Molluscum Contagiosum

Molluscum contagiosum is a skin infection caused by a virus that appears as small, harmless skin growths or bumps. They resemble pimples at first but later enlarge to have a waxy, pinkish look and a small central pit. Molluscum contagiosum is contagious and is easily spread from person to person by direct skin contact. It is a benign condition, never turning cancerous.

Treatment is targeted at destroying each individual lesion. There is no single perfect treatment of molluscum contagiosum since we are unable to kill the virus. Various treatment options are available and have shown success:

• Blistering agent (cantharidin) – applied topically to each lesion, causing the growths to blister and peel
• Liquid nitrogen – damages the growths through freezing
• Superficial surgical removal – shaving or scraping the lesions off, or manually extracting the lesions

Molluscum contagiosum lesions may become red and sore when the body tries to reject the virus. Sometimes a rash appears around the growths. These symptoms are harmless and can be ignored, safely resolving with time. 

Sometimes new lesions will form while existing ones are being treated. New growths should be treated when they become large enough to be seen.