How to treat molluscum contagiosum with Pharmacist Virginia

6 ways to treat molluscum contagiosum Molluscum contagiosum is a skin infection caused by the pox virus and can take up to 6 to 18 months to clear on it’s own. You should never cut or squeeze a molluscum spot as this can cause a skin infection or spread the virus to other parts of the body. If you want to treat it, you need to know that most treatments take weeks to work, and some might be painful or leave a scar. Timestamps 00:00 What is molluscum contagiosum? 00:33 Molluscum contagiosum treatment: 5% potassium hydroxide from pharmacy 01:28 Prescription medicines to treat molluscum contagiosum 01:58 Catharidin beetle juice treatment for molluscum contagiosum 02:17 Liquid nitrogen molluscum contagiosum treatment 02:35 Curettage surgery with Curette to cut molluscum contagiosum bumps or spots 03:04 Pulse Dye Laser Treatment (PDL) to treat molluscum contagiosum You can get a liquid with 5% potassium hydroxide from your pharmacy. You put a little bit of the liquid on the spots every day for a few days. When the skin starts to look red and swollen and feel painful, you should stop using the liquid because the skin is now broken, so your body’s immune system can attack the molluscum virus. After a few weeks, the spots should go away. Outside of the pharmacy, you need to see a skin doctor called a dermatologist if you have lots of molluscum bumps, they are on your face, you have a medical condition, or you take other medicines. You might get a prescription for a medicine called imiquimod, salicylic acid, podophyllotoxin or tretinoin cream to put on the bumps to help irritate the skin and break the skin to help your immune system attack the virus. They might put a medicine like Cantharidin, also known as beetle juice. This helps to make a blister on the bumps and break the skin so your immune system can attack the virus. After a few weeks, the spots should go away. A dermatologist might use a very cold liquid called liquid nitrogen to freeze the molluscum bumps. This can be painful, and you need to do this every 2 or 3 weeks to get rid of all the bumps. Your doctor could use a curette to cut the molluscum off the skin. This is a type of surgery called curettage. There might be some bleeding and a scar. You should never try to squeeze or cut the molluscum bumps by yourself, as you could get an infection and spread the virus to other parts of your body. Pulse dye laser treatment or PDL uses a laser to help clear the molluscum after a few weeks. It does not burn the skin or cause any bleeding. Thank you for watching. Subscribe for free to see more videos! Please like the video by clicking the thumbs up icon to support the creation of more videos on this channel :) Virginia is a pharmacist registered with the GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council) in the UK and this channel is for informational purposes only. The information presented is accurate to the best of Virginia's knowledge. You are responsible for your own research and application of the information presented. Please see a healthcare professional such as a pharmacist, doctor or nurse as appropriate for your own health needs. No promotions. Just health education. #Molluscum #MolluscumTreatment #TreatMolluscum