What I read about how it spreads
According to public health sources, molluscum is passed on through direct skin contact and through shared items such as towels. Scratching or shaving can also spread it on your own body. The sources are listed at the end of this article. Please read them yourself; I am only summarising here.
According to DermNet, there are often about two weeks between infection and a visible bump, but it can be up to six months. From what I have read, it is not known exactly how long you are contagious. The sources assume it may be until the last spot has healed. More on this in the article How long is molluscum contagious?
What the sources say about everyday life
In the texts of the US health agency CDC and the British NHS, I read the same points again and again:
- that towels, flannels and clothing should not be shared with others,
- that scratching or squeezing the bumps can spread the virus to other areas of skin,
- that shaving over affected areas can also spread the virus,
- that spots not covered by clothing can be covered with a plaster, especially during close contact.
I am only passing this on. What applies to you personally is best clarified with a doctor.
What I changed in everyday life
I kept my towels separate from other people’s and disinfected affected areas. I washed my own laundry separately and at a particularly high temperature. On top of that, I bought loads of new laundry, above all underwear, so that I could wear something new every day. What that cost me is in the article What molluscum cost me.
New spots appeared anyway.
Itching and irritated skin
At the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre I read that an itchy eczema can sometimes develop around molluscum. That is doubly unpleasant, because itching tempts you to scratch. More on this in the article Itchy, red or inflamed molluscum.
When hygiene becomes a constant concern
What I underestimated: how much the topic stays on your mind. Even though I wanted to do so much right, I often felt unclean. Every touch, every shared sofa, every towel in the bathroom became a question.
“I paid more attention to hygiene than ever before and still often felt unclean.”
Hygiene was important to me. But for me, it didn’t make the molluscum disappear. For two years, new spots kept appearing anyway.
What hygiene can and can’t do
While reading, I understood that hygiene mainly has one goal: to limit passing it on to others and to other areas of skin. I didn’t read in any source that hygiene alone makes existing bumps clear up.
That was an important distinction for me. For a long time I felt I just had to be even more thorough for it to finally stop. Today I see hygiene as consideration for others and for myself, not as a cure.
Not a sign of poor cleanliness
In none of the sources did I read that molluscum is a sign of poor hygiene. The virus is passed on through contact, and that can happen to anyone, no matter how clean you are.
How things went on for me
After two years it was over for me. In the last month before that, I did some things differently. I have written down exactly what. Was it coincidence? I don’t know.