| The decision whether treatment is necessary | | | | leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia, especially if |
| depends on the needs of the patient, the | | | | used generously on mucosal surfaces. |
| recalcitrance of their disease, and the likelihood of | | | | Podofilox is a safer alternative to podophyllin and |
| treatments to leave pigmentary alteration or | | | | may be used by the patient at home. The |
| scarring. Most of the common treatments consist | | | | recommended use usually consists of application |
| of various means to traumatize the lesions. The | | | | of 0.05 ml of 5% podofilox in lactate buffered |
| following is a brief summary of some of the | | | | ethanol twice a day for 3 days. The active agent |
| more common treatments. | | | | is absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy. |
| One of the most common, quick, efficient | | | | Cantharidin has been used with success in the |
| methods of treatment is cryotherapy. Liquid | | | | treatment of MCV. This blister-inducing agent is |
| nitrogen, dry ice, or Frigiderm are applied to each | | | | applied carefully and sparingly to the dome of the |
| individual lesion for a few seconds. Repeat | | | | lesion with or without occlusion and left in place |
| treatments in 2-3-week intervals may be required. | | | | for at least 4 hours before being washed off. |
| Hyper- or hypopigmentation and scarring may be | | | | Cantharidin can cause severe blistering. It should |
| caused by this treatment. | | | | be tested on individual lesions before treating large |
| An easy method to remove the lesions is | | | | numbers of lesions. It should not be used on the |
| eviscerating the core with an instrument such as | | | | face. When tolerated, this treatment is repeated |
| a scalpel, sharp tooth pick, edge of a glass slide, | | | | every week until the lesions clear. Usually 1-3 |
| or any other instrument capable of removing the | | | | treatments are necessary. |
| umbilicated core. Because of its simplicity, patients, | | | | Besides treatments mentioned above, antiviral and |
| parents, and caregivers may be taught this | | | | immune-modulating treatments have recently |
| method so new lesions can be treated at home. | | | | been added to the options. NaturesPharma has |
| This method is simple but may not be tolerated | | | | investigated hundreds of anti-viral substances |
| by small children. | | | | from natural sources, including both extracts and |
| Curettage is another method of removal. It can | | | | pure compounds from herbal medicines as |
| be used with and without light electrodessication. | | | | reported in laboratory studies, as well as |
| This method is more painful, and it is | | | | conducted our own independent trials. |
| recommended that a topical anesthetic cream be | | | | AntiMolluscum-Rx is a powerful antiviral agent |
| applied to the lesions before the procedure to | | | | which inhibits the signal transduction pathways of |
| decrease the pain. This method has the | | | | molluscum viral proteins. The result is that |
| advantage of providing a reliable tissue sample to | | | | molluscum viral cells are destroyed and eliminated |
| confirm the diagnosis. | | | | from infected tissues in a relatively short time |
| Another reported treatment involves the use of | | | | with little to no evidence of the virus appearing in |
| adhesive tape. The adhesive side of the tape is | | | | conventional microscopic sections of previously |
| repeatedly applied to and removed from the | | | | infected cells. |
| lesion for 10-20 cycles. This action effectively | | | | From a chemical standpoint, the fight against |
| removes the superficial epidermis from the top of | | | | molluscum is actually a battle of microparticles. |
| the lesion. However, repeated use of the same | | | | The Molluscum contagiosum virus is infinitely small, |
| strip has the potential to spread the virus to | | | | and as a result, we need infinitely small naturally |
| adjacent, uninvolved skin. | | | | occurring antiviral agents to penetrate cell |
| A 25% suspension in a tincture of benzoin or | | | | membranes of infected cells to attack and |
| alcohol may be applied once a week. This | | | | destroy the molluscum virus. |
| treatment requires some precautions. It contains | | | | NaturesPharma have identified a significant |
| two mutagens, quercetin and kaempherol. Some | | | | number of naturally occurring small molecules, like |
| of the listed side effects include severe erosive | | | | phenolics, polyphenols, terpenes (e.g., mono-, di-, |
| damage in adjacent normal skin that may cause | | | | tri-), and flavonoids which have incredible antiviral |
| scarring and systemic effects such as peripheral | | | | action, used medicinally to eliminate molluscum, |
| neuropathy, renal damage, adynamic ileus, | | | | and heavily concentrated in AntiMolluscum-Rx. |