Molluscum bumps are sweeping gyms across the world.
If you’ve never heard of molluscum contagiosum, get ready to start hearing it a lot — it’s a super contagious bug sweeping gyms around the world, and if it hasn’t hit yours yet, it’s probably heading to some free weights near you any minute, and it’s worse than chronic dandruff and infected earlobes, combined.
“Molluscum contagiosum is caused by a virus and is contagious. It typically affects children but can also affect adults especially immunocompromised adults. It can spread by skin to skin contact and by touching objects that are contaminated with the virus,” explains Lady Dy, MD of Dy Dermatology Center. “It spreads across the gym because the virus can live on inanimate objects such as towels, floors, swimming pool floors etc., and people in gyms and pools often share items like towels, benches, and workout equipment.”
What a resolution-killer, right?
“Molluscum bumps appear as small flesh-colored papules with a central depression. They can appear singly or in clusters. You can spread the lesions by scratching them, so try not to touch them! It can appear anywhere on the body but it’s most common on areas with skin folds such as the neck, extremities, trunk or the genital areas.”
Molluscum bumps
The good news is you don’t necessarily need expensive prescription medications to treat your gym-caused molluscum bumps, and Dr. Dy suggests two specific over the counter treatments. Certain OTC wart removers, like this inexpensive wart stick, can be effective, but need to be used at the first sign of molluscum bumps to keep the virus from spreading.
Dr. Dy also believes cimetidine may be helpful in fighting the spread of molluscum bumps, but isn’t certain it works on 100% of cases. It can be found in OTC molluscum treatments like this paintable formula by ZymaDerm.
“It can take a very long time to resolve, as in years – so it is better to treat it than to take a chance of letting it spread.”
Peace be with you, fit friends.
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