Joe (Canada) on 10/05/2018

So here's my story: I'm a 26 year old male and 14 months ago, 3 months after ending my last relationship, I discovered a bunch of small white bumps and some pink bumps on my lower abs and pubic area. The first time I noticed them there were maybe 6, and a couple days later there were around 30. I panicked – I googled STDs and self diagnosed myself with mollescum. I read about the virus and treatment options on medical websites and felt like treatments were very limited.

There are a bunch of websites out there that claim to have a cheap cure and I was desperate enough to pay $15 to one of them even though it seemed suspicious; basically it gave me detailed instructions on how to apply the most common cure out there: apple cider vinegar. I ended up using ACV as my primary treatment for 8 months. I would dip cotton makeup pads or balls into the ACV, put them on the mollescum, cover with a waterproof bandaid, and put adhesive tape over the bandaids so they wouldn't come off. I would generally leave these on for 9-12 hours. I found that this worked decently and got rid of the bumps on the first try over half the time. The biggest issue was that the soaked cotton balls/pads were difficult to keep on in some places, like when I had bumps appear on my foreskin.

A week after self diagnosing I went to the STD clinic so they could confirm; they recommended using nitrogen to freeze the bumps off and I was willing to give it a try. Personally I think this was a mistake. While the nitrogen didn't really hurt, it left scarring that I was self conscious about. Most of the scars disappeared 6 months later, but I still have a few where I had bumps that I also applied ACV on. I think the treatment was effective, but I didn't go back again because of the scarring.

About a month after starting treatments I entered a cycle of getting rid of any new molluscum that I saw, being clear for a week, two weeks, a month, or two months, and then having another outbreak.

The next treatment I tried was Cimetidine. Basically Cimetidine is an outdated heartburn medication, but there were some studies done with it that showed promising effects on eliminating molluscum (I should note that most of these studies were done on children). I got a prescription for the pills and took 800mg 3 times daily for 2 months. It was ineffective.

At the two and a half month mark I tried to replace ACV with a lotion I ordered online called Mollenol. It didn't have too many reviews but they were on a few websites/forums and were generally positive. It worked worse than ACV, but it did work after a few of days of applications. I don't recommend Mollenol though – it stings a lot. This stuff dripped down to my scrotum and foreskin (as a liquid lotion tends to) and I was in searing, blinding agony. The same goes for Mollenol “Sensitive”.

Eight months after my first outbreak I saw a dermatologist who recommended using Veregen ointment. Veregen has the chemical name Sinecatechins 10% and is generally used to treat genital warts. It's a thick paste that's easier to apply and keep on mollescum bumps, and if applied 2-3 times a day the bumps are usually gone in a day or two. This is what I was using for the final four months of being infected, and I had an outbreak of 2-4 bumps once a month.
A year into having the virus I had my final outbreak. I was busy for several days in a row and wasn't able to stay home to apply treatments. On the day that I finally could find time I checked for the bumps before heading to work and they were gone. It was bittersweet after all the effort I applied to getting rid of molluscum, but my body finally recognized the virus and fought it off on its own.

I've held my breath for over two months to make sure it's gone for good, and at this point I think it's safe to say that I'm molluscum free. I know the above story is pretty damn long, but I've tried to put in all the relevant and useful details and stay away from how much of an emotional toll it's taken on me. Truly, I hope this helps someone.

Replied By Maren (USA) on 10/31/2022

Hi Joe, I am also 26. you writing all this out was not in vain.... I've been struggling with molluscum for the past 9 months and I am so depressed and hopeless. The dermatologist has tried freezing, scraping, and treating with acid. It helps for a few bumps and maybe I'm clear for a week or two but then they come back. Now 9 months in, it's worse than ever and has spread to multiple areas of my body (due to wearing a tight latex dress for work ... I'm a runway model). I've been soaking paper towels in apple cider vinegar and covering with plastic wrap and doing that for 8-9 hours at a time until I can't bear it anymore. In some spots it has caused them to turn brown and shrivel up... not sure what's going to be under the brown yet... I just ordered the mollelum online too that you mentioned.... It's such a time commitment and a mental game to ignore the fact that my skin is burning. I'm not getting any work done during the day (working from home so at least I can do this. I have had to turn down some modeling jobs because of this so it is literally impacting my income). My skin burning keeps me awake at night..... but just running a swab of it over the skin does nothing for me. I don't know how people just apply it to the skin with a cotton ball. That does nothing for me. Every day I look in the mirror and cry. I feel like it's a fulltime job just soaking my skin in ACV. I need to ask about the Veregen I hadn't heard of that yet.... so that gives me a little hope at least. Except for the fact that I don't have health insurance.... but I'm working on that. The emotional, mental and financial toll this is taking on me makes me so depressed... I don't know how to go on.

REPLY   5      

Replied By Art (California) on 11/01/2022

Maren,

It seems like colloidal silver (CS), grapefruit seed extrac t(GSE) or iodine would all be more pleasant than ACV and possibly more effective. A similar method of application, but using CS or GSE would definitely be more pleasant of an experience.

Art

Replied By Hollyhock (America ) on 11/01/2022

I would try soaking in a tub with a cup of borax added. I know the solution helps mange and I believe it helps those with demodex mites. It's worth a try, you must be in agony!

Replied By Prashant S. (Mumbai, India) on 06/16/2023

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