[mcv_dad]

My little daughter had molluscum quite badly on her shoulder. We used a combination of natural treatments for her including apple cider vinegar and clove oil. It is important to apply them in the right order and do other things to stop the spread like not using the same towel.

[freeski07]

First, thank you everyone for contributing to this thread and helping people fight this off. 

I'm a 24 yr old male and I got this about 6 or 7 months ago.  At first I thought it was just zits down there as there were only 2 or 3 at a time and they were sporadic.  I didn't realize I had something until 4 months ago when I shaved and woke up the next morning with them all over.  I self diagnosed as MCV, and at first my maintenance was keeping it clean down there and popping/removing the core on the bigger ones.  This seemed to work but there was always 1-3 lurking. 
I went to a doctor 6 weeks ago and got a prescription of condylox.  This seemed to work after 2-3 weeks of use.  Everything scabbed over, and the bumps disappeared.  But the spots where I used the condylox are still very red and I can't tell if this is scar tissue, a rash, or if there is still MCV there.  I can't feel a bump on the area, it's just red and looks bad.  It's been about 2 weeks since my last use of condylox on these areas.  Additionally, I've had a couple MCV bumps pop up sporadically in 3-4 weeks, which means its spreading from somewhere.  After reading through this thread I bought ACV and TTO and will follow apply this to the areas.

Questions:
1) For people that used condylox or a similar prescription cream, did you get any scarring or rashes on the area that lasted more than 2 weeks?  Did it go away, and how can you tell if it's still MCV or scar tissue?
2) Once all bumps are completely gone, how long until I can be sexually active again?  My worst fear is to think I've gotten rid of it, have sex again, and then have a bump pop up a month later.  I don't want to pass this on to anyone.

Thank you

[galwayireland]

I have a weird thing that I did that worked and I got rid off it in two..literally TWO WEEKS!! I got it last january and at first I didn't thing it was anything but then it just starting getting worse and worse and it flared up especially after shaving..I was actually devastated because I was going away for the summer and it meant I couldn't have sex as it was really noticeable! Anyways I came up with my own method when I was away and it really worked so I said I'd definitely put it up in some forum . Ok so I squeezed every single bump that i seen with my nails..like cutting mollusc off if u know what i mean..it bled but it wasn't sore or anything and then i drowned it in tea trea oil and i mean drowned it like it was dripping down my leg! then everynight id shave so I kind of slice the top of the molluscs off and drown the are with tea tree oil again. Gone in two weeks no word of lie! I know it sounds a little bit messed up but they are gone..i had white little scars for maybe a month but then those were gone as well! My logic makes sense haha..basically u need to expose whatever is inside the mollusc i.e cutting and then killing it with antiseptic ie tea tree oil. try it and dont waste ur money on stupid medicines!

[ihatemollscum]

First time posting here.  I've been suffering from this MV for several months now.  Here is how it happened.  I am a sexually active gay male.  I am healthy and I have been vaccinated with Gardasil for most HPV warts.  I am "bottom" if you know what I mean.

The first time I noticed this is between my balls and anus (taint) area.  I felt a "pimple".  At that time, I thought it was just a skin tag.  I didn't think much of it because it is "soft" and "fleshy".  As I understand it, HPV warts are hard and solid?

It stayed here for several months.  One day I shaved my balls.  And then I sit my butt on hand warmer that produces heat and moist.  A few days later, I scratched my taint area and felt several "pump".  I was horrified.  I went to Patient First and the doctor immediately said it's not a HPV (STD).  It's Mollscum.  I have no idea what this name is so I googled it and the images sort of confirms it.  I don't consider it a STD because it can grow everywhere (but unlike on your hands/sole of your feet because maybe stratum lucidum (one of the 5 layers in Epidermis) layer blocks it?  That's the biggest difference between hands/bottom of feet vs other parts of the body.  A STD Warts can mostly only grow in private areas and that's why they are sexually transmitted.  Mollscum can be contact without sex.  I think when we label this as STD, we immediately give it a very negative meaning.  I am not even sure if I really got it from sex as my ass cheeks/anus area have none (which is the area that has the most flesh to flesh contact). 

I went online and google and found out about Tea Tree Oil, Clove Oil, Trujua and even bought a commercial ointment called ConzeroI.  I tried ConzeroI first for two weeks and did not notice any improvement.  Then tried Tea Tree Oil and Clove Oil for a few weeks and no improvement.

Then one day I tried shaving again and thought I could just avoid that area.  WRONG.  I either must have shaved those pumps or the other area is infected but just has no obvious pumps.  I got more small pumps now.  I am MAD.  I love sex so much and it is so embarrassing to have so many "pimples".  I am not even sure why they call this a "wart".  Wart makes it sounds horrible.  It's really just like pimples.  lol

Then I bought Acid Cider Vinegar.  It burns a little and I noticed some of the pumps are noticeably more painful and raised.  I was worried that I did something wrong and I stopped for a while. 

I did more online reading and been reading this thread for the past hour.  Here is my conclusion:

1.  The treatment time and method for Children VS Adult are different.  Adults who got this (healthy or not, doesn't matter) tend to have a much harder time to get rid of it and the affected area is more "localized" than kids having them all over the places but treatment for them seem to be more effective. 

2.  DO NOT SHAVE.  Again, DO NOT EVER SHAVE.  I am not even going to shave my ass for a long time.  I love the smooth feeling but until I feel this virus is completely gone, I am not going to shave. 

3.  Only wash that area with cold/luke warm water and when you dry, just dry it with paper towel so you can throw away.  My infected area is small so I just use toilet paper. 

4.  Why certain cream/ointment works and why some don't.  I could be wrong but I think all acid induced liquid/cream all achieve one thing = inflammation which triggers our body's immunity to respond.  I guess our body responds to different kind of acidity/burning differently and that's why some work better for some people.  I think ACV works well for so many because it's cheap and available and it really burns the skin fast.  I don't think organic ACV works any better.  Again, I don't have the proof of this but after reading like over hundreds of posts I think I am right on something.

I am very irritated.  The pumps are in my taint area so I can't see clearly.  Very hard to tape the area with cotton ball so I am only going to tap the area with ACV and trying to bandage the pumps as much as possible.  The area is now irritated and I am hoping it leads to something good.

I have been taking Tagamet as I read a study that it helps because it triggers your T cell production which is important in fighting virus.  I may start taking multi-vitamin as well but I've been also eating a lot more vegetables.  I try not to take anything if possible. 


I will not pop it with needle because 1. it's very hard to see when it's under my balls.  2. if virus pus spreads, you make it a lot more worse. 

If you have some good tips, please message me.  My condition is not as bad as some of you but I need my anal sex back and while I can cover it with jock strap, I prefer to clear it 100%!!!!!

[naki009]

Hello All,

Firstly, thank you very much for the most useful discussions on MC. Here is my story of battle with MC.

I contacted MC through public toilet seats (I was travelling a lot for business and didn't care about hygiene) in April, 2013. The doctor back then gave me some kind of acid to put on top of bumps that appeared in my private area.So, by July,2013 all the bumps were burned down and I thought its gone. I was very healthy back then exercising regularly. Later in dec 2013, I got married. Me and my wife started living together since June,2014 and thats when our active sex life started. What I didn't observe during the meantime is that there are 2-3 bumps still hiding on my scrotum. Fast-forward - Dec, 2014, I observed that one of the bumps broke and made me paranoid once again. I went to a dermatologist and he declared that its MC!!! I just can't believe that its back again. The doctor suggested to pluck them off since there were only few and I got it done. But the story didn't stop here. I went and discussed this with my wife and we checked if there are any similar symptoms for her. I almost went into tears when I saw 3-4 lesions on and near her private parts. We immediately rushed to the dermatologist and he confirmed that its MC and plucked them off. But, some of the lesions started appearing again and we applied ACV for 24hrs as prescribed in this forum. The lesions turned black and now there are small blisters in the places where ACV is applied which is normal I think. We bought coconut oil and started applying all around the area twice a day.
The status today is that there were more than 10 red color rashes/bumps around her private area. Is this an indication of new ones popping up ? There are no visible white heads to apply ACV or tea tree oil!! I am really afraid that this could be an outbreak for her. Her immune system is not that strong and she gets sick frequently.
Please help me!! How does the initial stage of MC look like ?

[klyn]

My seven year old son had approximately 70 bumps before we discovered that it was molluscum contagiosum warts. The first wart was discovered 6 months prior. I read many message boards and decided to start with ZymaDerm and Tagamet. I purchased the CVS version of Tagamet (heartburn relief Cimetidine) and gave him half a tablet (100 mg) every night. I also put on the ZymaDerm twice a day. After two weeks, there was no change. In fact, it seemed like a new wart popped up daily. My focus became to stop the spread of the warts. I continued with Cimetidine and stopped the ZymaDerm. I put liquid bandage on the warts every other day or so to try and contain them. After about two weeks of these two treatments, the warts started drying up. Now, approximately a couple more weeks later, most of the warts are gone and what few are left are nearly gone.

[justsharingastory]

Hey all, here’s my story:

In mid-October I noticed what looked like a large pimple in my pubic area.  It scared me enough to have it checked out immediately.  The doctor looked at it, squinted his eyes and guessed that it was mullescum.  He used some tool to cut out the complete capsule and set it off for a biopsy.  A few weeks later I got the results from the biopsy that confirmed that it was mullescum.

I went back to the doctor to learn what the treatment options were.  He told me that you can use chemical or freeze them.  By this time there were several new “lesions” (doctor’s terminology), more in the pubic region and now on the penis.  The doctor recommended the chemical treatment since the lesions were in close proximity with each other.  The application of the chemical was painless.  I left it for two hours and then washed it off with a cloth as instructed.  This was painless in the pubic region but incredibly painful on the penis where a huge chunk of skin came off.  The doctor assured me that there would be no scarring – or at least after a year there would be no scarring.

The lesions kept popping up so at this time I made the mistake of reading the internet.  Way too much information and everybody seems to become a doctor when things go wrong.  Being a gym and nutrition nut I looked for natural therapies.  I read about tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, grape seed extract, and oil of oregano.

Here’s a summary of my experience with each:

Tea tree oil – Painless.  Seemed to have the effect of shrinking the lesions but I’m not sure that it actually got rid of any.

Apple cider vinegar – I read various posters claiming to have had miraculous success with ACV so I tried the method of soaking cut up cotton balls in ACV and taping them to the lesions before bed time.  I tried this for two nights even though after the first night I could tell something was not right.  I’m going to warn against using ACV for the reason that it gave me a pretty painful chemical burn and dermatitis.  It did get rid of the lesions on the penis but not those in the pubic region.

Grape seed extract – Burned a lot.  Did nothing for the lesions.

Oil of oregano – Burned a lot.  Did nothing for the lesions.

While I was experimenting with all of this stuff I was also seeing my naturopath on a regular basis.  He’s a well-respected ND and is an actual PhD level Naturopathic Doctor.  He put me on a few supplements and suggested a paleo diet to boost my immune system to fight off the virus.  He also did some bioenergetic intolerance elimination.  I don’t know if any of this had any effect but I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I could do without harming myself. 

After the ACV incident and because the lesions kept returning, I was now dealing with a chemical burn, dermatitis and mullescum.  I first tried treating the burn topically with aloe and vitamin e; both had no effect.  I returned to the doctor who gave me a prescription for Hydrocortisone Acetate 1%.  This worked to clear up the burn with no scarring.  The doctor recommended clearing up the burn before proceeding with any treatment.

I returned to the doctor and had the freezing treatment.  It stings a bit but on a pain scale of 1-10 it was a 1 and tolerable.  It doesn’t really look like there will be any scarring.  I told the doctor about what the naturopath recommended.  He kind of snubbed the paleo diet and called it a fad.  He booked me in with a nutritionist. 

I saw the nutritionist a few days later.  She asked about my current diet and I told her that I was eating paleo at the moment but for 3 years I had been following the slow carb diet from Four Hour Body.  She pulled out the Canada Food Guide and suggested that I stick to that.

I returned for another freezing treatment 10 days later.  That was 4 days ago and nothing new has popped up yet but I don’t think I’ll know for a few weeks whether I’m in the clear or not but it seems to be on its last legs.

I will summarize the theories of the ND and the MD.

ND:  The virus usually affects children and those with weakened immune systems; therefore we should treat the weakened immune system.  Take a lot of vitamin C, B12, Deep Immune and use bioenergetic intolerance elimination to improve the body’s capacity to fight the virus.  Eat a paleo diet to reduce the stress on your body.  No coffee, no sugar, no alcohol.

MD and Nutritionist:  You have a virus that takes 6 months to 1 year to work its way through your body.  You’re stuck with it so to treat it we should get rid of the lesions to minimize spreading the virus.  Follow the Canadian Food Guide and eat a variety of foods to ensure you get all your nutrients, don’t eat processed foods, limit refined sugar to once/week, and don’t drink or if you do have one drink and call it a night.. 

I’m not a doctor of any kind so I’m only telling my story and I don’t claim to have the answer.  I do recommend the approach of living healthy.  I feel most safe following the diet recommendations of the nutritionist and MD and have not seen any negative changes to my body and the mullescum seems to be running its course and on its last legs so I’ll probably stick with this.

The social aspect was quite tricky.  I never realized how dependent my social circles were on doing things that involved alcohol.  I didn’t really want to share that I had an infection with anyone so I just didn’t drink.  My friends started to ask questions so at first my story was that I was focused on my job search and that’s why I was avoiding alcohol.  This didn’t go over well so I changed my story to I have a stomach infection and now I just say I’m not drinking or staying out late because I’m dealing with that.  This goes over much better.

I don’t know how I caught the virus.  I had been seeing the same girl for about 10 months and we broke up in August.  The first lesion came in October.  I asked her if she had it and she said she didn’t.  She went to the doctor and the doctor also said she didn’t have it.  Like I said, I was using the gym every day so it’s possible I picked it up there but I really have no idea.

I have not been working for the past 6 months so I was able to go to the gym every day; even if just for a quick 25min jog.  No issues with the diet.  My body is looking better than ever so I’m going to assume that I’m doing all I can for my physical health.  I also landed a sweet new job so things are looking up for my financial and mental health.  I would like to feed my social health a little more, hence sharing my story here.

All the best to everyone dealing with this.  It sucks.

[RD]

... Naturopathic Doctor.

"Doctor of Naturopathy (ND) "= quack

[MCMan]

Figured I would throw in my 2 cents. So I got a little bit of the MC in my pubic region.

First bump i thought it was just a normal pimple and popped it. Of course the next day there was now an additional one so I did some research and realized it was MC. Got this a few weeks ago.

So here is what I have been doing:

For the popped one i was putting neosporan on it to make sure it didn't scar. Seemed to heal it pretty quick but then it started turning back into the MC bump.

So that didn't work. I already take garlic tablets everyday which i think has been part of the reason it hasn't spread beyond 2 bumps. I also use shampoo with tea tree oil which i also think has helped stop the spread.

Continuing I decided nothing was actually getting rid of the dots but it did look like I had it under control. I decided to try something that none of you guys mentioned. I used an acne spot Oxy Acne Medication Vanishing Spot Treatment, Maximum Strength (10% benzoyl peroxide). That stuff worked like a charm. I would shower in the morning and use hand sanitizer (alcohol based stuff) to sterilize the bumps. Then i added the oxy. Then i would repeat the process at night. In about a week both had greatly reduced in size and redness and the one got the white top (which i guess is good, drying out).

I also would then spray the area and surrounding area with tea tree oil/ distilled water mix. Just to help make sure it wouldn't spread further on my body. It has been about 2 weeks since I have seen the MC. I think the Oxy might be enough to get rid of the whole infection but just to make sure I have also bough ACV tablets and the iodine people recommended on here. I also got vitamin D/ calcium pills to boost my immune system.

So in summation, what is working for me:
Stop Spread - garlic, ACV pills, TTO Spay/shampoo, hand sanitizer
Kill the MC - Benzoyl (Oxy acne), iodine, vitamin D/Calcium to boost immunity

Im hoping with all that this will be over with next week. If anything changes for the worst i will repost.

Good luck all. MC sucks.

[relax55]

Hi everyone, success story here.

I had molluscum in the genital region for about 2.5 months. Otherwise healthy male in late 20s. Overall, it sucked, but looking back I kind of laugh at myself over how much I obsessed over it. It's gone. I wanted to throw my two cents in because I told myself I'd post here to help others get through this very distressing condition.

First off: try to relax and think about the bigger picture. This WILL go away. It always does, and when it's gone you'll think of this experience as nothing more than a minor inconvenience, even though it doesn't seem like it now. I know when you're in the middle of it, it can be very upsetting and the fact that there is no real timeline on your body ridding itself of the virus can really mess with your head. My confidence suffered, but I've since regained it. I encourage you to keep living life, do the things you like doing, and don't let some little meaningless bumps get you down. Keep your chin up!

Secondly, ignore the horror stories. Be skeptical of everything you read on the internet that's been posted by strangers, and remember that of all the people who get molluscum - how many do you think post online about it? Most people who get this, get it and deal with it fairly quickly, and move on. Chances are your experience will be the same. You're not going to have it for years.

What worked for me? A few things. All in all I probably had 30+ bumps over 2-3 months - more than average, that's for sure. I went for 3 rounds of cryotherapy, two weeks apart, which took care of most of them, but I didn't like how long the healing process took. I'm still dealing with some red marks from the treatment, which are fading, and I have no permanent scars. Cryotherapy does not leave scars if you're treated properly. There's a reason it's the preferred method in the medical community.

I also tried apple cider vinegar which totally worked for the few bumps I applied it to. You need organic ACV. I bought some cotton balls, soaked them fairly well in ACV, and taped them over the bumps overnight. I did this for two nights in a row and whatever molluscum were being treated died. They went completely flat, and healed up over the course of a few weeks. It's good stuff, but it was definitely a hassle taping cotton to my genitals. It burned slightly but nothing major and it certainly did no permanent damage.

Finally, I attacked a number of bumps by removing the molluscum cores manually. Lanced the bumps with a sterile pin (I used rubbing alcohol to sterilize), and then squeezed out the core. It takes a long time and is difficult to do, hurts a bit, and is kind of gross, but overall this method worked best for me and the healing time was much faster than the above options. If you go this route be very careful to remove the core and quickly sterilize the area so that you don't spread the virus around.

Don't waste your time with complex nutritional regimens, obscure products that are expensive and hard to get, or scam products found online. Time and proper treatment is the cure for molluscum.

Overall it seems to me like, whatever treatment you use, the molluscum needs to be attacked until your body recognizes it shouldn't be there. After this happened with me, I noticed some bumps that I had not treated spontaneously heal over a couple days. Eventually new bumps stopped appearing and my gential region could finally heal and I could finally stop obsessing. 

Three months later, I'm still dealing with a few insignificant red marks but those are fading and I'm essentially back to my old self, ready to present my manhood in all its glory to potential lovers   Of course, I'm definitely more responsible in who I have sex with now!

Good luck and stay happy.

PS. I encourage you to look up a doctor by the name of Hunter Handsfield. He's posted a lot online about molluscum and I guarantee he'll help put your mind at ease and put things in perspective. Look for him replying to people on health forums about molluscum.

[giffordpa]

My story too...

I had MC in my pubic area and I believe I caught it from a hottub.  Some kids had been in it just before I had.  Then I laid around in my suit for an hour or so, etc.  Then a week later went into a sauna and didn't change out of my suit then either.  Anyway, I found them around May of 2014.  I thought it was a rash and tried various creams, etc, for a couple months.  I think I was fairly lucky in that they didn't take over my whole body.  Then I went to a dermatologist who diagnosed them as MC.  I had them frozen.  It turned out they were particularly sturdy on me and the next treatment had to be particularly aggressive with the freezing.  It killed that bunch and then more came around.  I had them frozen. At one point I remember her freezing over 25 during one treatment.  I ended up going 3 or 4 times.  Finally, around October, 2014, I went and she didn't find any.  She declared me "cured."  I hadn't looked again until 3/6 when I saw a bump.  I had just had sex with a new partner the night before, I felt something funny, checked and found a very small bump.  oh, I was stressed since the timing was very bad. Then three days later I had two very small bumps.  Even more stressed as I was under the impression that MC would not reappear after I was "cured." The partner insists she has nothing (and was tested for STD's).  I went to the derm on 3/13 and she took one glance and said, yep, they are MC and froze them.  Now my question is... has anyone had an instance where they had MC.  Got rid of them and then several months later, they reappeared?  Of course, I could have re-acquired them from my new partner but the derm said that it's quite unlikely that I would have developed the bumps that quickly - one day.  Any info???  BTW - in the past I did try ACV and found it effective but the freezing really does it for me. I'm in my early 50's and any scarring that might occur in my pubic area won't bother me at all.  I had a bunch on my inner thigh that she was really aggressive with and the red scars are just now starting to fad.  I just want them gone... again...


Any comments on the re-occurrence thing would be appreciated..

Thanks!

[MCsucks]

Hey guys, this forum was extremely helpful to me in dealing with my own case of Molluscum Contagiosum so I promised myself 4 months ago, when I began to seriously treat it, that if any treatment actually worked I would share it on here.

While I have read horror stories of Molluscum cropping back up after years of being gone (really hoping that doesn't happen to anyone), I think I can reasonably declare that I am clear, and in order to make sure, I had a dermatologist fully look everything over and she agreed.

A tiny bit of background and I'll get to what I actually did.  Noticed a few small bumps on my pubic area about 9 months ago, thought they were herpes- freaked out.  Saw a doctor.  She said it was folliculitis and not to worry.  Over the next few months I noticed just a few more bumps appearing every so often, sometimes they'd disappear, sometimes they wouldn't.  I popped several and noticed a solid white core inside them, online research led me to believe I had molluscum.  However, two more doctors dismissed my symptoms as folliculitis or acne.  Finally, around 4 months ago, one doctor changed his mind and decided I had molluscum, which was later corroborated by a dermatologist.

Now, I'll switch gears and begin describing the treatments I used.

Liquid Nitrogen: The first doctor advised treatment with liquid nitrogen.  I agreed.  He used a small spray can and basically sprayed the fluid onto my penis and visible lesions (at this time about .  While, it was successful at getting rid of MOST lesions (some required more than one treatment), the treatments left discolorations that 4 months later, are still visible.  While they aren't going to ruin my life and may go away with time, I'm still pretty unhappy about them.  My conclusion is err on the side of caution with freezing treatments as they definitely have the potential for scarring.  Also, as some people have mentioned, while I did notice that while freezing got rid of some of the lesions present, quite a few more appeared.  It may or may not have had anything to do with the freezing but again, it made me somewhat distrustful of this method.

Zymaderm: Didn't do anything.

Iodine:  Didn't do anything

Curettage:  Went to a dermatologist 3 months ago (was pretty unhappy with first doctor on account of the freezing mishap).  She opted to use a curette on the lesions.  For the most part it worked, and surprisingly, really didnt leave any scars.  Unfortunately, she missed several of the small ones and again, I had several more appear in the days and weeks after I left her office.  While this method might work if you religiously went every couple weeks and had it done, I, trying for a quicker solution opted for apple cider vinegar.  In retrospect, ACV took about 3 months anyway, so I might have been better off just hitting up the dermatologist every couple weeks.

Apple Cider Vinegar:  This works.  I'm convinced that ANYONE saying it does not work, is not using it properly.  Here is why.  Acetic acid, the component of vinegar that gives it its acidity, is a relatively strong acid.  Strong enough to burn your skin (albeit slowly and not severely).  If left on a lesion long enough, it simply soaks/eats through the skin above the molluscum core and being an acid, kills biological entities, including Molluscum.  Think of a stronger acid, sulfuric for example.  I can 100% promise you that if you were to drop sulfuric acid onto MC lesions, while it would eat a hole through your skin, in the process, it would definitely kill the virus.  ACV operates on the same concept, just not quite as dramatically.  As an aside, while I don't know if she was fully buying it, the dermatologist actually thought apple cider vinegar was relatively harmless and worth a shot as well.

Here's what I did with the ACV.  I took band-aids (all different shapes and sizes), soaked the absorbent pads in apple cider vinegar (applied via a soaked q-tip) and put the band aids on the lesions, replacing them twice a day.  Over the next two months, I applied it to any lesion that cropped up, and one by one, got rid of them.  The general sequence of events for the individual lesions after application of vinegar is as follows: For the first few days, sometimes up to a week, nothing happened.  Then I began noticing the skin around the lesions, under the band aid pad getting irritated.  The lesions would come to a really gross white head (I argue it is critical to keep them bandaged and apple cider vinegared during this phase).  Then within a few days, the head would turn yellow/black, and fade away.  At this point, I'd continue bandaging for about a week and then call it good.  One thing to note, be careful with ACV on the actual shaft of your penis (obviously if you're female, this doesn't matter).  I got a little overaggressive, treated for too long, and would up with some minor scarring.  If you are unsure, just have a doctor/dermatologist curette lesions on the penis, but after they've been curetted KEEP THEM COVERED FOR A FEW DAYS.

After about 2 months of this, I was declared clear.  I have held off on posting this until just now, 1 month later in order to be more reasonably sure.

Random advice: Obviously, if the lesions are present in hairy regions, you will need to trim them but DO NOT SHAVE as cutting the lesions open seems to make them spread.  I think it is critically important to keep lesions covered up, whether or not you are applying apple cider vinegar.  Molluscum might transmit to the skin next to it regardless of whether or not you have it covered but at least by covering the lesions up, you are preventing it from transmitting by rubbing against other.  I bleached ALL of my underwear and washed my towels after each use.  I washed very carefully in the shower, isolating regions for cleaning and washing my hands between each region (probably excessive but I wasn't taking any chances).  I switched over to using paper towels for hand drying as well.  I think some of the stuff I was doing was likely just OCD and pretty excessive but I wasn't taking any chances and I mean it worked.  The most important things are the apple cider vinegar application and keeping the lesions covered.

LASTLY: While I can't advise you not to listen to doctors, my experience with them was that they did not know as much about this condition as they let on.  Research into it seems woefully incomplete and doctors base their decisions on personal experience (limited) and research (here- incomplete).  You know your body better than a doctor does, and you are far more invested in your condition than any doctor will be.  They are not infallible.  Make your own judgments and ALWAYS err on the side of caution.  Best of luck to everyone, I really hope this helps.  Remember, not having sex while you have this is a bummer, but use the time to learn a new skill.  You can turn this awful condition into something positive.

TL;DR- USE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR- IT WORKS

[AnnieOne1987]

Thank you, very informative, I have a question – has anyone tried shungite water? One of my friends advised me to try it, in his case it helped. If anybody faced this situation and tried it please advise.

[mcv_dad]

Hi, I have heard that eugen oil works well. Mollenol also.

[koolmelee]

Seems like quite a few people have various ways of treating this. I'll be brief and give my current status & what I'm trying:

Status 9/15/2015

• Noticed bump on stomach that looked like pimple. Attempted to pop without success. Attempted to shave around the area.

Status 10/1/2015

• 14 lesions(13 on stomach, 1 forming on penis). Spread on stomach likely due to shaving, not sure how one formed on penis though

A couple weeks later(10/13/2015), the lesions are still there, so I attempted the following treatment:

• Heat up something metal on a candle and apply to each lesion - helped with removing the outer skin layer, but painful
• Scrub with qtip dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove the outer layer of skin
• Dip gauze/cotton balls in 75% apple cider vinegar/25% tea tree oil and cover lesions and tape on. Keep on for 1hour
• Result: Most lesions started growing outward a bit as if inflamed and then turned brown/blackish and scabbed up a little. I'll update this later when I know if I've gotten rid of it!
• Side effects: Minor skin drying/chemical burning where applied

Status 10/19/2015

• Skin peeling/turning pink around where I chemically burned it - not super painful though.
• Scabs remained, so I peeled them off and saw white area under the 3 of the scabs(not sure if this is virus or just my skin 10 layers under)
• Reapplied apple cider vinegar/tea tree oil as spot treatments for 1hr to the 3 areas and they seem to be browning again.

Status 10/22/2015

• Skin peeled off a bit where chemically burned, but healing now
• Scabs still there on larger lesions, but peeling off.
• No signs of further molluscum contagiasum lesions, and existing lesions seem to be healing up and don't show signs of the virus either!

Overall, my approach is extremely aggressive. I don't really fear pain/scarring so I tried to tackle this as quickly as possible.

So I got rid of this in about 1 week with agressive treatment. I believe the initial treatment on 10/13 eradicated it, but I did follow up treatments to be sure. They key seems to be the anti-viral properties of apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil!

I'm not sure if it's just in my head, or what, but I feel like I have more energy now that the virus is gone!

Follow up suggestions:

• Spot treat each lesion individually. I had covered a large infected area with single piece of gauze and ended up with chemical burns on a larger area of my skin than was necessary
• Do not shave the area to prevent it from spreading
• Wash hands/sterilize anything you use to contact lesions, preferably with alcohol
• Showering before treatment seems to puff up the lesions a bit(perhaps bringing the virus closer to the surface)

[dreamn34]

Hi all. Came across this thread while searching for treatment options and so very happy to find so many possibilities to try!

My daughter is 10 and she's on 2 immunosuppression drugs (Remicade and Mercaptopurine) for Crohn's Disease, which she's had for 4 years. She popped up with these bumps about 6 months ago on the back of her leg and it quickly spread to the other leg and also to her step-brother and baby brother. Her step-brother is 6 and was able to get rid of them on his own pretty quickly. Her baby brother is 3 and currently has them all over his buttocks but they aren't causing him any issues.

My daughter on the other hand is having a heck of a time! They are angry and they hurt and alot of the time the skin around them is having a reaction too. She's also self conscious about her legs when wearing shorts and skirts. I've taken her to the pediatrician and she recommended Zymaderm. Didn't do a thing for anybody! She's told me about the other medication options but my daughter has really sensitive skin so I'm very nervous about taking her to Dermatology for any type of treatment. She has so many random rashes already and we always have a supply of 2% hydrocortisone cream on hand.

I purchased Derma E Antiseptic Cream for myself and that also seems to help calm these down some. It definitely helps the skin around them that's having issues. Emuaid Max caught my eye but I haven't plucked down the $50 to try it yet. I had someone else suggest Dr Wheatgrass Skin Recovery as it worked for them. We already have tea tree oil and apple cider vinegar at home so we may try those before I order anything else. She's not going to cooperate very well if it involves burning and I definitely won't be able to squeeze and/or cut these things out of her! 

[elphjohn]

Hello, I also Came across this thread while searching for treatment options but this was a couple months back. I will share what quickly happen to me I'm not sure how I was infected with this virus many are not but i had them on my genital area. I would guess i got them from an ex. I would recommend going to the dermatologist to get them removed Cryosurgery but since the dermatologist in my area didn't take my insurances only cash check or credit card I went to urologist. The urologist didn't know what they was for sure so he just froze them with Cryosurgery like many on other sites i read it didn't work the first time it removed maybe 1 or 2 bumps and scattered the other ones into smaller bumps so i went back for another treatment to get those removed this also didn't work and scattered them even more it frustrated me very much so I took matters into my own hands which I don't recommend i popped the remainder of the small bumps and made sure to remove the white head core once i did that they just looked like small bumps with holes in them after a week or so they healed up now its no scars nothing the Cryosurgery works but you need alot of treatment to get to the core the cores are the problem if you can remove the core and let the bumps heal this will go away quickly . I had it for about 11 months so yea it does take a year to 6 months to go away

[mcv_dad]

This all sounds so extreme. There is no need for freezing, surgery, piercing, and scrapping. It is the last thing I would do for a child and I would have second thoughts about it for myself. There are a number of molluscum creams and lotions in the market. We used Mollenol but there are plenty of others.  []

[CBM]

Hi everyone, after much digging around I came across this forum. I been dealing with this horrible disease for about 4 months now. I notice something was off when I notice these bumps in my inner thigh area. I didn't think much of it cause I have sensitive skin and usually get a rash. Im really paranoid about these things like that and usually go to the doctor. They just look at me like im crazy cause its nothing, But this wanst the case this time obviously. I left it alone for a while thinking it was nothing, then i started talking to this girl who was awesome. I decided to get my inner thigh checked out just in case. My dermatologist confirmed it to be Molluscum. He said it could go away within a month. So I was cool about if it when away within a month. I decided not to tell the girl anything since I thought it was going to be gone within a month, and I am not going to do anything sexual till it was gone. The last thing I wanted  was to pass this diseases on. She wanted to have sex, but I kept avoiding it and she has lost interest of me completely....were just friends now( barely). Its been 4 months since I been dealing with this. I dont know if i made the right choice by not telling her, the only right choice I did was not doing anything sexual with her. I would feel like sh1t if I did something scummy like that. I tried a whole lot of stuff to get rid of these lesions. I got them frozen, burned, ACV, tea tree oil, iodine wash, panoxytil 10 soap ( dermatologist recommended it and it does absolutely nothing) and some cream called conzerol. I work out a lot cause I love it to stay healthy, I have garlic supplements and st john wort for a strong immune response. and they just keep springing back. if looks like its almost gone, and boom more comes out. Its a lot better than before, but its still around. Its taking forever and lost out on someone cause of it.

[SylMar]

Hi all and thanks to everybody who have shared their experience, it helped a lot when searching for a viable treatment, and I think this was the most useful forum for this condition of them all. I have a medical background and thus have also read up on the most reliable medical sources.

Me: 49 years old, sexually active male.

My history:
1. Three weeks ago, I found the first spot at the absolute lowest point of the abdomen. Thought it was a pimple, but four days later I had five new spots in the same area and they did not look like pimples anymore.

2. I reckoned it was genital warts and went to a dermatologist who quickly found that this was not the case - it was genital molluscum contagiosum. I had decided on cryotherapy no matter what it was and he freezed all lesions.

3. During the next three days, five new lesions appeared on my very upper left thigh. I knew that dermatologists advice that freezing should be performed every 2-3 weeks, however I had personal reasons to get rid of them quicker so I went back four days after the first consultation, and although slightly annoyed he accepted to freeze the new ones as well.

Note: I have noticed that many contributors think that cryotherapy is the reason for spreading the lesions, but I think this is false. When you go to the dermatologist and have your lesions freezed, and the next day you find five new spots this is not because of cryotherapy. It takes weeks to months for new spots to appear after selv-inoculation. The reason I had a lot of new lesions just after the cryo was that I was in the middle of an outbreak.

4. Reading the very most realiable sources (UpToDate, Cochrane, studies in PubMed) I found, among the multitude of commonly suggested alternatives that have no convincing evidence, that podophyllotoxin had been found to be effective in a well conducted study. 0.5 percent was highly effective, compared to smaller doses. I got the medicine as a 0.5 liniment at the pharmacy (a prescription is needed).

5. 1 - 2 new spots arrived at the right and left thigh every day. Each morning and evening, I looked for new spots and applied podophyllotoxin on each lesion and covered each one with band-aid, which I found could be really small, two-centimeter in diameter and circular.

6. Podophyllotoxin should be used for three days, morning and evening, then stopped for four days. What I found was that after 2-3 days the spots had shrinked to nothing. I was careful identifying spots when they were really small. In the beginning, I put podophyllotoxin liniment on every small red dot, until I found out that this was overdoing it and I changed practice so that only when I could clearly see it was a molluscum, I applied the liniment.

7. Two weeks/ten days after the cryotherapy, on the spots where the lesions were treated, there is now either a) normal skin, b) pigmented spots c) crusts or e) red skin. Mostly, there are pigmented spots and crusts. In comparison, the lesions treated with podophyllotoxin the last ten days are either a) very small blue dots (the podophyllotoxin I got has blue colour) b) very small blue dots with a little bit of redness around them.
To summarise: podophyllotoxin treatment has left very small traces of what had been there, and it will heal. Cryotherapy left much more visible and lasting effects.

8. Conclusion: In my experience, the best way of treating molluscum is the following:
a. Buy podophyllotoxin (get a prescription from the GP if needed). Ask for the non-coloured type, not the blue one. Condyline has no colour, Wartex has. If you can only get the blue type, buy acetone and use it to easily get rid of the blue colour after you have removed the band-aid. It will remove the colour, except from the area where the molluscum was.
b. Look for new lesions morning and evening. When you are sure it is a molluscum, and when it still is very small, apply podophyllotoxin on it. Let it dry, then apply again 3 times, letting it dry between each application, so that you are sure you really get at it.
c. Put small band-aids over the spot you have treated. Write the date you started treatment on the band-aid so you know later when you started treating it. If the spots are in your face, there is little reason for using band-aids if you can refrain from touching them. If you use the non-coloured type of podophyllotoxin, I would think that it shouldn´t show and after a few days the molluscum will be gone.
d. Keep applying podophyllotoxin on all those lesions currently treated and covered with a band-aid, paying attention to when you started treating each one (look at the date you wrote on the band-aid so that you keep to the three-day maximum).
d. For each spot, stop applying podophyllotoxin after three days. If after three days of treatment the molluscum is not gone, you might see effects in the following days. Keep covering the spot for a few days to prevent spreading.
e) After removing the band-aid, a minimal dot of a concealer covers the small spot remaing so that it does not show at all, or shows very little.
d) When showering, pay attention to the spots you are treating so thay you do not spread the virus. Wash and dry those areas as the last thing you do.

Now, sixteen days after getting the diagnosis, I can quite easily manage the condition.

I do not know how long this condition will last, perhaps there will be massive outbreaks both here and there, or maybe only 0-1 new spots per day like now. In any case, I will identify the spots when very small and treat them early with podophyllotoxin.

Maybe this approach will not help everybody, and I am sorry if this is the case. However, for me, emotionally, it has meant going from despair and horror, to a feeling of relative control and being relatively relaxed about this, only two weeks after the diagnosis.

One more thing: Because of my medical training, I decided to perform an experiment. One week ago, when a new spot had appeared, I took a sterile needle and scoped up the white material in the molluscum with it. I then stuck the needle right into the spot, continued inserting the needle further until the tip was about 5 mm into the tissue below, and made sure the white material was deposited there. A vein was punctured so it bled a little. Why on earth do this? Well, I know that the molluscum virus thrives in the outer skin layers, because of this it is difficult to discover it for the immune system. Also, parts of the molluscum virus genome actively prevent the immune system to discover it. I inserted the molluscum into the deeper layers of the skin, and muscle, in the hope that it will be easier for the immune system to discover it.
I would strongly recommend against this procedure if you do not have a medical background, second, because this is highly experimental and the effects are uncertain, third, maybe there will be adverse effects and maybe it helps nothing at all. The worst thing would be inserting the needle into the femoral artery, in that case you might have a very dangerous and massive bleeding, or hitting a nerve with the needle. I take delight, however, on seeing sustained redness around the spot where I performed this experiment, hoping this is the immune system taking action and preventing new lesions.

I hope the best for everybody and this is my way of showing gratitude to all those converting their suffering into genuinely trying to help others.