We are molluscum FREE! New updated steps to getting here.

After a long time of dealing with this horrible virus, I am happy to say we are MC free! It wasn't easy and took me a while to listen to my gut and to find what worked for us.

If you have read my first post on MC, you know all the ups and downs I've had with this, and the path that ACV was taking me. Although, it was working, it wasn't fast enough. Plus it was burning my daughter's skin (more on this below). I was on the right path but hit a few bumps before reaching the end. Now that I 'm here, it was totally worth it, and although she may not agree, it was also worth it for my girl. She can now wear anything she likes in this hot Florida weather without fear of showing off those nasty bumps or infecting anyone else.

Here's a quick summary of what was going on before:

• My daughter started with about 24 MC when I finally decided to do something about them.

• I didn't do anything sooner because I listened to the doctors advice about them going away on its own, when she only had less than 5. I'm sure they do, but years is an unreasonable amount of time to wait.

• I started the treatment too aggressively at first, and in this situation MORE is not better. I applied too much ACV, on too big of a cotton ball, on way too many MC at a time. It burned her skin. Not a serious burn. It was more superficial, but it did scab like when you get skid burn from falling off your bike. It has since healed and she has no scars. Thank goodness!

• After treating a few, I got lazy (I was about 7 months pregnant or so) and was also scared since I had already burned her ( I felt so guilty) and they spread. She now had about 30 of them. (dang it!)

• I wanted to get rid of these before the new baby came. I was able to do it within 2-4 weeks after this. It would have been sooner but I only had access to a pool on the weekends (more info below on why a pool)

This info below was part of my original post. The parts in RED are any changes or updates.

WHAT I LEARNED SO FAR (In General)

 

1. Don't sit on your butt. Even if your doctor says it will go away on its own, do some research, and figure out what other approach may work for you. Doctors don't prescribe holistic, or home remedies, and who knows, they may just work. You have to wait it out anyway, right? Had I listened to my gut earlier on, I would have been tackling a few, and not 24

 

2. Don't give up! There are many, many, many posts out there of what has worked, and hasn't worked, for many people. This is a good thing. It gives us many options to play with. Maybe you luck out on your first attempt, and maybe you have to try two, or three remedies, before finding out what works best with your body.  Either way you have to LET IT RUN ITS COURSE, so why not try different things in the meantime. ACV is what worked for us. Tea tree oil and Hydrogen Peroxide did not. However, don't eliminate them from your list.

 

3. Be patient. It might take 2 weeks to clear up on someone and 2 months on someone else. Remember, our immune systems help with the curing of this virus. We don't all have the same one. I believe with my method, and if your have around the same amount, they should be gone in no time. However, accessibility, location of MC, age, amount treated at one time, etc. will factor in on this.

 

4. Take vitamins. I knew I had to attack this from the outside and the inside. My daughter is a picky eater and veggies and fruits were not going to cut it. I started her on a gummy multi-vitamin. I later realized there was one for the immune system. I will get that next time. Doesn't hurt

 

5. WASH everything! I didn't repeat her outfits, and I used ONE towel every day, and I changed her bed sheets once a week. During that week, I sprayed the living daylights out of it with Lysol. All it takes is one little flake of skin to pass this virus around. I tried my best. I sprayed down everything that came in contact with her clothes or body daily with Lysol. After researching, I came across some info that the virus doesn't live on surfaces. It thrives in moist areas, hence the warnings of not to share towels or bathing suits, and how its  believed to be contracted through water. Clothes can also get moist with sweat so don't share those. However, I also read that the virus dies off once item is dry, if not immediately no more than a few hours. This is where I got some of this information : Life of Molluscum on formites and transmission

 

6. Anti-Bacterial is our friend. Wash your hands and their hands with soap and warm water as often as possible and then squirt some anti-bacterial just in case. This is what we did.  This may not kill viruses but it gave me peace of mind.

 

7. Exposure. If you are lucky enough to have them someplace where they can be covered up do so. Not necessarily with bandages, but with clothes. This helps in keeping others virus free. Make sure your kids wear pants and t-shirts over them. It's hard, but just be mindful. Someone wasn't with me and look at all I've been through. If you don't have molluscum, stay away from anyone that does. For adults: Its like an STD and contagious through sex because of the skin to skin contact. So let your partners know, or better yet, stay zipped up. Yeah, still cover up. They are contagious  through touch because the white part is the virus and if exposed infect others. Or if two sweaty kids or adults hug, bump into each other, etc this can also spread it.

 

 

 

WHAT I LEARNED SO FAR (with ACV)

 

1. TAKE THAT! The ACV works best in scabbing the larger ones that are really white. Try getting these first. If they have a lot of bumps, it can get overwhelming for both you, and them. Putting the ACV on non puffy white ones was a waste of time and material. Not to mention this contributed to the burning of the skin. Only try to tackle a few at a time. Usually they don't get white and puffy at the same time. If they do, only apply the cotton ball soaked on the largest of the bunch, then, with a ACV soaked q-tip, apply on the less large white ones until the next day.

 

2. BATHS I did NOT give her baths. I didn't want to risk them spread to her privates. Her bumps were all on her back, around the under part of her armpit. Still didn't do this. Instead I let her go for long swims in the pool. ONLY a pool. The chlorinated water served as a "bleach bath" and I felt like the ratios were going to be more on point then my mixtures.

 

3. WATER EXPOSURE I noticed my daughters got puffier and whiter AFTER being exposed to water for a good while....at least 20 minutes or more. I let her run in the sprinklers. If you are unable to use sprinklers for any reason, or use a chlorinated pool (there is no proof its spreads in chlorine), I suggest letting them wear a t-shirt, and let them enjoy a long SHOWER (not bath). I suggest the t-shirt because it will keep the bumps moist for a good while. Dry them off as soon as they come out of the shower. Now I believe, the pool or my 2nd method below, are more effective than the sprinklers. In fact, I wouldn't let her run in the sprinklers now if she had MC for fear of them spreading. A quick shower I cant avoid, but that's it. I don't want to help them spread.

 

METHOD 1: I let my daughter play in a chlorinated pool. After she was in there a good hour or more, some of the more mature MC came out white. Some bigger and some smaller, but white nonetheless. I immediately applied an ACV soaked cotton (small piece) with a Band-Aid on the larger ones. Just a few at a time. Use judgment on how many are enough. For my 5 years old I took on about 4-5 at a time. I left the ACV on several hours. Once the cotton dried, I DID NOT remove it. I used a dropper (for medicine) and soaked the same cotton ball with ACV again. After a couple more hours I would peel the Band-Aid off. They were either black or gray. Those would scabbed over within the next day. The black ones within a few hours to a day. The gray ones a couple of days.

METHOD 2: I live in Florida so finding a pool, or the beach, isn't hard for me to get to. For those who can't get to one, I suggest applying a cotton ball covered with a Band-Aid but soak the cotton ball in water instead of ACV. Leave that on for a few hours. Soak again in water if needed with dropper until the MC is really puffy and white. Once MC get white then apply the ACV. You can reapply it to the same cotton ball or change it. This method takes a bit longer but should also be effective.

 

 

4. STEPS Once they are dried up from the shower, start you ACV process.

• pick out puffiest/whitest bumps first (only do a few at a time)
• poke the bigger ones a bit to aggravate them. This seems to help. Use Q-tip. No need to do this with the 2 steps above.
•  dry area well
•  place half of band aid over selected bump
• dip cotton ball in ACV. Squeeze some of the excess but not completely dry.
• place in middle of band aid
• seal up other half of band aid

5. TIME. If you do this during the day and are able to reapply, do so. Once the cotton dries up, remove them with tweezers from inside the band aid, and insert a newly moist cotton ball. Leave this on for a few more hours. Then remove bandages off completely. I found the sleeping with the bandages was unnecessary since the ACV does dry up in a couple of hours. No need for them to be sleeping uncomfortably. I would only suggest this if your little one picks and pulls the bandages while awake. I stopped removing the cotton ball and just reused it by soaking again with a dropper. My daughter didn't like the removal of the cotton ball and the replacement so this saved her some anguish. Towards the end I would let her sleep with 2-3 bandages if they didn't bother her.

 

6. Vinegar is acidic and burns.  It was very hard for me to put the band aids on a squirmy, whiny kid, so I opted not to put such a small piece of cotton on the bumps. This did cause some burning of the outer layer of skin. This also only occurred on the ones that scabbed over first. If you see that the skin becomes to irritated give it a few days. Let it heal, and then continue. Some people dilute it a bit with water, but I didn't do this. If it burns their skin too much, then stop for a while, and try again. If it continues to hurt their skin, apart from just a bit of stinging, this may not be suitable for them. Don't give up if at first it burns. I did and they spread. Just take it easier. Try one with less ACV or try to dilute the vinegar with a bit of water. It may slow the process a bit, but that's ok. However, if you tackle the large white ones, it shouldn't even be enough time for it to burn the skin. Unless you have extremely sensitive skin, apply too much, or on certain areas. Area will get red but that goes away within a few days.

 

7. The Mighty scab. Once the bumps scab, I wouldn't put anymore ACV because it will hurt. Instead, put some Neosporin and cover with a band aid. One two of ours, once the band aid was removed, the scab was stuck on the band aid. If the area still looks like its healing, clean it off with some hydrogen peroxide, and reapply the Neosporin. I stopped putting Neosporin. They healed on their own and fell off fine.

 

8. Scarring. Yes, it might leave scars. I think they will eventually look like chicken pox scar. Burning them off will leave scars, too. I don't mind a few small round scars. I can live with them and since my daughter is only 5, and has a lot of growing to do, I don't think they will be that big of a deal. Anything to get rid of these pesky bumps. You can try some ointment like Maderma afterwards for scars, Vitamin E, or maybe even aloe. I am not doing any of these as of yet.  YES, she has small craters. They look just like chicken pox marks. I am sure these will disappear as her skin stretches with growth. She's 5.

 

 

 

SUPPLIES:

1. Vinegar I used the Walmart brand vinegar. I believe it was about $3.50 for the large bottle.

2. Cotton balls

3. Q-tips

4. Hydrogen peroxide pointless

5. Band aids (a lot) or medical tape (sensitive one) Medical tape didn't work. Band aids did.

6. Neosporin No need.

 

I really hope this helps all of you. Again, I am not a doctor or anyone with any medical knowledge. I am simply a mom who was at her wits end. This worked for us. I was skeptical when I first read about it, but it was worth a shot. I also didn't want to spend big bucks, that I didn't have, on expensive medicine, that may or may not have worked. I spent less than $20 on the ACV and less than $45 with the Tea Tree oil and materials I bought before.

 

Please leave me your feedback, your own experiences, share your stories and any remedy that worked for you. I would love to hear them!

Its been about 10 days since I started the treatment. I wrote kind of in a frenzy yesterday from the effects the apple cider vinegar had on her back. However, after a day of not touching it, the burn is very superficial, and is scabbing over. It looks like the kind of scratch you get when you fall off your bike and skin your knees.

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.

I think I tried to combat it too aggressively. Once she heals, I am going to start again, and this time, be a little less fierce about it. I was really desperate to get rid of them.

There is some GOOD news, though. In the days I have been doing it, , 6 out of the 24 bumps have scabbed over, and are gone.

I'm still doing the daily foot baths with the water/ACV mixture to see if I can get rid of the one on her other foot.

The only ones that have really reacted to the ACV are the larger ones, or the ones that have gotten larger in the process. The small ones, although slightly redder, look about the same. Some may be a bit bigger, but enough to be called LARGE.

Also, they haven't spread anymore. *fingers crossed*

Treating Molluscum Contagiosum (APPLE CIDER VINEGAR)

******UPDATE: We are molluscum free now. You can find treatment updates here. I recommend you still read this page because its more detailed on steps. The other one is an update on the steps but doesn't include all the info found here.*******

If you're here, most of you know what Molluscum Contagiosum is. If you don't, you can read a bit more about it here.

Typically, it's considered a "mild" virus, since it really has no other side effects, except for those horrid little contagious bumps, which at most may become itchy. It's related to the pox virus.

 

I am in no way a doctor. I am simply a mom who reached her wits end. This is what worked for me. Hopefully, it will work for you too! Just be cautious with anything you decide to try.

 

THE START OF IT ALL

My daughter showed us a little pimple she got on her back. I wanted to pop it, but she freaked out, and didn't let me near it. After a few weeks, it got noticeably bigger, and I figured it was a wart, and not a pimple. I am not a fan of rushing kids to the doctor for any little thing, so against every one's suggestion, I didn't take her. Then it got bigger and there were TWO more next to it. OK, maybe now it was time to head to the doctors.

Took her to the doctor's office, and after examining my daughter, the doctor nonchalantly said, "Oh, it's Molluscum."  She also told me it was contagious but that it would run its course.

...run it's course

..........run it's course

Those word haunt me now a year later.

 

I put the bumps on the back burner and didn't give it much thought. Doctor said they would go away on their own. One day ONE of them did. It scabbed over and dried out. Ahhh, the doctor was right. No need to worry. Well here we are, months later, and not with THREE bumps, but TWENTY FOUR bumps. They were mostly tiny, teeny tiny, except for one. They seemed to just pop out over night. I went into freak out mode. Twenty four bumps on my little girl? I couldn't deal.

 

I went online and started looking at pictures. BIG mistake. Hundreds? She can get hundreds...and on her face??

Immediately, I took her back to the doctor, and said "You said it would go away on its own. They are still here and now there are more". The doctor looked a little annoyed by the obvious accusation and replied, "And, they will. It may take a while."  She told me if I really wanted, she would send me to a dermatologist, but that all they were going to do was send an expensive cream, and that my insurance would not cover it. I was bummed, I was not working, and knew this would put a huge strain on our pockets.

That day, I came home and my heart was broken. I felt as it was my fault I let these get as far as they did.  Oh, did I forget to mention, I was 7 months pregnant. So, now I had another thing weighing on my mind....WHAT IF THE BABY GOT THIS AFTER IT WAS BORN.

That same night I became this crazed research monster. I read up anything and everything I could find.

 

 

OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS (TEA TREE OIL)

 

After reading page, after page, after page, my mind became a little clouded with treatments. I wanted to try them all. I got overwhelmed. After, thinking it all through, I thought that I would take a natural oil approach.

 

I began with 100% TEA TREE OIL (TTO). I bought it at a natural health store. It was $10 for about an ounce. I figured it would last since I was only suppose to dip a q-tip and put a thin layer on each bump.

 

This was the one I bought. It had a strong smell, but nothing to bad.

 

I also bought some hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, and Q-tips.

 

 

I started off by cleaning her skin with a cotton ball wet with HP. I started off by putting on one layer of the TTO with a Q-tip. After two day, the bumps were the same size, some maybe a tad smaller, as in less inflamed, and seemed to be drying over the top.

 

I was ecstatic!  It was really working!

 

We tried this for about 3 weeks. The bumps stayed the same size, but definitely looked as if they were drying out......that is until we wet them again.

 

After every shower, or the few times I let her run through the sprinklers, I noticed they looked puffy again. Trying to keep positive I continued the treatment, this time adding IODINE once the TTO dried up. I did this a few times but the iodine was coloring her skin.

 

I went back to researching. This was not working out quite as I thought and with summer right around the corner, I needed something that worked a bit quicker.

 

 

TAKE TWO (APPLE CIDER VINEGAR)

 

After a few more hours of research, I decided to try some Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). I did not want to do the baths, because the area where she had the bumps would not be covered, and I didn't want to risk exposing the areas that would be sitting in the water.  So, I decided to just try the bandages with the ACV cotton ball.

 

 

 

That day I went and bought some generic ACV. When she got home from school, I let her run in the sprinklers.  When she came out they looked as they normally did....puffy. The larger one was really white. I poke at it a bit with 2 Q-tips, just to stress it out some.

 

I started the process, and when my daughter realized how many band aids I was going to be putting on her, she had a meltdown. Instead of putting one on each, I picked out a few that would be the guinea pigs in this experiment.

 

I left the bandages on for about 6 hours. Before bed, I went to give her a bath, and to have the water ease the removal of the bandages.

 

As I removed each one, I started to notice they were all turning WHITE. Definitely different from the TTO. When I removed the last one, which had been covering the big bump, we realized that it had turned BLACK!

 

BLACK = GREAT

 

This means its going to scab over.

 

As you can imagine, I was thrilled, and finally seeing a light at the end of this ordeal.

 

The next day, I repeated it all. I let her play in the sprinkles, bathed her, put the band aids with the cotton ball etc. This time none turned black but they were all visibly bigger and some were more white then usual.

 

On the third day, I repeated the same steps. This time TWO of them were really white, and a lot bigger then the previous day. After her bath I poked at them a little and applied the ACV.....and guess what? When I removed the bandages they were black.

 

On the days following that, I had to change up the routine a bit. It was raining down here, and windy, so we weren't able to enjoy the sprinklers. I feel like this made a HUGE difference. Although, i followed all the other steps like in the previous days, they were getting a only a LITTLE bit bigger and continued to stay a tiny bit white, but nothing compared to when I would let her stay wet for a while.

 

She also had one solitaire one on her right ankle (small, but not tiny, and slightly white) and one on top of her left foot (tiny/ not white). I let her soak her feet in a vinegar/water bath for 20 minutes, and then applied the ACV cotton ball. I did this for two days. The larger one got really red with a dark spot in the middle. I'm hoping this means its going to scab over soon. The other one doesn't look any different really, but it's so small and NOT white. This is happening today as I write this so hopefully soon I can have answers as to what happened.

 

 

WHERE ARE WE NOW

 

 As of today, she has had THREE turn black, and go away. We have been doing the ACV for a week. The weather was not on our side for a few days, and finally today, I was able to let her run in the sprinklers again. Just like I thought, the two bigger ones got really puffy and white, I poked them a bit, and applied the ACV band aid to it.

 

I am going to give it a few hours and see what happens. 

 

 

 

WHAT I LEARNED SO FAR (In General)

 

1. Don't sit on your butt. Even if your doctor says it will go away on its own, do some research, and figure out what other approach may work for you. Doctors don't prescribe holistic, or home remedies, and who knows, they may just work. You have to wait it out anyway, right?

 

2. Don't give up! There are many, many, many posts out there of what has worked, and hasn't worked, for many people. This is a good thing. It gives us many options to play with. Maybe you luck out on your first attempt, and maybe you have to try two, or three remedies, before finding out what works best with your body.  Either way you have to LET IT RUN ITS COURSE, so why not try different things in the meantime.

 

3. Be patient. It might take 2 weeks to clear up on someone and 2 months on someone else. Remember, our immune systems help with the curing of this virus. We don't all have the same one.

 

4. Take vitamins. I knew I had to attack this from the outside and the inside. My daughter is a picky eater and veggies and fruits were not going to cut it. I started her on a gummy multi-vitamin. I later realized there was one for the immune system. I will get that next time.

 

5. WASH everything! I didn't repeat her outfits, and I used ONE towel every day, and I changed her bed sheets once a week. During that week, I sprayed the living daylights out of it with Lysol. All it takes is one little flake of skin to pass this virus around. I tried my best. I sprayed down everything that came in contact with her clothes or body daily with Lysol.

 

6. Anti-Bacterial is our friend. Wash your hands and their hands with soap and warm water as often as possible and then squirt some anti-bacterial just in case. This is what we did.

 

7. Exposure. If you are lucky enough to have them someplace where they can be covered up do so. Not necessarily with bandages, but with clothes. This helps in keeping others virus free. Make sure your kids wear pants and t-shirts over them. It's hard, but just be mindful. Someone wasn't with me and look at all I've been through. If you don't have molluscum, stay away from anyone that does. For adults: Its like an STD and contagious through sex because of the skin to skin contact. So let your partners know, or better yet, stay zipped up.

 

 

 

WHAT I LEARNED SO FAR (with ACV)

 

1. TAKE THAT! The ACV works best in scabbing the larger ones that are really white. Try getting these first. If they have a lot of bumps, it can get overwhelming for both you, and them.

 

2. BATHS I did NOT give her baths. I didn't want to risk them spread to her privates. Her bumps were all on her back, around the under part of her armpit.

 

3. WATER EXPOSURE I noticed my daughters got puffier and whiter AFTER being exposed to water for a good while....at least 20 minutes or more. I let her run in the sprinklers. If you are unable to use sprinklers for any reason, or use a chlorinated pool (there is no proof its spreads in chlorine), I suggest letting them wear a t-shirt, and let them enjoy a long SHOWER (not bath). I suggest the t-shirt because it will keep the bumps moist for a good while. Dry them off as soon as they come out of the shower.

 

4. STEPS Once they are dried up from the shower, start you ACV process.

• pick out puffiest/whitest bumps first (only do a few at a time)
• poke the bigger ones a bit to aggravate them. This seems to help. Use Q-tip.
•  dry area well
•  place half of band aid over selected bump
• dip cotton ball in ACV. Squeeze some of the excess but not completely dry.
• place in middle of band aid
• seal up other half of band aid

5. TIME. If you do this during the day and are able to reapply, do so. Once the cotton dries up, remove them with tweezers from inside the band aid, and insert a newly moist cotton ball. Leave this on for a few more hours.Then remove bandages off completely. I found the sleeping with the bandages was unnecessary since the ACV does dry up in a couple of hours. No need for them to be sleeping uncomfortably. I would only suggest this if your little one picks and pulls the bandages while awake.

 

6. Vinegar is acidic and burns.  It was very hard for me to put the band aids on a squirmy, whiny kid, so I opted not to put such a small piece of cotton on the bumps. This did cause some burning of the outer layer of skin. This also only occurred on the ones that scabbed over first. If you see that the skin becomes to irritated give it a few days. Let it heal, and then continue. Some people dilute it a bit with water, but I didn't do this. If it burns their skin too much, then stop for a while, and try again. If it continues to hurt their skin, apart from just a bit of stinging, this may not be suitable for them.

 

7. The Mighty scab. Once the bumps scab, I wouldn't put anymore ACV because it will hurt. Instead, put some neosporin and cover with a band aid. One two of ours, once the band aid was removed, the scab was stuck on the band aid. If the area still looks like its healing, clean it off with some hydrogen peroxide, and reapply the neosporin.

 

8. Scarring. Yes, it might leave scars. I think they will eventually look like chicken pox scar. Burning them off will leave scars, too. I don't mind a few small round scars. I can live with them and since my daughter is only 5, and has a lot of growing to do, I don't think they will be that big of a deal. Anything to get rid of these pesky bumps. You can try some ointment like Maderma afterwards for scars, Vitamin E, or maybe even aloe. I am not doing any of these as of yet.  

 

 

 

SUPPLIES:

1. Vinegar I used the Walmart brand vinegar. I believe it was about $3.50 for the large bottle.

2. Cotton balls

3. Q-tips

4. Hydrogen peroxide

5. Band aids (a lot) or medical tape (sensitive one)

6. Neosporin

 

 

I haven't taken any pictures yet, because I get so stressed out with them, that as soon as my daughter comes out of the shower, I just want to attack them. I usually remember after I have them all covered up.

 

Please, feel free to leave me any questions. I will try to answer them the best I can. I will also update in a few days with the current situation of the bumps.

 

 

 

Please let me know about your experience. Feel free to share any tips that helped you. Hopefully, it can help another parent in need.