Molluscum Contagiosum – Jenah’s story

There is a common childhood viral skin condition called molluscum contagiosum, which is a real beast to deal with.

Little miss Jenah had it last summer and now has beautiful, unblemished skin, thankfully. At the time she had a small molluscum infection on the back of her leg, which was at its worst at the height of the summer, when all she wanted to do was wear shorts and go swimming and it was very visible and angry looking.  

Molluscum contagiosum is caused by a virus that is a member of the poxvirus family. It is contagious and spreads when someone touches the rash, which is why it commonly affects children. Molluscum presents as multiple, small blister, wart like spots which can appear anywhere on the body. As the rash is viral, your doctor will tell you it will just run its course, which can take anything up to 2 years. With Jenah, we cleared it in 4 months, supporting her immune system and using specific natural topical treatments. I thought I would share what we used in case it helps others. 

Core treatments that were most effective:

Choose to shower your child rather than a bath. Jenah washed in the shower with the Manuka Biotic body wash, which is antiviral and antibacterial. Warm baths are sadly a viral sess pit when you have molluscum and can cause it to spread. We didn’t realise this to start with and Jenah continued to have baths for at least a month at the start of her infection, as she hated showers.   

We applied 100% manuka oil (or tea tree oil) directly to each spot with a cotton wool tip and allowed to dry (after a shower). I then applied thuja cream to each spot. I only applied the thuja cream once a day, but you can apply it up to 3 x a day. Homeopathic thuja is the remedy for warts and growths on the skin and increasing the activity of the immune system to overcome the virus. We enhanced the effectiveness of the treatment by working from the inside out with homeopathic thuja 30c, 2 mini tablets chewed 3 x a day until symptoms resolved. Both thuja cream and thuja 30c are available in New Zealand from Naturopharm.

As a general moisturiser, we used the Manuka Biotic body lotion, because of its skin healing and antiviral and antibacterial properties. 

Apple cider vinegar applied under a plaster on each spot for several days can also help to kill the virus, but it didn’t work for us, as Jenah would often remove the plasters. 

Other considerations:

Immune support is important to help fight the virus. We supported Jenah’s immune system with spore-based probiotics (Megasporebiotic for Kids), zinc, cod liver oil and vitamin D. 

We also supported her gut health and skin integrity with regular home-made meat stock, as it is a rich source of collagen and gelatin that can nourish the skin, heal the gut and boost the immune system.

Apply sunscreen on your child yourself when sending them to daycare. This is to avoid spreading the virus as when the daycare staff applies sunscreen on all the children at the same time (without washing their hands after touching the child with molluscum) this is one way it can spread. It also encourages the spread of the virus to other parts of the body. 

As her skin was so bad with patches of eczema around the molluscum legions, we also had her tested for food intolerances and dairy, gluten and nightshades were the main triggers. Jenah avoided these for around 3 months and after her skin had healed and the molluscum virus had cleared, we could introduce most foods once again.     

One year on, it is so great to see Jenah’s skin is completely clear of any spots or eczema. We found it interesting that her eczema appeared to be directly linked to the molluscum virus, and it cleared after the virus healed. We are so grateful that she has had no spots or blemishes for over 8 months and can eat pretty much what she wants, including dairy foods daily.