What a mouthful. It is pronounced ‘moluskum contay-jee-osum’. They are little bumps in the skin, caused by a virus called the pox virus, and they appear within two to twelve weeks from the time of contact. They are found commonly in children, as well as adults. They may be anywhere on the body, but if they are spread sexually, they are usually on the thighs and abdomen. Sometimes a little bit of waxy stuff can be squeezed out of them. They are not dangerous, a bit annoying, but not dangerous.
Symptoms
Little collections of bumps appear on the skin.
Diagnosis
Usually a doctor will say ‘that looks like molluscum contagiosum’.
Treatment
Some people treat them with liquid nitrogen (freezing), or pop them with a sterile needle. The trend appears to be to leave them alone, if there are not too many of them, because it is likely that within six months they will have disappeared. It depends on how many, and where they are, and how keen you are to get rid of them.
Prevention
This is a common virus in the community, and doesn’t cause any great lasting drama in fit healthy people. It is spread by close contact of many kinds, not only sexual, so it is pretty difficult to avoid it totally if you want to live a normal life.
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