On the Lighter Side > Complementary Medicine
What is the treatment for molluscum contagiosum?
serebnoch:
hi everyone,i want to share my experience with molluscum,I discovered 4 molluscums in my genital area at the beginning of June went to STD clinic where they were burnt by liq nitrogen- which damaged the skin and made them to spread all other my bum, genitals and legs,my GPin the UK said usual - do not do anything , a private doctor told that he can cut them all under general anaesthetic,but I did not want to do that.Over the next few weeks I was trying to find anything to cure the molluscum,I tried everything: silver cure- make the molluscum to go red and painful, tea tree oil, oregano oil, ACV, homeopaphy - but nothing seem made a big diffrence,molluscum was spreeding. I spent around 3k pounds on treatments as I was really unhappy, desperate to do anything.Then I went to Russia where I come from and dermatologist suggested to use kalii permanganas( dark red crystals), which traditionally used in Russia to bath babies as 0.1 or 0.5 solution.She told that they will go in 3 days if I dot molluscum with dark water solution of kalii permanganas (2 -5 percent) up to 5 times a day.I swear it worked.The beauty of kalii permanganas is that can be used to treat large areas of skin as the prevention of molluscum, and for dotting molluscum with a cotton stick as a stronger water solution.It dries skin a little and can sting for a few seconds if I used it as stronger solution.I wish I knew about it earlier, it was such a relief to find something which really worked.Also I would recommend to take medication to support immune system staff like echinacea is not strong enough (i would recommend pamavir, licopid,anaferon, imunofan).Hope it will help someone and sorry for my English.p.s try not to bath and use shower as little as possble just for a week or 2 while using kalii
helper88:
Hello everyone,
If you're reading this you or someone you know has come into contact with this annoying little bugger of a virus. Dermatologists don't seem to know what to do about it (and don't seem to care too much), and the sheer amount of info on the Web has probably got you confused beyond belief. I know I have been. I've had molluscum now for 14 months. What I hoped would be a short-lived annoyance has turned into a life-altering event with seemingly no conclusion. I decided to write this because I used this forum and others along the way to help me, and now that I have finally found something that works for me, I would like to share it with you in the hopes that it will help.
I am NOT associated with any product (as you will see.) I am just a normal person who contracted molluscum in the genital region and has tried over a dozen different remedies to no avail, until finding somthing that helped. I have studied every possible website I could find, doing in-depth research and even concocting a few of my own strategies for fighting this based on things that have been used to treat similar viruses (since nothing that was supposed to help molluscum actually did). Here is what I have tried, starting about 3 months into this nightmare:
- liquid nitrogen by dermatologist (this was the first step - worked on some, but more kept coming)
- SilverCure (tried religiously for two months - DOESN'T WORK.)
- tretinoin/Retin-A (I found this on amazon, even though you're supposed to need a prescription, and I had none. I used it on my genital region and it severely irritated the skin - which eventually got better. But no help with the molluscum anyway. So that was a no.)
- homeopathic remedies including Thuja and Calcarea Carbonicum (didn't work)
- Reishi mushrooms - also called ganoderma or lingzhi (An Asian cure-all. Supposedly the #1 eastern herbal medicine. Tried religiously for three months, no help. And very expensive)
- Betadine (no help)
- Rubbing Alcohol (no help)
- poking and slicing the molluscum off myself with a needle (just made them angry and they didn't go away - poured Betadine and alcohol in open molluscum wounds and no help).
- never reusing a washcloth or towel that might have come into contact with the molluscum (still do this, and it's probably a very good idea)
- lysine tablets combined with low-arginine diet (I started this because molluscum is very similar to the herpes virus, and many have claimed that this was an effective herpes cure. Basically, this is when I started treating my molluscum like herpes, to see if that would work - this didn't)
- BHT tablets (Don't know what this is? It's a food preservative found in processed meats. And some people believe it suppresses and actually cures herpes. So I tried it, even though there are good data which say it is cancer-causing. As you can see, I was and still am quite desperate to get rid of this disease. Anyway, as far as I could tell, this did nothing after several months.)
- coconut oil - sometimes topical, sometimes oral, sometimes with BHT mixed in (didn't do anything)
- monolaurin tablets/Lauricidin (this is a chemical which is present in coconut oil that is found in mother's milk and is supposedly highly anti-viral. I am still taking this but quite frankly, I have no proof that it has helped anything.)
- Laser surgery (Yes, I actually went to a laser center and had a 585 nm pulse-dye laser treatment. It cost $1000 for one treatment. See? Desperate. What happened? It cleared many of them, but not all. The small ones were cleared after the skin healed from the treatment. The older, larger ones were not. THEN, more eventually grew back.)
- detox diet consisting of low fat, low corn syrup, low sugar, no nuts or chocolate (lysine/arginie ratio as mentioned above) no wheat, no corn, no oats, no hydrogenated fats - basically lots of rice, vegetables, and slow-cooked meats - to avoid oxidation (I recently stopped this diet, but it did teach me to eat healthier, so now I eat some of the other stuff, but in moderation. However, no direct help with molluscum.)
- Back for more laser surgery, because I was desperate (same thing - got rid of the smaller ones, but not the mature ones)
And then, finally... I read about APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, and I decided to give it a try. Here's the deal - if applied correctly, IT WILL WORK. It's cheap and you can buy whatever brand you want, so long as it is natural/unfiltered. I have now been applying it for a few weeks, taking days off between to let my skin heal - the ACV is highly acidic and will slightly burn your skin, but IT WILL KILL THE MOLLUSCUM. Here's how I've found success:
1. Buy some Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, some of the small square Band-Aids, and some gauze pads. That's all you'll need.
2. Cut off a tiny piece of a gauze pad, but make sure the piece you cut off is from the edge of the gauze so that the multiple layers that make up the gauze will stay together. Try to cut off a square piece a little smaller than the white pad in the center of your Band-Aid.
3. Dip the tiny piece of gauze into some apple cider vinegar.
4. Place the now-moist piece of gauze into the center of the Band-Aid, on the white pad.
5. Attach the Band-Aid to your skin directly over a molluscum lesion, or a small cluster of them. PRESS FIRMLY and wipe away any excess vinegar that escapes the Band-Aid.
6. Leave the Band-Aid on for 16-24 hours. Remove the Band-Aid and wash off the area.
If it has worked, you will notice that the molluscum under the bandage has changed color - it may have become black, dark red, or in some cases puffy and white. If it's black or deep red, you can be pretty sure you've killed it. However, if it's puffy and white, you probably have also killed it, or started the process of killing it. Give it a few days (3-4 days) and see if it starts to change. If it doesn't change, you'll need to reapply the vinegar using the same process. If it HAS changed, it will soon die entirely and flake away off your skin. And you've killed that molluscum! This basically performs a similar job as liquid nitrogen, but a) you don't have to see a doctor, b) for some reason, they seem to return more when liquid nitrogen is used - according to many reports and c) it's cheaper. Cheaper and more effective - I so wish I would have discovered this earlier.
You WILL notice that the skin AROUND the molluscum that you've killed will be red and irritated. Apple Cider Vinegar is highly acidic (malic acid) and it will damage you skin, similar to what a severe sunburn might do. Give it time and it should heal. Some of my red areas have already dissipated after a couple of weeks. While I can't guarantee any damaged skin will entirely heal completely without any remaining discoloration - the same is true for liquid nitrogen applied by the dermatologist, or laser surgery, or doing nothing and having long-lasting mollsucum eventually scar your skin. In order to kill these things, you have to be harsh. If you do it as I've laid out above, you'll hopefully see that the mollscum themselves take the brunt of the damage (they turn black or deep red, while the surrounding skin turns pink or light red).
I really hope this helps. I know I wish I had tried this before the long list of things above. This disease is a nightmare and I just want to to share this info so others may not have to suffer as long as I did. While I can't be sure more won't grow back once I get rid of all existing ones, I now know that I have a tool to kill them if they do pop up again.
Good luck everybody.
Jermaine_D:
thanks for that!
gm77:
So I happened on this discussion of molluscum contagiosum treatment, and I'm amazed at what people have gone through in attempts to rid their bodies of this virus. If you have MC, PLEASE TRY TREATMENT WITH TAGAMET / CIMETIDINE!!!
I had molluscum contagiosum for 7 years before I sought treatment. I was about 14 years old when I first noticed a little hollowed-out bump on the outside of my left ankle. Didn't think much of it, until two years later when it had spread up my calf. I thought it was a reaction to shaving my legs, since I have sensitive skin, and because I was a teenager, I was too embarassed to talk about it with my mother or a doctor. FYI, I'd had no sexual contact when I contracted MC at 14 -- I think I caught it by everyday skin contact, either hanging out with friends or while playing sports.
Fast forward to when I was 21 years old, and I noticed over the years that some of the little bumps had increased in size, including the original bump on my outer ankle. I was playing around with a hand-held magnifying glass, and was horrified to find at least one hundred similar bumps -- all of them pearly in appearance, with a hollow center -- creeping up the outside of my left leg. I even noticed a few on my right leg, which I think were spread by shaving. I freaked out, thinking it could be some kind of skin cancer. I was in college at the time, and went directly to the student health office. The doctor examined me, and diagnosed me with molluscum contagiosum. She was shocked that I'd had the bumps for 7 years, and immediately prescribed Elidel cream and Tagamet (cimetidine). I took the Elidel for just a couple days, but my skin was too sensitive and I stopped using it after 4 or 5 days.
I continued to take Tagamet for about two months, and absolutely every single molluscum bump disappeared in that period. I had no side effects whatsoever, and was overjoyed that the ugly, embarassing bumps were gone. Unfortunately I can't remember the exact dosage, but I think it was the typical dosage schedule for treating heartburn. That was 11 years ago, and there's been no recurrence. If you have MC and there's no medical reason you can't take Tagamet, please talk to your doctor about trying it. If there are no side effects for you, it's certainly better to try an oral medication first before any of the painful physical removal methods(cutting, freezing, popping) or untested & possibly dangerous remedies (colloidal silver, herbal creams, holistic treatment pills).
PARENTS -- PLEASE DON'T LET A DOCTOR OR DERMATOLOGIST CUT INTO YOUR CHILD'S SKIN BEFORE TRYING TAGAMET FOR MOLLUSCUM, especially if there are dozens of bumps. Even if Tagamet doesn't work for your child, at least you'll have tried a painless and relatively safe treatment first. Good luck to everyone, and I hope Tagamet works for all of you as it did for me.
wolfekeeper:
From what I've been able to determine, Tagamet didn't resolve Molluscum contagiosum in multiple double-blind placebo controlled studies; so it looks like you just got lucky (it just went away by itself anyway!) 2 months is the normal time that takes sometimes.
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