Genital Warts and You
In the day and age of “hooking up” and “friends with benefits,” disease transmission is as easy as a drink at the bar. Knowing the symptoms and methods of transmission may keep you one step ahead of infection.
Definition
Genital warts are one of the most common types of sexually transmitted infections. At least half of all sexually active people will become infected with the virus that causes genital warts at some point during their lives.
As the name suggests, genital warts affect the moist tissues of the genital area. Genital warts may look like small, flesh-colored bumps or have a cauliflower-like appearance. In many cases, the warts are too small to be visible.
Like warts that appear elsewhere on your body, genital warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Some strains of genital HPV can cause genital warts, while others can cause cancer. Vaccines can help protect against certain strains of genital HPV.
What Are the Symptoms?
Commonly, genital warts symptoms are flesh-colored, soft-to-the-touch bumps on the skin that may look like the surface of a cauliflower. They often grow in more than one place and may cluster in large masses. Genital warts usually are painless, but they may itch.
You might see or feel genital warts in your vagina or on your vulva, cervix, penis, anus, or urethra. It is also possible — but not very likely — to have them in your mouth, on the lips, tongue, and palate, or in the throat.
Genital warts usually develop 6 weeks to 6 months after infection. But it may take longer.
They often grow more rapidly during pregnancy or when a person’s immune system is weakened by
- chemotherapy
- diabetes
- HIV/AIDS
- Hodgkin’s disease
- taking anti-rejection drugs after an organ transplant
Are They Dangerous?
You may find genital warts to be unpleasant or mildly uncomfortable, but they are not dangerous. They can, however, cause sores and bleeding — which can increase your risk of HIV infection.
Genital Warts and Cancer
Many people may worry that their genital warts will place them at risk of cancer. But the types of HPV that cause genital warts do not cause cancer.
It’s not unusual to have more than one HPV infection at a time. And warts may be a sign of infection from more serious types of HPV. Women can test for more serious types of HPV by getting regular Pap tests.
How Can I Know If I Have Genital Warts?
Only your health care provider can correctly diagnose genital warts. In women, genital warts are often seen during a pelvic exam. Unfortunately, men are not usually examined for sexually transmitted diseases, unless they complain of symptoms.
Women and men with more than one sex partner — or whose partners have more than one sex partner — should have regular exams for STDs, including genital warts.
Not All Bumps Are WartsOther infections and conditions are often mistaken for genital warts symptoms. That’s why it’s important to have your bumps checked out by a health care provider. Hemorrhoids, syphilis, skin tags, pearly penile papules, and other conditions can have symptoms that seem like genital warts symptoms. Very rarely, certain skin cancers can also look like genital warts. |
Is There a Treatment?
Very often, our bodies fight off the virus. If so, the warts go away with no treatment. That’s why a lot of people choose to just wait for the warts to go away on their own. But you may choose to get genital warts treatments if the warts are uncomfortable, get in the way of sex play, or you don’t like the way they look.
Warts can be removed with various genital warts treatments. Talk with your health care provider to decide which treatment might be best for you.
There are several medicines that can be applied directly to genital warts, depending on where they are located. Some prescription genital warts treatments can be used at home. Other treatments must be applied by your health care provider. Some genital warts treatments can cause discomfort. And some cannot be used during pregnancy.
Genital warts also may be removed by freezing them. This is called cryotherapy. They may be burned off. This is called electrocauterization. Or they may be removed with surgery or with lasers. In some cases, they are treated with injections of interferon, another type of medication.
Like all medications, genital warts treatments have risks and side effects. Your health care provider can explain them to you and help you deal with the side effects of your treatment.
After having genital warts treatment
|
For most people, the first series of genital warts treatment is successful in removing the warts. But even though the warts go away with treatment, they may return. This is because the treatments can remove the warts, but they don’t cure the virus that causes warts.
For some people, the warts may come back several months after treatment — especially if they smoke cigarettes. And for some people, the warts continue to return, even after long periods of time.
How Are They Spread?
Genital warts are spread by skin-to-skin contact — usually during vaginal, anal, or oral sex play. There is a chance genital warts can be spread even when no warts are visible. Treatment seems to lower the chance of passing the infection to a sex partner.
How Can I Prevent Getting or Spreading Warts?
- Get the HPV vaccine. It can protect against the two HPV types that cause 90 percent of all cases of genital warts.
- Abstain from sex play that involves skin-to-skin contact.
- If you choose to have vaginal or anal intercourse, use condoms every time. They can reduce the risk of genital warts. They are not as effective against HPV as they are against other infections such as chlamydia and HIV. But they greatly reduce the risk of infection. You can use condoms, Sheer Glyde dams, dental dams, or plastic wrap during oral sex to further reduce your risk.
- Stop smoking. Smokers may be more likely to develop genital warts than nonsmokers. They are also more likely to have warts recur.
Where Can I Get Checked?
Where Can I Get Treatment?
Staff at your local Planned Parenthood health center, many other clinics, health departments, and private health care providers can diagnose genital warts and help you get any treatment you may need or want.
- Finally, if you see or feel symptoms of HPV or any STD – see a licensed physician immediately. Early detection can prevent many of the side effects of disease.
- Sources:
- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/genital-warts/DS00087/TAB=indepthhttp://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex/genital-warts-4268.htm
[…] HPV, the sexually transmitted virus best known as a cause of cervical and anal cancer and genital warts, is thought to be responsible for an increasing proportion of oral cancers. Some propose that changes in sexual behaviour – a rise in oral sex in particular – are responsible. Such changes might be cultural, but could also be linked to fears about the safety of penetrative sex in the wake of the discovery of Aids. […]
[…] To find out more about HPV and its symptoms, Click Here. […]
行動電源…
*I was very pleased to locate this web-site.I needed to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every small bit of it and I have you bookmarked to verify out new things you blog post….
… [Trackback]
[…] Informations on that Topic: vforvadge.com/?p=396 […]
[…] HPV and its symptoms… […]
[…] HPV and its symptoms… […]