Molluscum contagiosum (MC) usually clears up on its own without the need for treatment. It rarely causes any other problem. However, complications can sometimes occur, particularly in people with a weakened immune system. Reasons why someone may have a weakened immune system include: receiving chemotherapy for cancer, being HIV positive, and taking medicines that suppress immune system, such as azathioprine or steroids.
People who have had organ transplants are usually required to take immunosuppressants to prevent their body rejecting the donated organs. Immunosuppressants are also used treat severe autoimmune conditions, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy tissue. The digestive condition Crohns disease is an example of an autoimmune condition.
The two most common complications that can occur in people with a weakened immune system are: having larger lesions than normal, having many more lesions than normal, and having a larger area of the body covered by the lesions, such as the chest, face and both arms. Due to the increased risk of developing a more severe form of molluscum contagiosum, people with a weakened immune system are usually referred to a dermatologist.
Squeezing the lesions is the first and the simplest type of treatment for molluscum contagiosum. The aim of squeezing the lesions is to remove the pearly grey core at their centre. Do not try to squeeze the lesions before consulting your general practitioner. If they advise you to squeeze the lesions, wash and dry your hands thoroughly both before and afterwards. After drying your hands on a towel, wash the towel immediately on the hot cycle of your washing machine.
If you do not follow these important hygienic precautions, lesions may become infected by bacteria that are already present on your skin. Your general practitioner can advise you about whether your child should have their spots squeezed or whether it is better to let the infection clear by itself. Your general practitioner can squeeze your or your child's lesions, or they can train you to safely squeeze the lesions yourself.
Your general practitioner may use a small pair of forceps or tweezers to squeeze the lesions, but you may find it easier to use your fingers. If you want to remove the cores of the lesions yourself, do it after you or your child has had a bath, as the skin will be softer. Wear disposable gloves, wash your hands before and afterwards, and carefully dispose of the contents of the lesions.
An alternative to using tweezers is to use a wooden toothpick to tease out the core of the lesion. Afterwards, put the toothpick in the dustbin. Removing the cores of the lesions can be painful, so it may be best to treat a small number at a time. Once the lesions have been treated and their contents removed, they are likely to heal within one to four weeks.
Cryotherapy involves freezing the lesions with liquid nitrogen to remove them. Each lesion is frozen for five to ten seconds so that a layer of ice forms over the spot and surrounding skin. You may need several sessions of cryotherapy before each spot clears completely. You will need to wait two to three weeks between each treatment session.
Diathermy uses heat to remove the lesions. After you have been given a local anaesthetic to numb the area being treated, your general practitioner or nurse will use a heated electrical device to burn off the lesions. Curettage removes lesions by scraping them off with a thin metal instrument called a curette. As with diathermy, you may have a local anaesthetic to numb your skin.
Plant medicine for molluscum has significant effect without side effect. It is particularly invaluable not only in consideration of its ability to inactivate the extra cellular molluscum virus at very low concentrations, but also for its tolerability to healthy surrounding tissue, which makes this product so important in today's pharmacopia.
The lipophilic tendency of this treatment allows it to penetrate into cell membranes to dissolve the lipo protein hull of the molluscum virus, thus destroying it. Plant medicine has produced spectacular results to eliminate molluscum, regardless of location on the body. Application literally dissolves molluscum day after day, without damaging healthy tissue, total clearance is often experienced. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.