[Question #11281] HPV follow-up

15 months ago

Hello doctors, sorry for returning to the site. My previous question was #11272. My anxiety has forced me.

I spoke to Dr Handsfield about how I used my flatmate’s sex toy (I have never slept with my housemate however). If you could answer the following questions that would be incredible:

15 months ago

1) My housemate had a negative HPV test 9 months ago. Is that a good indicator that she doesn’t have any concerning types of HPV for both cancer and dysplasia/pre-cancerous changes of the vagina and cervix?

2) Can the types of HPV that cause cancer and dysplasia cause genital warts?

15 months ago

3) Is she safe to wait the 4 years for her next cervical screening? As in, she wouldn’t need any more tests/preventative measures even if these were warts that were present on her toy?

Sorry I’ve had to do this in multiple parts, it wouldn’t let me send it all at once.

15 months ago

Sincere apologies for having to return to the site. My anxiety has been killing me all day and I didn’t know what way to turn. I know I need help for these issues however I can’t achieve this for a few months so am just trying to seek clarification to tide me over in the meantime. Thank you, I’m so sorry if I’m being a pain and burden to you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

15 months ago

I'm sorry you're back. You are asking for more than we offer: we are not a source to resolve anxieties even when STD related.

Almost certainly you have had HPV and may have it now, since almost everyone with an average sex life is infected. It is a normal, expected, unavoidable aspect of human sexuality. Regardless of her test results 9 months ago, your housemate undoubtedly also has been infected and could be carrying it now: HPV DNA often lasts for life, with a potential for reactivation. Happily, the large majority of the time it causes no health problems.

1,3) That your partner did not have detectable HPV on her last Pap smear is less important than the Pap smear result itself. If that showed no pre-cancerous abnormality, she should follow routine Pap smear guidelines about frequency. Probably 3-4 year from now. The result doesn't prove she doesn't have dormant HPV infection, but it makes it almost impossible she'll have any cervical health problems before her next routine Pap smear.

2) No. Different HPV types cause warts and cancer.

In your previous thread, you said you cannot discuss all this with your housemate. Yet now you seem to know about the details of her Pap smear history. I'm sure she was told by her doctor that it's fine to wait until her next scheduled Pap smear. Why would you otherwise be concerned about her health? It's not your business! And there certainly is no reason to suspect or worry that her sex toy might have been contaminated with HPV. And if it was, there was NO CHANCE YOU WERE INFECTED WITH HPV OR ANY OTHER STD;.

Drop the whole subject. I will have no further advice about it. If all this is causing as much unwarranted anxiety as you imply, consider professional counseling. I suggest it from compassion, not criticism. Or just follow through with your travel plans. This is a dumb thing to be worried about.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Best wishes.

HHH, MD

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15 months ago

Hi doctor, thanks for your reply and sorry for my return. This is something that I’m going to work so hard on because I’m fed up of allowing this to take over my life. She has mentioned to me before when she’s gone for her screening etc. but I know she’d be embarrassed about me knowing she had a sex toy and I don’t want to break that privacy barrier by talking to her about it. I just had one question regarding your response; re. the “pre-cancerous abnormality” you mentioned. We live in England where they don’t do cytology testing anymore, it’s just testing for HPV itself - the NHS say it’s much more efficient to scan for the virus first not the cells. She told me her HPV result was negative, can we trust this as much in this scenario as we could if the abnormal cells were screened for rather than the presence of HPV in terms of her likelihood to not develop anything within the 4 years to her next scan? I have read on the NHS website which I trust very highly that it would be VERY rare for anyone to develop cervical cancer in between scans if the scan was negative, this be the case for dysplasia as well?

15 months ago

What I really want to know is how safe she is to wait for her next screening. I know it’s none of my business but I feel as if I have a duty to tell her if I’ve seen something on myself that may or may not have been from her sex toy (even though you said it’s impossible and I’m deeming myself very unlikely). There isn’t any policy or practice that women who have genital warts require more smear tests/screenings is there? Once they’ve been treated there’s nothing else to do?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

15 months ago

*Sigh*

I wasn't aware cervical cytology is no longer routine in UK, but testing for HPV alone probably is fine. You can be confident the recommendations sare based on solid science. You should believe the NHS website. But still, YOUR FRIEND'S PAP SMEAR PLANS ARE NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! If you have concerns about her health, you're free to sensitively discuss it with her -- but you should not be the source of her medical advice.

That concludes this thread. The forum does not permit repeated questions on the same topic or exposure. This being your second about your unwarranted fears of HPV and your housemate's HPV tests will have to be your last one; future questions on these topicswill receive no reply and the posting fee will not be refunded. This policy is based on compassion, not criticism, and is intended to reduce temptations to keep paying for questions with obvious answers. In addition, experience shows that continued answers tend to prolong users' anxieties rather than reducing them. Finally, such questions have little educational value for other users, one of the forum's main purposes. Thanks for your understanding.

I do hope the two discussions are helpful. If you remain concerned, I would first advise re-reading both threads in detail; and following through on professional counseling as recommended above. Good luck to you.

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