Monday, June 8, 2009

Molluscum Contagi-what?


About the time that we arrived to Tennessee last summer, we noticed that Alyssa and Kelsie had these little wart looking things all over their bodies. As time wore on, the warts just continued spreading. It just so happened that I had been talking to one of my friends from Utah and both of her daughters had also been suffering with these pesky bumps. Sure enough another friend from Utah said that her kids had also been suffering with them. The only conclusion that we could draw from this was that because our kids had all been swimming in the same plastic pool outside of our apartment complex that maybe whoever was infected with it first had passed it along to everyone else.

This started a year ago, and Kelsie and Alyssa are still suffering terribly. Between the two of them, I bet they have about 100 or more lesions all over their bodies. We have been to several doctor's trying to cure this. We did figure out that these warts do have a name, and they are referred to as molluscum contagiosum. In short, molluscum is a viral infection of the skin that causes these little warts to appear all over the skin. One doctor told me that in some cases children have had these for up to five years. There really isn't a whole lot to do for these either. We have tried several courses of treatment including freezing, over the counter creams, wart remover which hurt the girls terribly, and our latest remedy duct tape. I made another appointment today to see a pediatric dermatologist and am hopeful that he will know something to finally get rid of these. Kelsie's poor little face is covered in these, they are even in her hair. Alyssa has these mostly on the backs of her legs, and will scratch them until they bleed. They are really painful from what Alyssa tells me. I feel so bad for them.

Has anyone ever had molluscum? What did you do to finally get rid of it? I really want these to go away. A year is long enough to deal with this.

4 comments:

Braden Bell said...

Wow, so sorry to hear that! Spencer had one a few years ago--they cut it out. That doesn't feasible with that many though. My goodness, poor kids!

Chalen said...

Eliza has them too, probably for about the same timeline. But she never has had that many. She usually has between 10-20 and they are limited mostly to her bum and back of her thighs. Luckily, they don't seem to bother her at all. She rarely scratches them. Annika will get one every now and again, but very rarely. The doctors has been very useless, mostly they just tell us to wait it out. But every time it looks like we get them cleared up a few more will pop up. Good luck!

Unknown said...

ugggh, sorry to hear you have had to deal with that...the big boys caught it, and same thing, the pediatrician and a dermotologist said the virus will run it's course. We were told if it ever got bad on their face they would try some medicine but it was really harsh so it is a last resort sort of thing. They are highly contagious so we had to be sure they didn't scratch them.
Sorry...good luck.

Asher and Amy said...

Ok I would talk with Joan Y she may have some suggestions. Off the top of my head. Soak in a white vinegar bath. Then vics works to kill some things as well. I know very random.