My Child Has Bumps That Keep Spreading Across Their Arms and Chest. Is It Molluscum, and Does It Have to Be Treated?

If the bumps are firm, dome-shaped, flesh-colored or slightly pearly, and many of them have a tiny dimple in the center, molluscum contagiosum is the most likely explanation. Spreading across the arms and chest over a few weeks is exactly how it behaves. It doesn't have to be treated. In a healthy child the rash clears on its own, often within six to twelve months and sometimes longer, so treating it is a decision you make about comfort, spread, and how visible the spots are.

Medically reviewed by Michael Paltiel, MD - Board-Certified Dermatologist | 17+ Years Experience | Last Updated: July 2026

How to tell molluscum from warts, bug bites, and other bumps

Molluscum bumps have a specific look once you know what to search for. They are small, usually between the size of a pinhead and a pencil eraser, firm rather than soft, and shaped like little domes. The giveaway is the center: many of them have a faint dent or dimple, which doctors call umbilication. They are usually painless, and they tend to show up in clusters or in a short line, especially in the crook of the elbow, the armpit, the side of the chest, and behind the knees.

A few things get mistaken for it:

• Warts are rough and grainy on top with no central dimple, and they favor hands, fingers, and the soles of the feet. They also behave differently, which is why wart removal follows a different path.
• Keratosis pilaris is the fine, rough, goosebump-like texture on the backs of the upper arms and thighs. It feels like sandpaper, it does not have a dimpled center, and it does not spread.
• Bug bites are itchy and red from the start, and they fade within days instead of persisting for months.
• Eczema shows up as dry, itchy patches rather than discrete round bumps, though the two often appear together.

One detail is worth knowing before it happens to you. Near the end of the infection, molluscum bumps often turn red, swollen, and angry looking, sometimes with a bit of crusting. That usually means your child's immune system has finally recognized the virus and is clearing it out. So the rash looks like it got worse right when you expected it to get better, and it's often the opposite.

Why the bumps keep spreading

Molluscum is caused by a poxvirus that lives in the top layer of skin, and it moves in two ways.

The first is your child spreading it to themselves. When they scratch a bump and then touch another patch of skin, the virus travels. This is why new bumps so often appear in a line or a streak, tracing exactly where fingernails went. It is also why the count can climb from four bumps to forty over a couple of months without anything having gone wrong.

The second is contact with other people or shared items, including towels, washcloths, bath toys, pool gear, and wrestling or gymnastics mats.

Children with eczema tend to get more bumps and spread them further, because broken, itchy skin gives the virus more places to settle and gives small hands more reason to scratch. If your child has both, keeping their eczema controlled will usually slow the molluscum down too.

One reassurance: new bumps appearing while older ones fade is normal, and it doesn't mean anything went wrong.

Does molluscum have to be treated, or will it clear on its own?

For a healthy child, watchful waiting is a legitimate medical choice, and often the right one. The bumps resolve without treatment and usually without any lasting mark.

There are real reasons to treat rather than wait:

• The bumps are multiplying quickly or have reached a large number.
• They are itchy, inflamed, or getting scratched raw, which opens the door to a bacterial infection.
• They sit on the face, the neck, or somewhere your child is self-conscious about.
• There are younger siblings at home, or your child is in close-contact sports.
• Your child has eczema or a condition that affects their immune system.

At Adult and Pediatric Dermatology, molluscum treatment at our Forest Hills office starts with that conversation rather than a default. We treat when bumps are spreading, irritated, or in visible areas, and we are honest about when watchful waiting is fine.

Can my child go to school, daycare, and swim lessons?

Yes. Molluscum is not a reason to keep a child home, and schools and daycares do not exclude children for it.

A few practical adjustments cover the rest:

• Keep the bumps covered with clothing where you can, or a bandage where clothing does not reach.
• Swimming is fine. Cover the bumps with a swimsuit or a waterproof bandage, send your child with their own towel, and skip shared kickboards and pool noodles.
• Contact sports like wrestling and gymnastics are the one place to check the league's rules, since skin-to-skin contact on mats is how it moves between kids. Covered lesions are usually the requirement.

How to keep it from spreading to siblings

Not every sibling catches it, and household spread is far from guaranteed. Simple habits shift the odds:

• Give each child their own towel and washcloth, and wash them after each use.
• Bathe siblings separately, or bathe your child with molluscum last, and skip shared bath toys.
• Keep fingernails short so scratching does less work.
• Cover bumps that are being picked at.
• Stay on top of any eczema in the house.

What treatment involves, and whether it hurts

We use a few approaches depending on your child's age, how many bumps there are, and where they sit. Curettage lifts the bumps off directly. Cryotherapy freezes them. Topical medications work more gradually over several weeks at home or in the office.

For anything done in the office, we numb the area first and work gently and quickly, so most kids handle it well. We also explain what's about to happen before we do it, which settles a nervous six-year-old faster than any amount of reassurance afterward. Expect more than one visit. Bumps too small to see at the first appointment tend to surface a few weeks later.

"Dr. Patel is extremely gentle and patient with my son who is 5 years old."

Wendy Medina

Will molluscum leave scars?

Left alone, molluscum usually heals without a scar. What causes marks is picking and scratching, and the secondary infections that follow.

Treatment carries its own small trade-off. Curettage and cryotherapy can leave a temporary lighter or darker spot where the bump was, and on deeper skin tones that pigment change can take several months to even out. It typically fades. That trade-off is part of why we don't push treatment on every child who comes in with a few bumps on one arm.

Molluscum care for children at Adult and Pediatric Dermatology in Forest Hills

Children's skin is half of what this office does, and the name says so. The same practice treats infants, children, teens, and adults, so a parent bringing a four-year-old in for spreading bumps sits in the same schedule as everyone else who walks through the door.

Care is led by board-certified dermatologist Dr. Michael Paltiel, who founded the practice in Forest Hills in 2008. Children are also seen by Zina Goldvekht, PA-C, and Aleksey Babakhanov, FNP, a board-certified family nurse practitioner. Molluscum is a medical dermatology visit, and most major insurance plans are accepted for those.

"Dr. Paltiel is a great Doctor and professional. When he was treating my son, he was conversing with him and making him feel comfortable."

Whyte Fam

"My 3 year old took to him quickly and we had a smooth visit with no tantrums, he left happy and even said thank you doctor which never happens!"

Crystal C

To have your child's bumps looked at and get a straight answer on whether to treat or wait, call (718) 896-3376, or reach our Forest Hills office to request a time.

Frequently asked questions

How long is my child contagious?

For as long as there are visible bumps. Once the last one has cleared, the virus is gone, and there is nothing left in the body that flares again later.

Can I catch molluscum from my child?

Adults can catch it, though it is much less common because most adults have built up some immunity. Ordinary handwashing after applying creams or changing bandages is enough for most households.

Should I pop or squeeze the bumps at home?

That tends to backfire. Squeezing releases the virus onto surrounding skin, which seeds new bumps, and it raises the risk of infection and scarring in a spot that would likely have healed cleanly.

Do over-the-counter wart treatments work on molluscum?

They are made for a different virus and a much tougher lesion, and on a child's thin skin they can cause irritation and burns without clearing the bumps. Worth asking about before trying.

What if the bumps suddenly look red and inflamed?

That is often the immune system clearing the infection rather than a complication. If your child has spreading redness, warmth, pain, or fever, that is worth a same-week look to rule out a bacterial infection.

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please schedule a consultation with our team to discuss your individual needs.