idea where it all came from, because my daughter was clear when it all popped up again. Our son doesn't even seem to realize he has them. After his shower the other day I commented on the spots on his back and he had no idea what I was talking about. The spots I have that might be molluscum only bother me because my pants rub on them. One that my daughter has is pretty painful. I think because it is near the band of her underwear.

There really isn't anything you can do for it. It is viral. The only options are scraping out the core (which my daughter would tell you is horribly painful) and freezing the spot (which my daughter would tell you is worse than the scraping). After freezing it, my daughter walked around for several weeks with what looked like a cigarette burn on her cheek. Just let it run it's course.

No need to keep your daughter away from other kids. We didn't change anything for our daughter. Be prepared for it to last not just months, but years. Don't pop them or scrape them and they will go away faster. They really aren't as bad as they seem at first.

When my daughter had this, we treated it at the dermatologists office and I completely regret doing that. They put some sort of liquid treatment on them and covered them with a form of tape.

The tape they used was very hard on her skin and it was painful to remove (even with an adhesive remover). No one else in our family caught it.

If I had to do it all over gain, I would have used band-aids and let her heal naturally.

So, no real advice. Just a story about our experience!

I second the dermatologist visit. Although it will hurt a bit and be unpleasant for your daughter, the treatment is worth it because it shortens the span dramatically. Imagine being a 5 year old and having to live with this for a long time - kids are so mean even that young. Anyone with an issue can stick out and get made fun of. To be it is less painful to have them do the treatment and get it over with. Good luck!

I caught it myself as an adult on the palms of my hands. I work as a nurse and there is no shortage of places I could have gotten it from. I let it run its course. At the time my two daughter were in diapers and they never caught it. I had to change them, bath and dress them... There was no way around it. It didn't hurt or itch... It was just terrible to know it was there. I wasn't offered treatment. I was told that there was no real 'cure' for it... Because it is viral. Apparently you have to be immunocompromized at to get it... So most people won't contract it. I had been dieting abd breastfeeding, and it was winter when I got it, so it came on after a cold/flu bout. Try to build up your child immune system to speed the healing and shorten the duration.

My son had this last spring/summer. It's really only contagious if she scratches them and then touches another area of her skin or someone else. If you scratch too hard the mulluscum pop. This is what happened to my son. He never spread it to anyone else but he did cause it to spread on himself. He has eczema and the molluscum appeared in the same spots which is why he would scratch and spread without knowing since his eczema made him itchy.

They do go away eventually but it can take up to a year or even longer. If you want to get rid of them faster, use apple cider vinegar. I did this with my son and they were gone in 2-3 days. Soak a small gauze pad in the apple cider vinegar, put it on the molluscum, and cover with medical tape or a band aid. My son did say that it stung initially but he didn't last long. Do it before bedtime and then take off the bandages in the morning. We saw a huge difference after only 1 night. The apple cider vinegar helps to dry them out.

My son had it mostly on his upper arms for a couple of years. It was mild I guess, because it didn't hurt or itch and was basically invisible. I only noticed the texture when I touched it. I didn't even bother to try to avoid it, but no one else in the house picked it up and it didn't spread to other areas of his body.

An alpha-hydrox lotion helps. It doesn't even have to be specifically labeled for the condition. I used this one on him.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000052YM7/ref=oh_aui_se...

My son had it when he was 14 or 15. When it spread we took him to a dermatologist who recommended freezing the lesions. That halted the condition with fairly little discomfort. Several years later now, with no recurrence.

After the freezing treatment he was restricted from swimming in PE class for a little while until a follow up exam showed no new lesions.

My daughter had it. For a couple of weeks we had to keep the blisters on her fingers covered in bandaids so that they wouldn't pop. It's the fluid in the blisters that is contagious.