Molluscum Contagiosum – Sounds like a spell out of Harry Potter, right? – But this common autoimmune disease can often cause real problems, so Molluscum Contagiosum treatment should be started as soon as the papules are noticed.
Identifying the disease…
The nasty raised bumps can take two to seven weeks to incubate after initial contact with an infected person or item, such as a towel, or in a humid place like a steam room. Once you or your children or partner gets this disease, it can be really embarrassing. More than likely, the papules will be where they can be seen, like on your face, especially around your eyes. If you scratch them, they can spread over the rest of your body, often in rows, called “crops” that follow where your fingernails were. Men should not shave if they have the nodules on their face, because that can spread them too.
The virus is contained within the nodules, which are waxy in appearance and can grow to be the size of marbles. Once the papules have gone away, the virus is gone with them. Since it’s hard to check out your own body, it’s a good idea to have your partner or friend look on your back, etc for them. The only parts of your body where the pustules can’t spread to are the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.
The papules will usually go away on their own after two to three months, but sometimes, if a person has a weakened immune system or is in poor health in general, they can re-occur and can take up to eighteen months to go away. It is better to get Molluscum Contagiosum treatment as soon as possible.
The worst way to experience Molluscum Contagiosum is on your genital areas. Not only unsightly and embarrassing, this highly contagious virus is considered to be a sexually transmitted disease, and all sexual relations have to stop while you have it, because it is found in places where a condom would make no difference. This would be bad enough, if it also didn’t look so gross. So let’s get to the Molluscum Contagiosum treatment right away!
Treating it…
Thanks to modern medicine, the old methods of freezing and scraping, or applying tinctures are largely outdated. We now have the advantage of the use of lasers to eradicate this nasty disease. This is super good news if you have the ugly papules on your face, where freezing and scraping would not only be painful, but could leave scars for the rest of your life.
If you do not have access to or money for laser treatments, topically applied tretinoin, also known as Retin-A, can help, as can the anti-immune cream imiquimod. These will need to be applied on a daily basis as prescribed by your family doctor.
Whichever treatment you decide to use, make sure that all the towels, bedding and objects that were touched are washed thoroughly. Molluscum Contagiosum treatment is tricky and you must stay on top of it, or it will come back to haunt you.
