[Question #11712] Hpv genital warts
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12 months ago
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All, recently diagnosed today with genital warts by a derm.. early stages only 3 little ones and they were frozen.. been a long time coming, 500 sex partners later something appears.. did it to myself.. my question is, is this really lifelong. Doctor told me wait 4 weeks, if they come back, come in again and get the cryo. As long as I go 4 weeks without them I probably kicked the virus and she said then I can have sex again.. is this accurate? Also what about disclosure? Do you have to disclose hpv since most ppl already have it or will have it at some point? I’m reading 90% of ppl clear the virus within 2 years. Since these bumps are just bumps and have no medical consequences I’m not that really concerned.. it’s just the stigma.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
12 months ago
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Welcome back to the forum. It's been a while.
I have no idea what you mean by "a long time coming, 500 sex partners later". What makes you think the warts were from an exposure that many partners ago? And have you really had that many different sex partners?? Male or female? Oral, vaginal or anal exposures? Condoms?
There are widely variable opinions and advice about disclosure of past warts or other HPV infections. Most experts would say four weeks after visible warts are gone reduces transmission risk, but probably not entirely. Active viral infection often involves wider areas than the visible warts themselves. Six months is a common guesstimate. On the other hand, the need to disclose HPV at all is uncertain. Depending on the nature of your sex partner(s), many or most likely have been repeatedly infected and are immune to any of the HPV types they have had previously -- whether or not they ever had an actual diagnosis of HPV, warts, abnormal Pap smear, etc.
Perhaps I'll have more to say if you'd like to clarify the uncertainties. In the meantime, I hope these comments are helpful.
HHH, MD
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12 months ago
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Yes all female all protected intercourse besides oral. All vaginal. So based on your response it’s save to say if I don’t see new warts in a 6 month span I can presume I’m cured.. there’s no way for me to know from a test if I don’t have lesions.. 60% of those numbers were sex workers, the balance were girlfriends and or girls from clubs/bars online dating. What can help resolution more quickly? I currently smoke. Exercise, no smoking, fruits, leafy greens, zinc?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
12 months ago
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Thanks for clarifying your sexual history. FYI, condoms are poor at preventing HPV, so that you have warts really isn't a surprise. I thought you meant to imply you caught the warts from one of the first of 500 partners -- sorry if my comment was confusing. Warts can appear up to a year or more after catching the HPV that causes them. They also can result from reactivation of an infection acquired several years earlier. So there's no way to know when or from whom you were infected.
In any case, this doesn't change my advice about disclosure. As for speeding resolution, there are no data to support any of the things you name. A generally healthy lifestyle obviously can't hurt, and it is known that tobacco use appears to speed up progression of abnormal Pap smears toward pre-cancer and maybe cancer itself; and perhaps to delay resolution of abnormal Pap smears. Whether it has any effect on HPV itself or on warts is unknown. In any case, any such effect probably is minor. (OTOH, of course not smoking would be a healthy lifestyle change, far beyond its potential importance for your warts or HPV.)
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12 months ago
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Thank you. Last response. So this is going to be a lifestyle change. I do know people that have had hpv warts and were cured.. disclosure for hpv seems to not make sense logically speaking. I don’t want to infect anyone but I can’t just not have sex the rest of my life either.. what’s a good barometer for me to be abstinent after warts are removed assuming they don’t return.. 4 weeks?, 3 months?, 6 months? A year? To be considered cured? I’m a male I can’t test for it without warts
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
12 months ago
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The large majority of genital warts are cured, if "cure" means the warts clear and do not recur. That doesn't necessarily mean the HPV infection is gone. Some (most? maybe all?) HPV infections persist for life, with at least some potential for late reactivation.
For the reasons discussed above, you don't necessarily need to be abstinent at all once the warts are gone. Advice varies with exactly the intervals you mention: a month, 3 months, 6 months. Sorry that more precise advice isn't available. Many sexually active women would not hesitate to go ahead with sex once visible warts are gone. Indeed, my main advice for the next few months is to inform your partners and together make a decision about sex.
As you know, each question comes with two follow-up comments and replies and we're there. I hope the discussion has been helpful.
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