Treatment

Molluscum contagiosum usually gets better without treatment in six to 12 months. However, it's possible to continue developing bumps for up to five years. Once all of your bumps are gone, you're no longer contagious.

Doctors may recommend that the lesions be removed before they disappear on their own, particularly in adults, because they are so contagious. Treatments for molluscum contagiosum can be painful, so an anesthetic might be administered beforehand to lessen discomfort. Sometimes a combination of treatments may be used.

Options include:

• Scraping
• Freezing (cryotherapy)
• A medicine that causes blisters (cantharidin), which lift off the bumps