Apple Cider Vinegar for Molluscum Contagiosum

My son had molluscum and then my daughter contracted it as well. With my son, they were on his side and spreading, no help from the doctor. The ACV worked well for him. Swabbed over them each evening and covered with large bandaids did the trick - gone within a week. My daughter had them on the backs of her legs, knees and bottom. The ACV was too harsh for her skin. After more research I tried using iodine. I used Liqui-kelp and Postassium iodide ( ran out of the liqui-kelp and had the other on hand). I put a few drops, rub it in and cover with bandaid that the pad is soaked in Iodine. It worked great for her - they were gone within a week of treatment. Bear in mind that the bumps get ugly and look irritated, then turn black in the middle and then they go away.. For both of my kids they left pock marks but you can't see them unless you are up close. They are both molluscum free. Hope this helps!

Blessings~

~Carleen

All 3 of my young children contracted molluscum contagiosum between the ages of 2 and 6 (at different times) - presumably at the swimming pool. The youngest child got it the worst and having been told by our gp that it was harmless and would go in due course (all very well but it was irritating her and spreading quite fast from her arms to her body) I read about apple cider vinegar on the net. What I did was prick a few of the wart like things with a sterile needle, remove the white gunk, clean the site and then apply the (double strength - neat) vinegar on a cotton wool pad for about 10 seconds each place, and then put a plaster (band-aid)on it. It did sting but didn't last long or upset them too much. In all 3 cases the little warts went away - not just the few I treated but all of them - within a few weeks. I probably did 2 treatments with the vinegar per child about 1 week apart. I am so thankful that I did treat it myself rather than let it run it's course over many months or years, which can happen.

Hi, I started using ACV on my 3yr old who got MC. How long does it take to see it healing? I'm only 1wk in and applying 2 times a day with cotton swabs and diluting it with water. She is allergic to plasters so just letting the ACV dry in. She scratched one so there has definitely been an increase in them. Really hoping I can curb it soon. Thanks

I recently found out I have molluscum on my the inside part of my backside after getting a regular check up at my gyno. She told me to "ride it out" and that it'll cure itself in 4-6 months even though its highly contagious….ok? Less than a week later I find a bump on my face. So I did research found the apple cider vinegar approach and I applied the apple cider vinegar using bands wherever fit. After one night of soaking my face in the vinegar it is now white and there appears to be a faint black dot in the middle, however, I'm really scared to "de-core" it. I don't want it to scar. Is it ok to just keep soaking it in the vinegar and it goes away naturally or do I have to essentially pop them all?

I am going to give the apple cider vinegar a try. My 10 year old daughter has had this for a few months and the doctors have said it'll go, but they don't seem to understand how it's starting to impact on her self esteem. I will let you know how it works out .

I've spent many hours reading about this nasty virus. I need some specific advice from anyone who can help with my questions.

First here are the circumstances: My 5 yr old girl has it. It started on her inner thighs about 4.5 months ago, but has now moved up to her groin/private region, and back of her knees. She has been treated by a dermatologist 3 times (over a 3.5 month period) with "Cantharone Plus"(Extract from a beetle, blistering agent). Each treatment has gotten progressively worse. The appointments are at least 4-6 weeks apart, the drug leaves her with LARGE painful blisters, and she has more bumps each time we go. I don't think I can do this to her again, it is awful. I did try Tea Tree oil twice a day (morn and eve) for a week and a half, with no results at all, except irritated skin.

She could barely walk yesterday (1 hr post treatment) they are so raw and red and must be very painful. She was a trouper though! I washed her and patched her up last night so she could sleep. Please note, she has quite sensitive skin. Bandages and medical tape usually leave red, scaly skin, and she has Exzema, but not often or in large patches. She doesn't do well with scented or coloured soap/ bodywash. So now to my questions:

1) I want to try the ACV treatment I've been reading about. BUT do I wait until the large blisters have subsided? I am guessing it will be INCREDIABLEY painful to put ACV on them in this state! ?

2) What is the ACV concentration amount? So how much ACV do I apply, and do I leave wet cotton balls/ pads in place bandaged or taped on? Or just dab on with a Q-Tip? How do you keep them stuck on wet skin? Do you cover each bump with a bandage or sterile dressing? Or is it better to leave them open? * concern with not covering them is reinfection of each leg, due to thighs rubbing*

3) Do you do this 1 or 2 times daily? (she is in school so only possible morn and eve)

4) I have been applying Kids Polysporin to the Large Blistered ones but not the small white bumps because it helps with the pain and she had 2 infected bumps last time around, so has anyone else tried this? Does it help or hinder the process?

5) Dermatlgst stated people with Exzema and skin conditions more susceptible to MC. Wear looser pants, no more tights, a thick barrier cream to stop chaffing of thighs. Baths better than showers, no bubbles, no oils. Aveeno oatmeal may be good. Pat dry, don't rub. All this info is well and good but some seems contradictory to what I keep reading. Particularly the bath over shower part. Perhaps bathing in ACV? Any suggestions please?

6) My child LOVES the swimming pool, and we go often. She also has swim lessons once a week. Do we bandage them all each time we go? Would a swim suit with legs be of any use? Any suggestions??

7) Lastly, if anyone has experience in dealing with this in a child, in such a sensitive body area please pass any info along, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for your time,

One Frustrated Mum

P.S. I am Vigilant about not wearing pants more than once, keeping hands away from that area (tough when going to bathroom though) and only using towels once.

I want to offer help for those who are struggling with band-aids or medical tapes that irritate skin, when needing to keep applying poultices or other healing modalities on sensitive skin.

I suffered with sensitive skin, and have fallen in love with using that 'new' type of saran wrap called Press 'n' Seal.

I use a sterile gauze pad to apply vinegar or oil or garlic or salve or whatever needs to be on the 'wound' or area of concern... then cut a size of Press'n'Seal large enough to hold it on- larger than a band-aid would be, usually an inch around or better if it's larger, then just stick it on to my skin. It doesn't look great! but it doesn't cause any skin irritation.

I wore one into my dermatologists, and she was excited, immediately saying she knew two young patients she was going to use it with right away who were suffering with an 'adhesive allergy" as she called it.

If you are dealing with a large skin area, like a rash or have several lesions or pimples or bites or such, stick your gauze bits to them, and cover the whole thing with the wrap. If you need it to look better, or are working with a child (who won't be able to resist peeling it off) or it's in an area where it will get rubbed by clothing, then you can cover the sticky-wrap with gauze, or that sticky-ace-bandage stuff, but it isn't touching the skin, so it's easier on the skin. And, it 'waterproofs' the poultice from leaking out of, say, just gauze.

Hey I was dealing with molluscum for some months "down there" but what I found that worked was applying apple cider vinegar every time I used the rest room and it went away in a week and hasn't come back.

I wanted to post my 11 year old son's experience with Molloscum Contagiosum. He had it for about three months on his upper thigh before I realized (and confirmed with pediatrician) what he had. I read many, many hours on the internet for what to do and agree with ACV as a first course of action. I do have a caveat. ACV will burn the skin and my son's problem was the larger pox were surrounded by tiny ones, which many people don't mention. So I freaked out when I did the ACV and then more seemed to pop out! I kept applying the ACV and I cleaned out the larger pox as some people have posted. Then the ACV began to redden his skin so I switched to CLOVE OIL. I applied clove oil to the entire area affected (always with gloved hands and q-tips) and covered it with a cloth bandage and taped it on. He smelled like a Christmas cookie. After three weeks his leg has some scabs but no new pox. I also gave him TAGAMET (Walmart generic). I think we will be in the clear soon. Here is a quick breakdown of what I did following what people have already posted:

1. apply ACV to large pox -- don't freak out if more come out just keep treating them; once a large pox is cleaned out apply triple antibiotic ointment for a couple of days to avoid infection

2. if skin becomes irritated and you have cleaned out the larger pox switch to 100% Clove Oil

3. give generic Tagamet, I used the dosage of 30mg per kg of body weight, which seemed a little high for his 105 lbs. so he took 1000 mg - 1200 mg (5-6 200mg tablets daily)

I hope this helps.

My daughter had molluscum bumps on her knee and elbow. Each site had only about 10 bumps, but at 7 years old she was uncomfortable with how they looked and didn't like her friends asking what they were. I asked the pediatrician about them and she said it was mollescum and that it was a virus that just had to run its course, sometimes getting much worse than better.

I turned to EarthClinic, as I do for everything(! ), and once again ACV seemed to be the trick. We put it on by dabbing with a cotton ball about 3 times a week and within a month they were gone. I think with an even more regular treatment they would have been gone even faster! Love love love what ACV has done for us!!

I can't thank you all enough. Our two year old was diagnosed with mc when she had maybe 5 spots. Stupid doctor prescribed some cream and we were told it would go eventually but that there was really nothing we could do but wait. Chemist sold us some drinking concoction for another $160. Two months later our daughter had maybe 30 spots and they were really starting to spread and multiply faster. They were spreading from chest to tummy, arms and leg. Then we hit the Internet and found Apple Cider Vinegar and Dr Wheatgrass cream. Within 30 minutes we had bought both. And I can't begin to explain how happy we are now just a week after the purchases. We used the Apple Cider Vinegar on the body spots and within 2 days they were scabbing over. We soaked a make up pad in the Apple Cider Vinegar and secured it with macuracrome. You will need to check the spelling. It is white medical tape that can be removed easily. Less painful than bandaids. We applied the Acv in this way each morning and night, leaving it on the white spots all day and night. We sometimes gave the scabbed over spots a dab of Apple Cider Vinegar if they didn't look like they were damaged enough. One week on the scabs are starting to drop off but we still need to see if the spots have actually gone. New little ones pop up every day or so and we immediately hit them with Apple Cider Vinegar for a day or two. These were obviously on the way up before we began treatment. As for the Dr Wheatgrass, we bought the most powerful and and after a week it does not seem to have done much. In fairness the company claims it takes a few weeks to work but we have now started with Apple Cider Vinegar on the arm spots and stopped the Dr W cream because Apple Cider Vinegar works and works fast. So we figures it is silly to let the other spots linger. We also want this to be over for our daughter. The vinegar does sting on raw spots but we always have a wet facewasher to immediately remove the Acv when it causes pain on an individual spot. I think our daughter actually looks forward to her treatments because she can see it working. There is a difference in 12 hours. I would not have believed it unless I had seen it. How can vinegar fix something in a week that our idiot doctor allowed to spread and told us it would last for months. She should be ashamed for allowing a child to slowly be covered in spots when she must surely have been aware of this amazing and simple cure. Our daughter was excited the spots were going red, then a scab the next day, then the scabs getting ready to fall off. She put up with a little discomfort because she could see it working. Please try Apple Cider Vinegar if your children have this disgusting virus. Don't hesitate because the spots will multiply and you will regret it.

It depends on whether you want to clear the problem up or you want to spread it. You have only been using ACV for 24 hours. There may still be some virus in the skin. If you open the pustules up by pulling the skin off with wax they will certainly spread. Be patient... it may take 7 days for the skin to be clear or more...

Hi there! A while ago I was diagnosed with Molluscum Contagiosum, an itchy fungus sort of thing that showed up around my vagina. It's not considered an STD but I no doubt contracted it from God-knows-who during a one night stand. So anyway, I couldn't stop itching it and the stuff was spreading like mad. My gyno reccomended that I have it burned off with acid. Ouch! No thanks! So, having heard of the healing properties of ACV, I gave it a shot. I applied a little bit to the affected area twice a day with a q-tip. In 2 weeks it was completely gone! Just dried right up. Totally easy and painless. It has now been over 6 months and it hasn't come back. Thank God for ACV!

Apple Cider Vinegar - Paper towel instead of cotton balls

Our youngest daughter developed molluscum and we were able to treat with oil of oregano. However, our son and other daughter who are older also developed molluscum a few months later, but did not seem to respond to the oil of oregano.

We tried the ACV and it seems to be working so far.

NOTE: we found using paper towel and tearing into small sheets to cover the affected area was more practical than taping a bunch of cotton balls.

Pour ACV in a small bowl. Tear sheets to cover area. Gently lay flat in the bowl to absorb, if you absorb too much use index and middle finger and lightly pull paper towel through fingers to squeeze excess liquid out.

Gently place onto skin and lightly smooth out. The liquid allows the paper towel to stick but it will fall off eventually. I've been doing this at night before bed and right before pajamas. Once pajamas are on, the paper towels seem to stay put but you could apply tape if needed (we never did). It's likely to soak into their pajamas as well but this helps keep that skin area soaking in ACV anyways.

Good luck and God bless!

I have molluscum on my genitals. I am unsure if I have them on my face too as I recently started using retinol on my face, which is known to cause a purge. Do you mind sharing photos?

Hello everyone and hi maren,

Just soak cotton ball in ACV and apply with the help of cloth bandages you get in medicals outlets. Dont use plastic tape for more than 7 hours on the site as it can burn like hell as ACV wont evaporate (if you want to use plastic duct tape or so)

I saw it on my stomach and near pubic region so I did this for 20 days.. I used ACV (5% from medical outlets) soaked in cotton for 24 hours with cloth tape. refilled the soaked cotton with syringe multiple times and finger press the soaked cotton with tape for 30 min and release. if we keep the cotton ball for 24 hours it can burn the skin and turn it in black- so I suggest keep it for atleast 12 hours. Once they start dying they will change colour to red, yellow, white and even scab at last. Keep doing it till the end. My molluscum went in 21 days. They may pop up one or two in different areas so keep an eye on them.

dont worry peeps it just a simple virus. I know its hard to say that.

Remember:

1. Drink ACV like 1tbs in 1 glass of water to boost immunity

2. Take vitamin C tabs

3. Bath with either baking soda or ACV . use 1 tbs baking soda or 1 cup of ACV

4. Use antibiotics cream after they die( triple antibiotic or mupirocin cream)

5. use new towel every time if possible for bath. use separate towel for infected area or let it air dry it. use dettol to clean that area after bath.

Also, my skin that got burned due to ACV I am using skin lightening agents to regain my original colour. Cover the area and try not to spread to other parts of body. I covered it with the same bandages for 24 hours.

God bless you guys

It is hard to say. Everyone is different. For some, apple cider vinegar is the perfect cure for MC. For others it doesn't seem as effective. It is certainly an inexpensive and safe remedy to try.

~Mama to Many~

Hi, thank you so much for this information.

My 2 year old was diagnosed yesterday with molluscum and he has about 8 of them on his arm. the doctor said to let it heal by itself. my son has to go back to daycare and I wouldn't want him to get anyone else with this virus. I want to put the ACV and maybe mix with TEA TREE OIL? on a cotton and bandaid, but for how long? can I put cotton on the spots and bandaid for the whole day at daycare or it should be removed every few hours? I can go there and change it for him. and once the spots turn black or white not to touch them with ACV?

Thank you again, so much....

How did you apply the Apple Cider Vinegar? Did you just apply it with a cotton ball or did you tape the cotton ball on over night?

WARNING!

Hi,

ACV does work for Molloscum Contagiosum, but its best if you can treat one lesion at a time otherwise it can hurt or burn your healthy skin, which becomes dry and irritated, then you scratch and cause them to spread. It will make your healthy skin look like road rash.

I have also read that you can put Vaseline on the areas that you don't want effected, not sure if this would cause all your band aids to come off Though, so it may not be practical.

Burning/freezing them off is not a good idea on a child because kids can't help but scratch and rub the blisters, this causes major spreading. Also if you still decide to try the Beatle juice, wash it off two hours after application, don't rub. I have taken my daughter several time to have this done and such bad blistering seemed unnecessary so I took her to another Dr. and he told me the shower trick. I tried it and it worked! The lesions died and she didn't have major blistering, just red where applied. My other Dr. Said to not wash it off for 24 hrs! What a difference it made.

Soak a small piece of cotton in the apple cider vinegar (just the kind you buy at grocery store)put directly over the lesion and cover with a bandaid. (Stock up on band aids cuz you will use a ton) Do this twice a day if possible. Best time to do this is right after a warm shower because the ACV will be able to penetrate easieR because the warts will be swollen.

Good luck!

Dear Struggling Momma,

I am so sorry about your daughter! I hate to see my little ones suffer, too! We have dealt with many skin issues over the years and I will share some things we have used. While we have not dealt with MC before, we have dealt with many skin issues, I can tell you what I would try.

First the Raw Apple Cider Vinegar...yes, it stings unless a good bit diluted. You could try 1/2 or 1 cup in her bath. After you draw the bath and add the vinegar, put the water on a cotton ball and test on a spot to make sure it is comfortable. You could do that nightly. If you want to spray it on, dilute it a lot and test one spot. Maybe start with 1 part vinegar and 5 parts water.

I have not seen Extra Virgin Coconut Oil mentioned for this (I may have missed it) but it is one of my favorite anti-virals. You can give her 1 teaspoon internally twice a day. You can also use this directly on the spots. You could add a little bit of tea tree and or clove essential oil to this (5 drops of essential oil to 1 Tablespoon coconut oil) to use topically. Test one spot. If it stings, skip the essential oils.

Turmeric, internally, is wonderful for skin conditions and infections. We give a child that age 1/4 teaspoon twice a day. (In serious situations, we have used more.) This should be taken with plenty of water.

Some have found Grapefruit Seed Extract, 2 drops in 6 ounces of juice, twice a day to help a lot.

You can get colloidal silver in a spray to apply topically if the vinegar doesn't work out. This should not sting (any more than water would.)

Yes, the tape irritates my skin and that of my children, too. I have not found a good solution to this. If they would cover, you could get little boys boxer/briefs made of all cotton to keep thighs from reinfecting one another. Just get a size that will be comfortably loose.

Keeping processed food and processed sugar to a minimum is important. An organic apple and banana to the daily diet would be helpful.

Well, these are the things I would start with. There are other herbs and things that could be tried if these things are not successful.

Please keep us posted on her progress.

~Mama to Many~

Dear Struggling Momma,

I understand your frustration and concern. Both of my kiddos had this and with my son the ACV worked great - His MC was on his torso/side. My daughter had MC on her bottom and behind her knees. We tried the ACV but it was too harsh for her so I bought some iodine ( not the brown kind- but the clear kind from the health food store). We would put it on every night and morning. At night we covered them with small round band-aids and we saturated the little pad on the band-aid as well. In the morning we would just put some iodine on them and leave them uncovered. The MC would become "angry" looking for a few days and then they turned to scabs and went away. They did leave little pock mark type scars but they are barely noticeable. It has been well over a year and no sign of them returning. The iodine did not cause her any discomfort at all. I hope this works for you!

God Bless~

~Carleen

I am glad you didn't use Compound W. It burned my son when the Dr suggested I use it.

I was very pleased to come across this information. When my eldest was about 4 she suffered this condition and I waited as the Doctor suggested, for it to go away on its own. Well it spread considerably from her legs and on up her tummy and was quite unsightly, causing distress even for a 4 year old. It took about 9 months to disappear. That was years ago, but when I noticed some spots on my son's legs a month or so ago I had a look for some alternative solutions to waiting.

The ACV treatment worked after just 4 treatments. I washed the area carefully, wearing gloves as it is contagious. Then I surrounded each spot with zinc oxide to protect the surrounding skin, soaked a small cotton ball (the size of my little finger nail) in ACV diluted to 50% with water, squeezed it out then placed it over the spot, then covered the affected area with a band-aid and left it over night. In the morning we removed the band-aids and allowed the skin to be uncovered for the day and then repeated the treatment again the next night. The bumps were noticeably reducing after 2 treatments, and on the 3rd day had developed a little black spot in the middle. I didn't try to squeeze them or anything, just repeated the treatment, and then by the look of the spots which were pretty much gone, stopped the treatment, and now there is no sign of any spots. I would happily recommend this procedure to anyone, but caution you that the ACV is acidic, so the zinc oxide to protect the unaffected skin is useful, as is the dilution of 1:2 so it is not too strong.

My 6 year old daughter has had this for a few months on her left side. At first I thought it was skin tags but I quickly changed my mind when the tags were spreading into different locations. Like any good mother I turned to Dr. Google and discovered that she has MC. I have not taken her to the doctor but have started treating her with ACV for the last 2 days. She has about 30 bumps - most of them on her upper thigh, a few on her torso and just a couple on her inner arm. I apply 2-3 cotton pieces at nite and so far it looks very promising. I also give her a bath in a cup of ACV for about 30 min. She doesn't seem to mind. I also keep the bumps that are red and look like they are red and raised covered with a baindaid that has been treated with antibiotic cream. This seems to work well and usually within 12 hours the bump has opened up and the bump looks MUCH better already. We have had a couple of very infected bumps and this is why I'm doing this - mainly to prevent this from happening - and to prevent other bumps from forming. She is tolerating it well but doesn't like to take the bandaids off in the morning. I'm hoping we don't have to do this for a very long time because the adhesive of the bandaids is very irritating. The spots we have treated so far have all turned black though. It's not a pretty sight with all the redness, bumps and black spots. however - I'm hopefull we'll be seeing the end of this soon.

About 2 yrs ago I noticed my oldest son had some small bumps around his shoulder area. Didn't think much of it we live in South Alabama so bug bites are very common. I went on life as normal BATHING MY KIDS TOGETHER.... After a few more weeks I noticed that my oldests bumps had spread & a friend suggested that it might be MC. I had no idea what that was so I took him to the Dr & same story as the other people. However he did tell me that it was highly contagious. My heart sunk knowing that I had already exposed my two other kids to the virus. My sweet baby girl showed signs about a month after seeing the Dr. Hers however were between her legs up high. She has battled over a yr now. It has been painful for her and heartbreaking for me. I asked the dr everytime we visited if there was anything we could do to stop the progression. You see where hers are they multiply like crazy. I finally got sick of hearing "just let it run it's course". My baby was getting scarred in a delicate place & not to mention the pain.

I turned to the web & found out about ACV. Now it was not an easy task getting my 5yr to let me put the treatment in this very sensitive place. My oldest was game & was willing to do whatever it took. My youngest 3 has one on his behind & one on his arm but after watching my daughter's reactions was not too happy to let me try the treatment on him... We solidered on. After the first round the biggest of my daughter's bumps are gone my oldest son's have all gone & baby boy made it only 2 days so more is needed there. Baby girl is going to need more treatments as well. But I must say the information i've received here has been invaluable. I hope that a mom somewhere reads this & gets help for there baby's before 1 & 1/2 yrs passes with no help.

#1 don't allow legs to rub together at all!

#2 make sure the area drys completely before dressing

#3 don't poke or pop them!

#4 let them see the progress so they maybe more willing to go along with the treatments

#5 pray over those suckers!

Apple Cider Vinegar for Molluscum Contagiosum: 5/24/12 My son of 3 yr was diagnose with MC two month ago the doctor told us just let the MC to take its course and it will go away in about 6 to 12 months. My son started with one bump on his stomach and then two on his arm. I decide to treat him with ACV. I bathe him in water and two cup of ACV and dip makeup pad in the ACV and tape the pads to the bumps overnight. After the first bath and over night pads; the next morning they were white and the second morning the bumps were still white. But on the third night half of the bump on his stomach was turning black and fourth night it was completely black. On the fifth day my son complained that it was hurting him when I place the pads. So I stop putting on the pads with AVC but continue to bathe him in ACV. And today is the ninth day and this morning I notice the bump on the stomach fell off. I decide to put antibiotic cream on the area to keep it clean. I am still waiting on the two bumps on his arm; hopefully it won't be long before the fall off.

I wanted to thank you all for your tips that you place in this website- it has help my son so much.

My 4 year old daughter had 3 wart-like bumps- 2 in her armpit and 1 just under on her rib age. I took her to the dr to see what it was. It was diagnosed as Mollescum Contagiosum. He said it would take 9 months to over a year for it to go away. I read about ACV, we tried it... I used a makeup remover pad, cut a piece the size of her bump, dipped it in ACV and put on the bump. I covered it with a waterproof bandage (sticks on all 4 sides, keeps the ACV pad in place) overnight.

After 3 nights of treatment, the MC bumps were scabbed over, the ACV also damages the healthy skin around the MC so I was going to take a break from applying the ACV and 2 days later the scabs came off by themselves and the MC was completely gone! I am thrilled that it didn't take months to take care of this!