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pearly penile papules
I would like to know what the best treatment is for pearly penile papules.
333, I can’t say for sure without examining you first, but it sounds like it might be molluscum contagiosum. Molluscum contagiosum is caused by a poxvirus and is characterized by skin-colored, smooth, waxy, umbilicated papules 2 to 10 mm in diameter. Numerous small papules may appear anywhere on the skin. Lesions can be diagnosed easily by the characteristic central umbilication or dell, filled with a semisolid white material that, if expressed and Giemsa-stained, shows inclusion bodies within many large cells or extracellularly. A giant molluscum may grow to two or three times its original diameter. Eczematous dermatitis may surround several mollusca, especially in young children; the cause is unknown. Transmission is by direct contact. The disease can spread by autoinoculation but, after months, may disappear spontaneously.
Successful treatment usually requires destroying each lesion by freezing; by removing the central core of the papule with a needle, a comedo extractor, or the tip of a #11 scalpel blade; or by trichloracetic acid application (25 to 40% solution). You can also try a cream called Aldara®, but it is indicated for the treatment of genital warts and not really for molluscum contagiosum (although there have been anecdotal reports that it works).
Let me know if you have more questions. Good luck.
Successful treatment usually requires destroying each lesion by freezing; by removing the central core of the papule with a needle, a comedo extractor, or the tip of a #11 scalpel blade; or by trichloracetic acid application (25 to 40% solution). You can also try a cream called Aldara®, but it is indicated for the treatment of genital warts and not really for molluscum contagiosum (although there have been anecdotal reports that it works).
Let me know if you have more questions. Good luck.
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