Molluscum is a viral infection of the skin that causes round painless bumps to develop. The bumps range in size from a pinhead to a pencil eraser. Unfortunately, if you scratch the bumps then you can spread them to the surrounding skin and make the infection even worse. The viral infection is highly contagious and can be spread via person-to-person contact and by touching infected objects.
Who Contracts Molluscum?
Children commonly contract molluscum contagiosum. Adults exposed to the condition can also develop it, especially older people or those with a weakened immune system. The bumps often take a year to disappear, but they can be removed by a physician.
What are the Symptoms of Molluscum?
Symptoms of molluscum include:
- Raised, flesh-colored bumps on the skin’s surface
- The bumps are small. They usually measure under ¼ of an inch in diameter (6 millimeters)
- May be red and inflamed
- Each bump usually has a small indention or dot in the middle
- Often itch
- The bumps can be scraped or rubbed away but will infect the surrounding skin
- Innumerable bumps appear on the face, arms, hands, neck, armpits, genitals, lower abdomen, and inner thighs.
- In individuals with a weakened immune system the bumps can grow exceptionally large and number in the 100s on the face.
Options to Treat Molluscum
Here are a few surgical options to treat the bumps caused by molluscum contagiosum:
- Cryosurgery: The bumps will be frozen using liquid nitrogen
- Curettage: A physician will scrape away the bumps using a curette.
- Laser surgery: A laser is used to destroy the bumps.
- Topical therapy: Various chemical acids will remove the bumps from your skin by destroying the top layer.
- Prescription Medication: Topical medications such as retinol may be prescribed for home application.
A person can choose to not treat the bumps caused by the molluscum virus. However, until all the lesions are gone, the person is considered still contagious and must take great care not to spread the virus to other individuals.
Contact our office to learn more about molluscum!