[Question #9138] HPV warts and CMV

36 months ago

Hey team, thanks again for taking the time to field my questions.

I have a few more questions about HPV GW.

At this point I am confident my partner and I do not have warts as we have seen very well respected dermotologists with genital lesion speciality and been thoroughly reviewed.

However, as Reddit and Google is anxiety/ nightmare fuel and trying to get most doctors in person to actually talk about HPV in detail is quite difficult. I am back here to get more educated answers.

1. Internal Vaginal warts, are these common? Do they clear faster than EGW?

2. On a previous question with Dr H, it was mentioned untreated warts will most likely self clear within the 2 year time frame. Is this for all genital warts or only specific areas? Is it common for untreated warts to get larger?

3. Do mucosal warts still become cauliflowery?

4. Can you get skin tags within the labia? (dermo identified a skin tag within my partners labia and was confident thats all it was)

5. Are GCAs rare?

Also i have one non GW concern I hope you guys could provide clarity on.

My partner recently tested positive for CMV and I made the mistake of googling CMV. I am concerned that this is going to cause long term complications for my partner and I especially regarding safely having healthy children.

Thanks again in Advance

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

36 months ago

Welcome back yet again. But I am dismayed you continue to be so worried about STIs without any obvious reason. I'll start out by observing that you're obviously one of those anxious folks who over-searches the web and tends to be drawn to information that inflames your anxieties. If you feel you need to continue online searching about STIs, I would strongly recommend you limit yourself to professionally run -- or at least professionally moderated -- websites. Reddit and Google probably are the least reliable (or at least inconsistent) resources you can find.In any case, these are very unimportant questions. If such issues are the things occupying your web searching, I would suggest stopping entirely! They seem highly trivial!

1. I am unaware of data that have analyzed the frequency of intravaginal warts. My impression is that they are much less common than external genital warts.

2. There also are no data on different clearance rates of genital warts at different anatomic sites. Probably about the same regardless of the exact site. And untreated warts indeed can continue to grow larger with time, although eventually growth typically stops and warts then recede.

3. Mucosal warts can become "flowery".

4. Skin tags are not warts, and they certainly can occur on women's labia.

5. I do not know the meaning of "GCA". Sorry.

As for CMV, I am puzzled why you are concerned. CMV can be sexually transmitted, but most cases are acquired non sexually in childhood or by about age 25; after initial infection, people are believed to be immune to new infection, so sexual acquisition is then no longer a possibility. There is no reason for your or your partner to be worried about CMV, or that it will have any effect on your future offspring.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear (or the meaning of "GCA").

HHH, MD

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36 months ago

Thanks again for responding Dr H,

Ill be honest i never used to get ANY health anxiety. However this year with my partners post coital bleeding, finding out that the country she came from ferociously is still fighting to not vaccinate their girls for HPV (i have massive guilt for not getting her vaxxed 3 years ago when i did because i didnt know), i have developed freckles on my glans and she has a single freckle inside her labia and also my partner testing positive for recent CMV infection. (in Aus CMV and EBV testing is not standard practice unless theres a reason)

Due to all this happening in less than 6 months my anxiety is at 200% which has not been helped by using google and reddit (though reddit did point me towards you and this website which has helped immensely)

We have had the Dermos check out the lesions and check for warts which has done a lot for helping my anxiety and I am taking myself off of google and reddit.

However as education regarding HPV was lacking when i was at school, and i am still trying to get to the bottom of where the freckles/spots have come from i have become very interested in learning about HPV, especially warts, better.

This also does raise a question, can HPV show up as 'freckles'?

Also GCA =Giant Condyloma Accuminata - i got this from reading papers on google.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

36 months ago

Most all adults test positive for CMV. Reactivation can occur, but usually isn't serious.

You're obviously examining yourself too closely and noticing natural changes (whether freckles or something else) of your penile skin that don't mean anything. I'm guessing your dermatologist(s) said much the same thing. You don't have warts.

Giant condylomas are rare, and warts become giant only if someone ignores them and does nothing about them for months or years -- i.e. they are prevented by treating warts when they first appear.

There is no rational reason for guilt for not advising your wife to be immunized against HPV. So what if you or she is infected? Your probably are --almost everybody has genital HPV, which generally harmless. Your wife should follow her doctor's advice about her vaginal spotting. Otherwise let it go. This is a big nothingburger in your life, or should be.

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36 months ago

Thanks again for your response Dr H!

The dermo and the GPs ive seen are very confident that my spots are nothing of concern, my partner is heading back in 8 weeks for a check up on hers just to be sure but her dermo is confident its nothing. Hopefully nothing changes and I wont be back on here asking more questions lol.

In regards to it all being a nothingburger, i am trying to convince myself as such and these conversations have absolutely helped. I am also scheduled for a therapist session to discuss the health anxiety (as some one who is far from being an anxious person normally, this is very new ground for me).

Thank you for your insight in to CMV, I didnt know what it was and google pretty much inflamed that its a cancer causing herpes that causes birth defects.. and you can see what that has done for my mental health.

I also appreciate your very blunt approach.

Regards

Anthony

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

36 months ago

I'm glad you understand -- intellectually if not (I fear) at an emotional level.

That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and concludes this thread. Please note the forum policy on repeated anxiety driven questions. This being your third, it will have to be your last on HPV, warts, and the other topics you have raised. Further ones will be deleted without reply and without refund of the posting fee. This policy is based on compassion, not criticism, and is designed to reduce temptations to keep paying for questions with obvious answers; because experience shows that continued answers tends to simply prolong such anxieties, when the real answer often requires professional counseling; and because such questions have little educational value for other users, one of the forum's main purposes. Thank you for your understanding.

I do hope the discussions help you move along without worry about HPV and other STIs. Best wishes.

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