What should I do if my child gets molluscum?<\/strong><\/p>\nSo if you find molluscum today on your kiddo first, all first of all, don\u2019t panic. This is something that\u2019s just bound to happen. Pretty much every child will end up with a molluscum or two, and it\u2019s not always a bad situation. Some kids will just have one or two molluscum. They go away all by themselves and they never cause any problems. So just noticing molluscum is not a reason to be overly concerned. If however, the molluscum are spreading or causing itching or pain, then you can definitely pursue treatment to try to speed up that resolution process. And I\u2019d be happy to talk with, with patients to guide them through the options.<\/p>\n
Can a child\u2019s molluscum spread to a parent?<\/strong><\/p>\nSo most adults have been exposed to the virus that causes molluscum in some way, shape perform during their life. So it\u2019s uncommon to have an adult get molluscum. However, it can happen sometimes some way an adult has avoided molluscum their whole life or avoided the virus that causes molluscum. And so then as an adult, they pop up with a few, so it can happen, but it\u2019s very uncommon.<\/p>\n
How long will the molluscum last?<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you get molluscum and you choose not to treat, which is always okay, they can last up to two to three years. That doesn\u2019t mean they will last that long, but they can last that long.<\/p>\n
Can my child go swimming with molluscum?<\/strong><\/p>\nYou can definitely still go swimming with molluscum, even though that\u2019s a common location to pick it up in the first place, um, you can still go swimming and going swimming once you have them is not going to make them worse. A lot of people ask me if they should avoid swimming to avoid spreading it to other kids. And yes, technically it\u2019s a virus and yes, technically it spreads like crazy in swimming pools. However, pretty much all kids are going to get molluscum. And so I don\u2019t believe in quarantining kids from swimming simply because they have them. So I think it is safe to continue to swim. You may want to keep them covered, you know, with a larger bathing suit or a swim shirt, just to avoid questions and curiosities from other people.<\/p>\n
Can you get it from a toilet seat?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think that would be kind of difficult. The timing would have to be just exactly right where someone else with molluscum on their bottom, sat on a toilet. And immediately after that, you sat on the toilet. I think it\u2019d be pretty hard to get it from a toilet seat. So there doesn\u2019t have to be a break in the skin in order to get molluscum, but a break in the skin certainly helps. That\u2019s why kids with eczema tend to get it worse than kids who don\u2019t have eczema because by eczemas nature, they have several breaks in their skin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pediatric Dermatologist Dr. Lisa Swanson answers all the questions about the spread and treatment of molluscum (aka water warts). Currently there is no FDA official treatment for the little bumps that spread so easily in kids, so the internet is full of at-home remedies. This Q and A article will address those and the common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pediatric-dermatology","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The spread and treatment of molluscum - Ada West Dermatology<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n