[Question #11272] HPV

15 months ago

Hello doctors, I’m 48M and about 18 months ago I moved in with a new housemate (56F). I unfortunately mistook her sex toy as my own (we stored them in similar places) and used it. I used it both on my penis and anally. Since this time I have noticed the odd bump on my penis/anus but they went within a matter of days so I was assured this wasn’t anything of my concern by an online doctor, which is for it to be genital warts. I have since spotted a collection of bumps within an area next to the opening of my anus - there’s about six; some look more red/scabbed, others look more like skin protrusions and others look shiny as if there’s liquid inside. They’re very small and not that easy to see but because of my suffering with health anxiety, as you can imagine, I have taken this to the extreme of it being genital warts and HPV for myself and my housemate and that I’ve had them without knowing since exposure (around 18 months ago). I’ve read conflicting things on the internet regarding HPV’s life expectancy on a sex toy (I have no real idea as to how long ago she used it or if it was cleaned and obviously don’t really want to ask her) but was wondering if you could clarify this for me as I’m off travelling for many months in 2 days and cannot see a doctor in-person. Many thanks for providing a great service.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

15 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your confidence in our services.

Assuming the toy had not been used by your housemate within a few minutes before you used it -- that is, if any secretions on it had time to dry -- there was little or no risk. And of course if she cleaned since her last use, there was also no risk at all. HPV or genital warts have never been known to be transmitted other than by actual sexual contact.

And your description doesn't sound typical for genital warts. And genital warts would not persist without change for so many months; they would grow or regress; new warts usually would appear; and "shiny" or like "liquid inside" doesn't fit either. Most likely you're just noting some sort of minor various in skin structure. However, if you remain concerned or unconvinced, you'll need to see a doctor -- ideally a dermatologist -- in person.

I hope these comments are somewhat helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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15 months ago

Hi doctor, many thanks for your reply. I only noticed these ‘warts’ about a week ago so can’t unfortunately confirm if they’re new or not. As I mentioned previously, I did have the odd bump come up on my anus at the start of last year and I didn’t see these ones that I’ve spoke about at the time - however I wasn’t really looking in this area so can’t tell for sure. Just so I can clarify a few things in my head before I go off travelling and probably won’t even have signal to speak to an online doctor; I was just wondering if a couple more questions would be acceptable.

You mention ‘secretions’ on the toy - how long would these take to dry if they were there? Unfortunately, I didn’t clean it before I used it as I assumed it was mine (I still should, I know).

I do suffer with health anxiety, depression and OCD and all 3 of these have been massively triggered by this event (it’s been wearing me down for months - I’m so glad I found your service), and my health anxiety means I also worry for other people’s health. I don’t really want to speak to my friend about this scenario as knowing her, it wouldn’t be something she’d be comfortable speaking about and I don’t want to embarrass her, so I just need to know whether there’s any need of me telling her about this - just in case it was HPV warts. I know she had a negative HPV test about 9 months ago (so after my initial ‘exposure’) so that relaxes me in terms of cervical cancer or anything like that, but I have since learnt from looking online about cervical/vaginal dysplasia and I really don’t want that to happen to her.

Any reassurance you could provide would be wonderful, thank you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

15 months ago

"how long would [secretions] take to dry if they were there?" Probably a few minutes, certainly not longer than an hour.

Sorry that I have no solution to your OCD; all I can do is provide facts and scientific information about HPV, warts and other STIs. You need to stop worrying about warts anyway. Almost certainly that is NOT the problem; and if it is, genital warts are not a serious health problem and easily treated. Even if they are warts, they will not put any potential sex parters at risk for warts: cancers and warts are caused by different HPV types.

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15 months ago

Hi doctor, thanks for getting back to me so promptly. I am thinking of looking into some therapy towards my mental health at the moment so I’m hoping that will help. I’m so sorry if I’m being a pain but if you could just recommend/answer (so I can at least go off on my holidays reassured before I get counselling) that there’s no need for me to tell her about this even if it was to be warts? It wouldn’t be something she’d like to speak about and I don’t want to embarrass her but I’ve been worrying about her health continuously now after this event as I feel like if I don’t tell her she may have HPV and she could get it treated now, she’ll go onto develop something that could’ve been prevented by me coming forward. I’ve been trying to tell myself that her negative HPV test is reassuring for the concerning types of HPV and that the types that cause genital warts and cancer aren’t related but of course I see things like “occasionally” they are etc.

If you could just confirm a) whether I need to tell her or not and b) whether you think she’s safe to wait for her next test (in 4 years time) and c) whether you’d trust the HPV test in this scenario for cancer and dysplasia.

This will help me in ways you couldn’t imagine until I can address my mental health with a professional. Your answers will definitely help. Thanks so much.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

15 months ago

There's no diagnosis or treatment for people exposed to warts -- nothing for your partner to do even if that's the cause of the bumps. And since you've presumably been having sex with your partner for a long time, there's no point in stopping now. It would not make any difference in her risk of having HPV or warts. I suggest you not say anything to her.

That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. You can go forward with high confidence you do not have genital warts.

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