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Crowsnest, I'm curious if the wash comes with it? I've ordered it off Amazon.
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.
Hey, I'm new here, I've been looking for a forum and was thrilled to find this one was so involved. So here's my story:I was diagnosed with MC mid-Jan of 2010, after starting a relationship only maybe 2 weeks prior. Thought it was OVER. I hadn't had sex in probably 9 months, and am not sure how it came about. BF told me he didn't care, we would deal with it. (Side Note: The Dr prescribed me Aldara, told me it would go away in a few weeks, and yes, I could still have sex, which really upset me after I found out how contagious it is.)After a few weeks of little progress, I went back with probably somewhere between 25-50 (Not sure b/c I couldn't see them), but I was on the table for almost an hr while he anesthitized, cut, squeezed and cleaned each one. I went back two weeks later, and wasn't even sure if I had gotten any new ones; I had too many bruises and cuts I couldn't tell! Besides, as I had heard shaving made it worse, I had stopped, which made it a bit difficult. Turns out I had maybe 10-15 new ones. Okay, I thought I was on the right track.All this time I was checking my boyfriend. I wonder if they assumed he was already infected? I was using the Aldara at night, and tea tree oil in the am, and taking 30x thuja and multivitamins.Third visit to the Dr: I made an emergency appmt b/c one was so large it looked like a volcano; not realizing my body was finally taking the initiative to fight it (on a good note!). I was still beside myself to find they seemed to disappear from the original area, but spread outward, and I had another 10. He squeezed and cleaned the large one, and removed all but a small cluster where he said it looked like the Aldara was working and they were so flat he had nothing to squeeze. He did admit mine was the worst case he's seen. Unfortunately, the Aldara, for the first time, irritated me to the point of scabbing an extended area. It hurt so badly, I went back to the first Dr. Because I wasn't shaving, the bandaid just irritated the surrounding hair and I couldnt cover the wound. She told me I just needed to let it heal. I said screw it and went to a Dermotologist.The Derm prescribed an antibiotic to help the wound heal faster, but I was still left depressed in my house for two weeks. Next to it I had grown two new small ones, and I wanted them gone, so when she suggested the beetle extract, I said fine. I later regretted it; it turned the area into a big blister that popped and left the area red and peeling; and I still have two small red bumps. Ugh.Up until about three weeks ago, my BF had no symptoms at all. Suddenly, I noticed a few spots, which kept me up at night with worry. He is much more relaxed about it; don't worry, they're just like pimples, they'll go away, don't feel bad,etc. I appreciate it but it doesn't help. His seem to go quickly, however; and I wonder if it is because he is a "picker" (pops pimples and stuff regularly), so if theyre in a constant state of irritation theyre healing quicker?This just complicated everything; as my "old" ones are all red and seem about to head and heal, I'm noticing some teeny teeny spots in new areas (stomach, arm). Any spot on my body makes me paranoid; just now I'm worried that my body was clearing it and now he's passed it back just by everyday contact. I mean, I can't really know yet; they are soo small you can barely see them, so for all I know they're folliculitis.So I've got a Derm appmt next week, and an checkup with the Gyno the week after. I'm almost out my annual prescription allotment, so it looks like I'll have to ration the Aldara. And I finally grew the courage to try to pop the angry ones myself. Seems ok, as long as theyre ready to go. Ugh I was really hoping to have this cleared by the summer. After reading this forum, I just order from lemon Myrtle, figured I'd try that for a while instead of the Tea Tree Oil.Anyone had the situation where both partners had it? What did you do? How did you deal? And thanks for letting me vent! ..::whew!::..
Re: WHAT IS THE TREATMENT FOR MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUMWell, thanks to everyone that has contibuted to this wealth of knowledge. Here goes my 5 year old daughters story re. Molluscum Contagiosm (what a yuck name too - reminds me of Mollucs on the bottom of an old boat!!).4 months ago my then GP told me it was probably ecsema - so prescribed DIPROBASE creamy lotion to be applied 3 times daily. No change - I think the grease actually enlarged the lumps - then last week she hated the look of them so much she scratched the tops of them and caused an infection (they are apporx 20 in total, living in the crook of her right elbow - she sucks her thumb a lot, so her arm in very often bent upwards - so not allowing lots of airflow) - so I take her to my new GP and get the true diagnosis of M.C. What a shock - we could have all caught this virus - she shares baths with her twin Sister and clothes and has been going to school with her arm uncovered (she now wears a long sleeve white top under her school blouse so the kids don't see her lumps and the virus is covered over this cotton linament gause covered in stinky Tea Tree (her sense of smell is more sensative I guess). Yesterday we also covered the elbow area where the lumps are with a bit of Tubigrip bandaging - which she seemed to like.Anyway, all the previous posts about squeezing out white cores, etc. is not always possible with a terrified child - so my plan of action from today is going to be:Tea Tree oil applied directly onto the lumps 3 times a day and especially at night (she is as school so cannot do a daytime application). Will look into purchasing TERRASIL in the UK. No more baths and possibly look into oral APPLE CIDER VINEGAR capsules. I tried spraying Elastoplast Spray Plaster over the area - but it took a long time to dry, she closed her arm up (to suck her thumb) and it went very tacky and gluey. Checked out CONDYLINE which one lady had success with went she had a holiday in Italy and the Doc out there gave it to her child - but now that I have googled it - it says it is for Genital Warts and not to be used on kids and you need it prescribed by a GP. Is it correct to think that I need to apply Apple Cider Vinegar onto the area via a piece of soaked gause - this will then burn the skin slightly, which will make her immune cells rush to that area and then deal with the skin level virus (as the virus does not live in her blood stream - just on the surface skin)??Any suggestions would be great - thank god the rest of us have not caught it in the 3-4 months she has had it - funny that??!! Regards Steph