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True story: Oral sex can lead to genital warts in your mouth or throat, though Minkin says these warts often go undetected. A bigger issue when it comes to oral sex and HPV is your risk of contracting HPV-related oral cancer, which is rising fast among young women (and is caused by a different strain of HPV than the one that leads to warts).
Trichloroacetic acid – This wart cure removes warts by breaking down the proteins forming the warts on the penis or vagina. This doesn’t mean that it differentiates between healthy body cells and warts, but will corrode any part of skin it is applied to. It works best for small warts.
There is no way to know which people who have HPV will develop cancer or other health problems. People with weak immune systems (including those with HIV/AIDS) may be less able to fight off HPV. They may also be more likely to develop health problems from HPV.
Chanchroid is a bacterial STD that is common in Africa and Asia but rare in the U.S. It causes genital sores that can spread the bacteria from one person to another. Antibiotics can cure the infection.
Genital warts: Genital warts can appear in the pubic area, on the genitals, in or around the and/or in the vagina. They look like small flesh-colored, pink, or red growths. The warts may look similar to the small parts of a cauliflower or they may be very tiny and difficult to see. They often appear in clusters of three or four, and may grow and spread rapidly. They usually are not painful, although they may cause mild pain, bleeding, and itching. HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease in North America and certain forms of the virus can cause cervical cancer.
Medical science also offers various forms of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for male genital warts. If you would like to discuss nutritional support while taking the very appropriately named 5-FU or interferon injections (into the warts on the penis), talk with your doctor. But probably you would be more interested in nutritional support.
They can be as small as 1-5mm in diameter, but can also grow or spread into large masses in the genital or anal area. In some cases they look like small stalks. They may be hard (“keratinized”) or soft. Their color can be variable, and sometimes they may bleed.
If you decide to use an over-the-counter salicylic acid or propane freezing solution, be sure that you’re diligent about using it. Follow directions closely, and realize it may take several weeks to several months to remove the entire wart.
There is an association between folate and B12 deficiency and an increased risk of contracting HPV. Taking a multivitamin or folate and B-12 supplements might help your body fight off an HPV infection and clear up warts.
If your teen is thinking of becoming sexually active or already has started having sex, it’s important to talk about it. Make sure your teen knows how STDs can be spread (during anal, oral, or vaginal sex) and that these infections often don’t have symptoms, so a partner might have an STD without knowing it.
The primary reason for treating genital warts is the amelioration of symptoms (including relieving cosmetic concerns) and ultimately, removal of the warts. In most patients, treatment can induce wart-free periods. If left untreated, visible genital warts can resolve on their own, remain unchanged, or increase in size or number. Available therapies for genital warts likely reduce, but probably do not eradicate, HPV infectivity. Whether the reduction in HPV viral DNA resulting from treatment reduces future transmission remains unclear. No evidence indicates that the presence of genital warts or their treatment is associated with the development of cervical cancer.
While it’s not known why the incidence of this type of cancer is increasing, it’s believed to be the result of more people engaging in sexual activity with more partners than in years past, combined with an increase in oral sex practices. Consequently, more people have oral HPV infections, which put them at risk. (1)
There are various treatment options for genital warts: applying a special cream or lotion over the course of several weeks, freezing them off with liquid nitrogen, or removing them with a laser or a surgical knife. Removing the warts will not remove the virus that causes them from your body. That means that after having been treated for warts, you could still get them again.
Use imiquimod. This is a topical cream that is used to treat some types of warts and skin cancers by stimulating an immune response. It does not cure warts, but it may help, in concert with other treatments. Ask your doctor for guidance.
Silver-coloured duct tape, combined with apple cider vinegar. Keep wart covered constantly or as much as possible. It can work for a lot of people and if its going to work for you, you’ll start seeing results in a few days. The wart will usually harden, darken and die. It may help to try an over the counter home freeze remedy to get rid of the last bit of wart which can be stubborn.
Conization is a procedure that removes the precancerous area of the cervix using a knife, a laser, or by a procedure known as LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure, which uses an electric current passing through a thin wire that acts as a knife). LEEP is also referred to as LLETZ (large loop excision of the transformation zone).
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). HPV is a different virus than HIV and HSV (herpes). 79 million Americans, most in their late teens and early 20s, are infected with HPV. There are many different types of HPV. Some types can cause health problems including genital warts and cancers. But there are vaccines that can stop these health problems from happening.
Use a citrus peel. Cut a section of lemon or lime peel slightly larger than the wart and tape it over with an adhesive bandage or tape. Refresh the peel every day or so and keep the wart covered for as long as possible. After about a week or so, the entire wart will come out completely.
Warts are tiny skin infections caused by viruses of the human papilloma virus (HPV) family. Although kids get warts most often, teens and adults can get them, too. Sometimes warts are sexually transmitted and appear in the genital area, but most warts affect the fingers, hands, and feet.
Aldara is a cream that contains the active ingredient imiquimod. It is used to treat genital warts. It works by boosting your own immune system to tackle the human papillomavirus that causes the warts. Most of the human papillomavirus lives in the warts themselves, so if you treat them, you should be able to get rid of the virus. Often though, warts reappear after a short time because, in these cases, the virus has already started to spread prior to treatment.
Molluscum bumps are usually small and round. They’re skin-colored, pink or red. They kind of look like pimples, but you get them in places where you usually don’t get pimples. You can get them on your arms or legs, stomach, or even your bottom.
Genital warts often appear or increase in number during pregnancy. Dormant infections may also become activated. The presence of genital warts may make vaginal delivery difficult if they are in the cervix or vagina, and warts in these locations tend to bleed easily. The warts often disappear without treatment after pregnancy. The real danger, however, is that newborns may become infected during passage through an infected birth canal. HPV can cause a very serious condition in children called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). This is a life-threatening disease of the respiratory tract. The papillomas or warts appear and spread quickly, sometimes dangerously blocking the child’s airway.
The application of 3%–5% acetic acid, which causes skin color to turn white, has been used by some providers to detect HPV-infected genital mucosa. However, acetic acid application is not a specific test for HPV infection. Therefore, the routine use of this procedure for screening to detect mucosal changes attributed to HPV infection is not recommended.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission is from direct skin to skin contact with apparent or sub-clinical lesions and/or contact with genital secretions. Micro-abrasions in the recipients skin allow viral access to the basal cells of the epithelium.
Like many STDs, HPV does not always have visible symptoms. But when symptoms do occur, warts may be seen around the genital area. In women, warts can develop on the outside and inside of the vagina, on the cervix (the opening to the uterus), or around the anus. In men, they may be seen on the tip of the penis, the shaft of the penis, on the scrotum, or around the anus. Genital warts also can develop in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person.
A study at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in the Republic of South Africa linked the development of oral warts caused by HPV to deficiencies in essential fatty acids, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.
Consult your doctor about surgical options. Your doctor may suggest these options when large numbers of warts are present or a large area is affected. Your doctor may also recommend one of these options if you’ve had several recurrences of HPV warts.
You can get genital warts during oral, vaginal, or anal sex with an infected partner. Correct usage of latex condoms greatly reduces, but does not completely eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading HPV. The most reliable way to avoid infection is to not have anal, vaginal, or oral sex. HPV vaccines may help prevent some of the HPV infections that cause genital warts.
My OB-GYN recently told me I have HPV. I know it’s extremely common and that your immune system can naturally clear the infection over time, but I’m still freaking out about it. Because I’m over the age limit for the vaccine, is there anything else I can do to help get rid of it?
Alpha-interferon, an immune-stimulating medication, may be injected into the lesions in severe cases which have not responded to other treatment. The immune system consists of cells and proteins that attack and destroy infections and foreign cells. When the immune system is working well, it can keep the virus under control, but otherwise virus growth can become unchecked. Interferon cannot eradicate the viruses, but may help to treat some manifestations of the infection. In some studies, the drug cleared warts in half the subjects. Interferon can be used when lesions recur despite other treatments.
SOURCES: Joel Palefsky, MD, professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco. CDC: “HPV and Men,” and “HPV Vaccine: Questions and Answers.” American Social Health Association: “HPV: Genital Warts: Questions & Answers,” and “”What Men Should Know.” Diane Harper, MD, MPH, professor of community and family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N.H. Joan Walker, MD, gynecologic oncologist, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. Winer R. New England Journal of Medicine, June 22, 2006: vol 354: pp 2645-2654.
Women with genital warts should see their doctor for a routine Pap smear and investigation for HPV infection of the vaginal canal and cervix. If the genital warts are not successfully treated with the initial therapy, the individual will need to follow-up with a doctor or a dermatologist to discuss options for alternative treatment.
Genital warts are small, soft, flesh-colored growths that form on the skin and mucous membranes of the genitals, or in and around the anus. Genital warts may be flat, raised, smooth or cauliflower-like in appearance. They tend to appear in clusters or groupings. It is also possible for them to be so small that they are not visible, and go unnoticed.
