Molluscum - Those Little White Bumps

            Molluscum Contagiosum is a very common rash in children. It is caused by a virus that creates small, flesh-colored bumps with a white cottage cheese-like substance inside the bump. If you look closely, you can see a slight dimple in the center of the bump that resembles a little belly button. You first notice a few bumps and then, over time, there are more and more of them until you finally are tired of looking at them and just want them to go away.                                           
           There are lots of treatments (not cures, because it is a viral illness) for molluscum. When I started practice, the dermatologists told us to pick the center of each one out with a needle. Pediatricians finally revolted against this practice because it was painful and bloody, and, besides, the molluscum just kept coming back. Since then, some dermatologists still use the needle and others use mild irritants like benzoyl peroxide while others use harsher chemicals (acids or  "bug juice" - an insect-derived highly irritating substance), and others burn or freeze them off much like warts. The dermatologists swear that they do all this because it makes the molluscum go away faster (remember that even they don't claim to "cure" molluscum) but in 35 years of practice, I never heard one parent say that they thought anything actually worked - the molluscum just kept coming back until they finally didn't come back. I also never heard one parent say they were glad they did any of the treatments. The molluscum don't leave scars unless they get infected, but many of the treatments leave small scars that are permanent.
            When you go to a dermatologist (or any doctor for that matter), you have paid money, taken time out of your day and waited to see that doctor. The doctor feels obligated to do something "doctor-like". Many (if not most) of the day-to-day problems that we human beings suffer with are self-limited and will go away without doing anything, But most people who go to a doctor don't want to hear the doctor say, "Just ignore it and it will eventually go away", so there is pressure on both doctor and patient to "DO SOMETHING".
            As much as you want the molluscum gone, and as sick as you are of having to answer questions about them, it still is best to just ignore them. If one gets inflamed from the child irritating it or if one looks red and infected, put Neosporin on it and cover it with a band-aid until it heals.
            Or, there are plenty of doctors out there who are more than willing to have you pay them to treat the molluscum and, once you are on that road, they will be seeing you again and again.