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The Best Treatment of Molluscum Contagiosum

LifeHacker | Dec 19, 2010 |

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Molluscum Contagiosum is a benign viral skin infection that expresses itself with elevated pimples that tend to occur in groups.

Molluscum goes away on its own but the process can take over a year.

Well...screw that!

That means that you'd be living with molluscum for a long time and since it's highly contagious, simply waiting it out is both unnecessary and risky for you (you can further infect surrounding skin) and for others.

Since molluscum tends to occur in the areas on or around the genitals, it can be quite unsightly and sabotage a person's confidence and sex life.

I had 3 prominent molluscum pimples on my penis and tried several medications to get rid of them.

None worked and after about 7 months of doing nothing, I decided to try something that most doctors advised against: To pop them.

This worked like an absolute charm.

I'm not a doctor and you should certainly consult one if you think you might have molluscum, especially since it's easily confused with one of several other skin conditions, but in my case, several doctors did nothing for me except drain me of time and money.

Sometimes you have take matters into your own hands with the treatment of molluscum contagiosum.

Here is my procedure for popping molluscum pimples.

Things You Will Need

- Tweezers

- 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol)

- 3% Hydrogen Peroxide

- Small, thin needle

- A Bowl

- Tissue Paper

- Neosporin (or comparable generic brand)

Sterilization Before Mollescum Procedure

Place your needle and tweezers in a bowl and submerge the tips in your rubbing alcohol.

Pour rubbing alcohol over your hands and rub them vigorously (it's perfectly safe) until the alcohol evaporates.

After about 5 minutes, you're ready to operate.

Step 2

The molluscum pimple protrudes ever so slightly out of the skin.

Your job is to remove it cleanly and accurately. Have tissue paper on standby.

In my case, the pimples were on my penis so you can imagine the care I took.

If your pimple makes it impossible to use both hands, get a friend you trust to help you.

To the extent that it's possible, pinch the area of skin containing the pimple to isolate it.

Now, using your needle, carefully puncture the super-thin layer of skin on top of the molluscum pimple.

The idea here is to cut an area of skin above the pimple wide enough so that you'll be able to reach in with the tweezers and extract the waxy little ball of molluscum while minimizing damage to healthy skin.

This may require a few trys. Don't let the bleeding freak you out. Just dab it off and focus on removing the molluscum ball. Your skin will heal.

Once you've pierced the skin, it will begin bleeding. At this point, apply Hydrogen Peroxide to your tissue paper and dab it on the wound.

Remember, we want to avoid unnecessary infection here which is why we:

1. Sterilized
2. Applied Hydrogen Peroxide
3. Will apply neosporin once the bleeding subsides

Immediately after dabbing off as much blood as you can, take your tweezers and pull out the waxy ball of molluscum. Discard it.

You may wind up yanking up healthy skin along with it. That's OK. But again, be as careful as possible because you want to avoid scarring as well. The neosporin will help prevent this.

Once you've removed as many molluscum pimples as you felt comfortable with, hold the hydrogen peroxide-soaked tissue paper on your wounds until they've stopped bleeding.

Step 3

Recall that molluscum contagiosum is so called because it is highly contagious.

Re-submerge all of your tools in rubbing alcohol for 5 minutes.

Also pour rubbing alcohol over your hands and rub vigorously until the alcohol evaporates.

Make sure to pour rubbing alcohol on any surfaces that may have come in contact with the virus.

Once all the bleeding has subsided, apply a thin layer of Neosporin to each wound.

Continue doing this until the wounds are fully healed (in my case this took less than a week!)

Remember to hit your hands with some alcohol after each application just in case.

There you have it.

There's no reason you should have to walk around with molluscum contagiosum ruining your life.

If you've been sitting around applying worthless medications that cost lots of money and feeling like a leper in the meantime, do yourself a favor and just pop them (intelligently!)

Tips & Warnings

I want to reiterate that I am NOT a doctor.

I'm just a well informed patient. Doctors can't always help you, you've got to do your homework and take as much responsibility for your health as possible!

There are many fantastic resources where regular people (non-MD's) have begun solving their own health problems in this fashion.

www.curetogether.org is one such organization.

Be smart, follow the steps and start living molluscum free!