DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband sees a dermatologist regularly for psoriasis. I asked him to take our 3-year-old son with him on one of his visits. The boy has a patch of five wartlike growths on the back of his left hand. They don’t bother him. My husband did take him, and the doctor said he has molluscum contagiosum. The doctor asked my husband if he wanted them removed. He shrugged, so the doctor said it was OK to leave them be.

I want them off. I don’t like the sound of “contagiosum,” and I don’t like looking at them. What’s your opinion? — G.S.

ANSWER: Molluscum contagiosum is a viral skin infection that affects both children and adults. It’s found worldwide. The outbreak features one or more patches of tiny, dome-shaped, flesh-colored bumps (“warty” is a good word) that vary in size from 1 mm (0.04 inch) to 5 mm (0.2 inches). The center of the dome has a small depression. If the bump is squeezed, a cheesy material is expressed from the small depression.

The growths number from a very few to more than 100. They can appear anywhere. In adults, they sometimes are sexually transmitted. Often, they appear on skin that suffers from eczema.

Skin-to-skin contact is the major route of transmission. They also can spread from inanimate objects used by an infected person. Keep your son’s towels and washcloths apart from those of other family members. An infected person can transfer the virus by scratching the growths and then scratching an uninvolved skin area.

The infection is self-limited. It usually goes away in six months.

Your son has only a few molluscum. You can cover them with a Band-Aid to prevent spread to other skin patches and from passing them to others.

Most people choose to ignore them, especially when they’re few in number. If you want treatment for your son, you have a large menu to choose from. A doctor, with gloved hands, can extrude the central material from them with pressure from his fingers. Or the doctor can scrape them off with a special instrument. Many medicines can be applied to the growths. Cantharidin is one.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a bunion on each foot. I think they’re bunions; they’re hard bumps at the side of the lowermost big toe joint. They hurt when I wear high heels and at other times, too.

What causes them? Does surgery get rid of them forever? — S.R.

ANSWER: For some, a love affair with high-heeled, narrow-toe shoes contributes to bunion formation. Few people in shoeless societies have them. But shoes aren’t the sole explanation. Men get them too.

A gene-determined anatomical variation in the foot structure is another reason why they appear.

Bunion pain can be alleviated by wearing shoes with a wide space in the front and with low heels in the back.

Bunion surgery corrects the problem once and for all. If they’re not painful, you can leave them alone.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What’s this about liver damage from Tylenol? Aspirin irritates my stomach. I can’t take Advil or Aleve because I had a bleeding ulcer. Where does this leave me if I need something for pain? — W.G.

ANSWER: If you keep the dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) within the recommended daily amount, you can take it without fear of liver injury. Millions do, and have done so for decades upon decades. It has a good reputation for safety.

It’s not safe for people who drink alcohol in excess.

The average adult should not exceed a daily acetaminophen intake of more than 4,000 mg. The drug comes in tablets of 325 mg and 500 mg. You’ll stay within the accepted limits if you take 12 325-mg tablets or eight 500-mg tablets a day. I’d keep the number of tablets under those limits in order to play it safe.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.