Condition

Molluscum Contagiosum

Molluscum contagiosum is a common skin virus that causes small, firm, dome-shaped bumps, each with a tiny dip in the centre. It is harmless, it spreads by touch, and it clears on its own with time.
At a Glance

Molluscum contagiosum is a viral skin infection that causes small, firm bumps with a tiny dimple in the centre. It is harmless — it does not make you ill, and it does not scar unless the bumps are picked or dug out. The catch is time: left alone it usually clears within six to twelve months, and sometimes takes two years. Treating it is a choice, and the two reasons that genuinely justify it are stopping spread and calming the itchy eczema that often forms around the bumps.

Key Facts

How CommonVery common in children. Most cases are in kids aged 1 to 10.
Who Gets ItMostly young children. Also adults, where it is often passed on by sexual contact and lands on the lower belly, groin or thighs.
Chronic or CurableCurable. It clears on its own, usually within a year.
Rx RequiredNo. Treatment is optional, and some options are over the counter.
ContagiousYes. It spreads by skin-to-skin contact, shared towels, and scratching it to other spots on your own body.
CostIn-office removal is often billed as cosmetic, so coverage varies. Ask before you book.

Symptoms

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The bumps are the whole condition. There is no fever and no feeling unwell — just spots on the skin, and often a patch of dry, itchy skin around them.

What it looks and feels like

Small, firm, dome-shaped bumps — usually 2 to 5 mm, from pinhead to pencil-eraser sized.
A tiny dimple in the centre — this is the identifying feature. A pit in the middle of a smooth, shiny bump is molluscum until proven otherwise.
Pearly, skin-coloured or slightly pink — smooth rather than rough or crusty.
A few, or dozens — often in clusters, or in a line where the skin was scratched.
Dry, itchy skin around them — a patch of eczema forms around the bumps in many children, and it itches more than the bumps do.
A red, angry-looking bump near the end — one bump turning red, sore and crusted usually means the immune system has found it, and that bump is about to clear.

Where it shows up

  • Children — the trunk, armpits, sides of the chest, backs of the knees, inner arms, face and neck.
  • Adults — often the lower belly, groin, genitals and inner thighs, where it is usually passed on by sexual contact.
  • Anywhere skin rubs skin, and in lines where scratching has dragged the virus along.
  • Not on the palms or soles.

How it looks on different skin tones

On brown and Black skin the bumps look skin-coloured, tan or slightly grey rather than pink, and the central dimple can be harder to see without good light. The eczema patch around them shows as darker or ashy skin rather than red. After the bumps clear, flat dark or light marks often stay for several months. These are pigment changes, not scars, and they fade.

Light
Medium
Brown
Deep

Several other bumps look similar. If yours does not fit, see Lookalikes near the bottom of this page.

Causes & Risk Factors

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Molluscum is caused by a poxvirus called molluscum contagiosum virus. It only infects the top layer of skin. It does not get into the blood, it does not affect any organ, and it is not related to the viruses that cause warts, chickenpox or herpes.

You catch it from direct skin-to-skin contact, or from shared towels, sponges, wrestling mats and pool toys. Once you have it, scratching moves it around your own body, which is why bumps often appear in a line or a cluster. Children get it most because they play in close contact and have not met the virus before. Adults with normal immune systems get it less often, and when they do it is usually passed on by sexual contact. Children with eczema get more bumps and keep them longer, because broken skin lets the virus in more easily and scratching spreads it. None of this is about hygiene. Clean children get molluscum constantly.

What Hurts and What Helps

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What Makes It Worse

  • Scratching and picking. This is the main way it spreads across your own skin, and the main cause of scarring.
  • Eczema around the bumps. Itchy, broken skin lets the virus travel, so children with eczema tend to get far more bumps.
  • Shaving over the area. Adults with molluscum in the groin or on the thighs spread it in straight lines with a razor.
  • Sharing towels, washcloths, sponges and bath water, especially between siblings.
  • Close-contact sport such as wrestling, and shared pool equipment like kickboards and float toys.
  • A weakened immune system. Widespread, large or stubborn molluscum in an adult can be a sign the immune system is not working properly, and is worth mentioning to a doctor.

Daily Habits That Help

  • Time. This is the honest answer. Most cases clear on their own within six to twelve months, and the great majority within two years, leaving no mark.
  • Treating the eczema around the bumps. Calming that itchy skin with moisturizer and a mild steroid cream is often the single most useful thing you can do, because it stops the scratching that spreads the virus.
  • Covering the bumps with clothing or a plaster, especially for swimming, sport and daycare. Covered molluscum is much less likely to be passed on.
  • Keeping nails short in children, so scratching does less damage.
  • Giving everyone their own towel and washcloth, and skipping shared baths while the bumps are active.
+2 more
  • Not shaving over the area until the bumps are gone.
  • Leaving them alone. Squeezing the white core out does clear that one bump sometimes, but it usually spreads the virus to the skin around it and can leave a mark.

Try at Home

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Nothing you can buy clears molluscum reliably. What over-the-counter products are genuinely good for is the itchy eczema around the bumps, which is what most children actually need treated.

Always
Keeping the bumps covered with a plaster or clothing is the main thing that stops molluscum spreading — to other people and to the rest of your own skin. Worth doing for swimming, sport and daycare.
Always
Molluscum often brings a patch of dry, itchy eczema around the bumps, and that itch is what drives the scratching that spreads them. Daily moisturizer is the base layer for keeping that skin calm.
Always
Wash normally with something mild. Scrubbing at the bumps does not remove them and only irritates the skin they sit in, which makes the itch worse.
Moderate evidence
This treats the itchy eczema around the bumps, not the bumps themselves. That is still the most useful over-the-counter step, because less itching means less scratching and less spread.
Limited evidence
An oatmeal bath soothes the itchy skin around the bumps, which helps a scratching child settle. It does nothing to the virus and will not shorten how long molluscum lasts.
Limited evidence
Sometimes used on the bumps in the same way as wart treatment. The evidence is thin, it stings, and it irritates the skin around the bump — so it is a poor choice for the face or for young children.
Limited evidence
Popular online, and one small study combining it with iodine showed some benefit. That is not enough to recommend it, and undiluted tea tree oil commonly causes an allergic rash in children.
Limited evidence
These are made for warts, not molluscum. They are much colder and less controlled than clinic freezing, and on a child's face they can easily leave a pale mark where a harmless bump would have faded on its own.

When to See a Dermatologist

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Most molluscum never needs a doctor, and going in is usually a decision rather than a worry. It is worth booking if:

  • You are not sure the bumps are molluscum. A bump that is growing, bleeding, or looks different from the others should be checked.
  • The bumps are on the eyelid or very close to the eye, where treating it yourself is not safe.
  • There are a lot of them, they keep spreading, and it has already been going on for a year.
  • The eczema around them is not settling with moisturizer and over-the-counter hydrocortisone.
  • A bump is hot, spreading, sore and oozing pus, which suggests a bacterial infection on top.
  • An adult has widespread or unusually large bumps, which can be a sign the immune system needs looking at.
  • The bumps are in the genital area of an adult, where a check for other sexually transmitted infections is reasonable.

What the visit gets you: a firm answer on what it is, treatment for the eczema around it, and a choice of removal methods with an honest read on whether removal is worth it for you at all.

Prescription Treatments

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Prescription options exist, and one is now approved specifically for molluscum. None of them work quickly, and all of them are competing with a virus that was going to clear anyway.

Moderate evidence
The first prescription gel approved specifically for molluscum, applied at home once a day. In trials about a third of people were clear at 12 weeks, compared with roughly a fifth on placebo — real, but not dramatic.
Moderate evidence
A dilute solution dabbed on each bump at home, which breaks the surface down so the immune system can reach the virus. It works for many people but stings, and it commonly leaves temporary redness or a small mark.
Limited evidence
Sometimes prescribed to be dabbed on individual bumps. The evidence behind it is weak, it takes weeks, and it irritates the skin around the bump — so it is a second-line option at best.
Limited evidence
Worth being blunt about this one: two large trials in children found it worked no better than placebo for molluscum, and it caused more skin reactions. It is still prescribed, but the evidence does not support it.

In-Office Treatments

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These are the methods that reliably remove the bumps you can see. They usually take two or three visits, because bumps that were already forming will still come up afterwards.

Moderate evidence
A liquid painted onto each bump in the clinic that raises a small blister underneath, lifting the bump off. It does not hurt going on, which is why it is popular for children, but a blister forms hours later and can be sore.
Moderate evidence
Each bump is frozen with liquid nitrogen for a few seconds. It works well and is quick, but it stings sharply, so it suits adults and older children better than toddlers. Expect two or three visits.
Moderate evidence
The core of each bump is lifted out with a small scoop, usually after numbing cream. It removes the bumps immediately, which is its advantage, but it is not a comfortable procedure for a young child with fifty of them.
Limited evidence
A small injection into one or two bumps that provokes the immune system into recognising the virus, sometimes clearing bumps elsewhere too. It is mostly used for stubborn, widespread cases, and the evidence is early.

What to Expect

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Step 1
If you do nothing

Each bump lasts about two to three months, but new ones keep appearing while the virus is active. Most people are clear within six to twelve months. Some take eighteen months to two years.

Step 2
The angry stage before it clears

Bumps often turn red, swollen and crusted shortly before they go. This looks like an infection and usually is not — it is the immune system finally recognising the virus. Once it starts with one bump, the rest often follow within weeks.

Step 3
If you treat it

Freezing, cantharidin or scraping clears the bumps that are treated, usually over one to three visits a few weeks apart. Bumps that were already forming will still appear, so most people need more than one session.

Step 4
What it leaves behind

Flat pale or dark marks are normal and fade over months. Real scars come mostly from picking, squeezing and digging bumps out.

Step 5
The honest summary

Molluscum is a waiting game more than a treatment problem. Treating it makes it end sooner and cuts the risk of passing it on, but it does not change the fact that it was always going to go away.

Complications

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Molluscum is harmless in people with normal immune systems, and it clears without treatment. The problems that do happen come mostly from scratching and from treatment, not from the virus itself.

  • Spread to more skin. Scratching carries the virus to new areas. This is the most common complication and the reason covering the bumps matters.
  • Eczema around the bumps. Dry, itchy patches form around molluscum in a large share of children. It is treatable, and treating it reduces spread.
  • Bacterial infection. A bump scratched open can get infected, turning hot, tender and crusted with pus. That needs an antibiotic.
  • Scarring and pit marks. Usually from picking, squeezing or aggressive removal rather than from the bumps themselves. Freezing and cantharidin can also leave a small pale mark.
  • Pigment marks. Flat lighter or darker spots where bumps used to be, most noticeable on brown and Black skin. These fade over months.
  • Bumps near the eye. Molluscum on the eyelid margin can irritate the eye and, rarely, cause conjunctivitis. Worth having looked at rather than treated at home.

In someone whose immune system is suppressed, molluscum can become widespread, large and hard to clear. That is a different situation and needs specialist care.

Lookalikes

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A lot of small bumps look alike. These are the ones molluscum is most often confused with.

  • Common warts — rough, crusty and grainy on the surface, often with tiny black dots. Molluscum is smooth, shiny and dimpled. A different virus entirely.
  • Milia — tiny hard white bumps just under the surface, most often around the eyes, with no dimple. They do not multiply or spread the way molluscum does.
  • Whiteheads and closed comedones — sit on oily areas of the face, come with other acne, and have no central pit.
  • Chickenpox — bumps become fluid-filled blisters and crust over within days, and the person feels unwell with a fever. Molluscum bumps stay firm for months and cause no illness.
  • Folliculitis — small red or pus-topped spots sitting on a hair, often tender, coming and going within days.
  • Basal cell skin cancer — in adults, a single pearly bump with a dip in the middle can look very like molluscum. One slowly growing pearly bump in a sun-exposed spot on an adult is worth showing someone.
  • Genital warts — in adults, warts in the groin are rough and cauliflower-textured rather than smooth and pearly.
FAQ+
How long does molluscum last?Usually six to twelve months without treatment. Some cases take up to two years. Each individual bump lasts around two to three months, but new ones keep appearing while the virus is active.
Should I treat it or leave it alone?Both are reasonable. It clears on its own either way. The good reasons to treat are to reduce spreading it to others, to stop it spreading further on your own skin, and because there are a lot of them and they bother you.
Can my child still go to school or daycare?Yes. Children with molluscum do not need to stay home. Cover the bumps with clothing or a plaster where you can, especially for swimming and contact sport.
Can I go swimming?Yes. Cover the bumps with a waterproof plaster, and do not share towels, kickboards or float toys.
Is molluscum a sexually transmitted infection?In children it is not — it is spread by ordinary play and touch. In adults with bumps in the groin or genital area it usually is passed on by sexual contact, and a check for other infections is reasonable.
Should I squeeze the white core out?No. It sometimes clears that one bump, but it usually spreads the virus to the skin around it, and it can leave a scar where a harmless bump would have faded to nothing.
Does it leave scars?Not usually. Marks that look like scars are most often flat pigment changes that fade over months. True scars come from picking, digging and squeezing.
Why does my child have eczema around the bumps?This is very common and is called molluscum dermatitis. It is the skin reacting to the virus. Treating it with moisturizer and a mild steroid cream helps the itch and cuts down on scratching, which is what spreads the bumps.
Does over-the-counter wart treatment work on molluscum?Salicylic acid is sometimes used, but the evidence is weak and it irritates the skin around the bump. It is not a good option for the face or for young children.
Can you get molluscum twice?Yes, though it is uncommon. Immunity after an infection is partial rather than complete.
Why does one bump suddenly look red and infected?This is usually a good sign, not a bad one. It often means the immune system has recognised that bump and is clearing it, and the others tend to follow. If it is hot, spreading, painful and oozing pus, that is a real infection and needs seeing.
Does bleach bathing or tea tree oil help?Neither has good evidence for clearing molluscum. Diluted bleach baths and moisturizing routines can help the eczema around the bumps, which is worth doing in its own right.