Your age and medical history. Who to see In general, your family doctor or any of the following health professionals can determine whether you have genital warts: Nurse practitioner Physician assistant Internist Treatment may require a specialist, such as a: Gynecologist.
Exams and Tests A doctor usually can diagnose visible genital warts using your medical history and a physical exam. How do you know? Did your partner tell you? What are your symptoms? If you have discharge from the vagina or penis, it is important to note any smell or color.
Did you use latex condoms to protect against STIs? Which sexual behaviors do you or your partner engage in, including high-risk behaviors such as sex with multiple partners? Have you had an STI in the past? How was it treated? Have you ever had an abnormal Pap test for women? For women After your doctor takes your medical history, you will have a gynecological exam, which usually includes a Pap test. For men After the medical history, you will have a physical exam for genital warts.
Doctors do not recommend a screening test for HPV infection in men. For men and women Some experts believe that people who receive anal sex should have a screening for anal cancer, especially if they also have HIV infection. If visible warts are present, a diagnosis can usually be made without more testing. Genital warts may disappear without treatment. This is the natural course of many genital warts.
Destroying large areas of warts is difficult and may cause scarring. Treatment for genital warts does not eliminate the HPV infection. You may still be able to spread the infection. Latex condoms can help reduce the risk of HPV infection. Treatment of genital warts can be painful, and warts may return after treatment.
Warts that return after being treated usually are not treated again unless you want to be retreated. If you do, you would usually choose a different form of treatment. Types of treatment Treatments for genital warts include medicines, freezing, laser, or surgery. The type of medical treatment for genital warts will depend on: The number, size, and location of warts.
The side effects of treatment. The skill of the doctor for each treatment option. The cost of treatment, which varies depending on: The cost of medicine. Any specialized equipment used. The number of treatments needed. The problems caused by the warts such as blockage of the urethra. Your preference. If you are pregnant. Some wart medicines should not be used during pregnancy. Medicines Doctors often recommend medicine applied to warts topical drug treatment as the first choice of treatment.
Surgery and other treatment Surgery to remove genital warts may be done when: Medicine treatment has failed and the removal of warts is considered necessary.
Warts are widespread. What to think about Without treatment, external genital warts may remain unchanged, increase in size or number, or go away. Treatment of warts usually requires a series of applications rather than a single treatment. Warts in moist areas usually respond better to treatments applied to the area, such as creams or acids.
Warts on dry skin may respond best to freezing cryotherapy or surgical removal. Cryotherapy may be done when genital warts are visible and bothersome and are growing in a small area.
Repeat treatments may be needed to remove all wart tissue. The success of surgery is related to the number of warts. The success rate is higher and additional treatments are less likely to be needed when surgery is done on fewer and smaller warts.
Surgery may require anesthesia. Small areas of warts can be quickly treated with removal methods, such as cryotherapy or surgical excision. Self-applied medicines may be used for larger areas of warts that need longer or repeated treatments. Prevention You can reduce your risk of becoming infected with the human papillomavirus HPV or another sexually transmitted infection STI. Practice safer sex Preventing a sexually transmitted infection STI is easier than treating an infection after it occurs.
Talk with your partner about STIs before beginning a sexual relationship. Find out whether he or she is at risk for an STI. Remember that it is possible to be infected with an STI without knowing it. Be responsible. Having several sex partners increases your risk of getting an STI. Male condom use Latex condom use can reduce the risk of becoming infected with HPV.
Female condom use Even if you are using another birth control method, you may wish to use condoms to reduce your risk of getting an STI. Vaccine If you are age 26 or younger, you can get the HPV shot.
You can use at-home care to feel more comfortable. Take sitz baths. Fill a tub with a few inches of warm water and sit in it for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Squeeze warm water from a bottle over your genital area to provide comfort and cleansing. Keep the warts clean and dry in between baths. You may want to let the sores air dry. This may feel better than a towel. Medications Medicine may be used to destroy bothersome genital warts, relieve your symptoms, and reduce the amount of area affected by warts, particularly when the warts are: Visible, bothersome, and growing in a small area.
A cosmetic concern and you want them removed. Warts that are growing around the anus or on external genitals, such as on the penis or vulva , may be removed because they are unsightly.
Some treatments that remove genital warts are more likely to leave scars. So cosmetic concerns about scarring may help guide the choice of treatment. Treatment applied at home The following medicines can be applied to the affected area topical treatment at home: Imiquimod such as Aldara Podofilox lotion or gel such as Condylox Sinecatechins such as Veregen Do not use these medicines during pregnancy.
Treatment applied by a doctor Treatment by a doctor can: Treat areas that you cannot reach easily. Treat a large area. Remove the warts quickly. Be expensive. Be painful. Have side effects. Intralesional injected into wart lesion interferon. Treatment during pregnancy Treatment for pregnant women includes trichloroacetic acid TCA , cryotherapy, laser therapy, loop electrosurgical excision procedure LEEP , and surgical removal by electrocautery or excision. What to think about Avoid sexual contact in the treated area until the area is completely healed.
Some medicine may be more expensive than others. Warts may go away without treatment, but this may take many months. You can still pass the virus on, and the warts may come back. The HPV vaccine that's offered to girls and boys aged 12 to 13 in England protects against cervical cancer and genital warts.
Find out more about the HPV vaccine. Most pregnant women with genital warts have a vaginal delivery. Very rarely you might be offered a caesarean, depending on your circumstances. Page last reviewed: 24 August Next review due: 24 August Genital warts.
Non-urgent advice: Go to a sexual health clinic if you have:. Small, rough wart below the vagina Credit:. Cryotherapy is usually done in your doctor's office or clinic.
A magnifying instrument may be used to see the abnormal tissue better. Recovery time depends on the location and number of warts removed. Healing usually occurs in 1 to 3 weeks. After treatment, the following may occur:.
For men and women who have had cryotherapy for external genital warts , call your doctor for any of the following:. Avoid sexual intercourse until the treated area heals and the soreness is gone. Be aware of the following after treatment for vaginal or cervical warts :. Men treated for genital warts on the penis, scrotum, or in the urethra should avoid sexual intercourse until the treated area is healed and the soreness is gone.
This is usually 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the size of the area treated. Cryotherapy may be done when genital warts are visible, growing in a small area especially near the anus , and bothersome.
Cryotherapy usually is not used when genital warts are widespread. Experts agree that cryotherapy can be helpful in removing genital warts. More than one treatment may be needed. The removal of genital warts does not cure a human papillomavirus HPV infection.
The virus may remain in the body in an inactive state after warts are removed. There are few complications after cryotherapy. Genital warts can disappear without treatment. Although this will usually happen within 2 years, it can take longer. People can eliminate genital warts much faster with treatment, and treated warts are less likely to return quickly. For a person using cream, it may take as little as a few months for warts to disappear.
However, they may go away more quickly following a surgical procedure. An outbreak will present as lumps anywhere around the genitals. In some cases, outbreaks can also appear on the throat, mouth, lips, or tongue. In addition to clearing up genital warts more quickly, treatment can ease associated pain, itching, and irritation.
It can also lower the risk of HPV spreading to other people. A doctor can prescribe a topical cream or recommend an over-the-counter OTC variety. It is important to note that OTC remedies for regular warts cannot treat genital warts. This cream comprises green tea extract, and doctors prescribe it to manage external and anal genital warts. A person should apply the product to the affected area three times daily for up to 4 months.
Imiquimod works to get rid of external genital warts, and doctors have also used it to treat some skin cancers. People can apply the ointment directly to the warts at least three times a week for up to 4 months.
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