We briefly discussed this in your previous thread. Here are some basic facts about HPV:  Everybody gets it, often several times. At any point in time, up to 50% of people in the typical dating age range (20-40 or thereabouts) have active, transmissible genital HPV, and condoms aren't very effective in prevention. HPV therefore is impossible to avoid for almost all sexually active persons. Many or most HPV infections persist, or at least HPV DNA persists in infected areas, and sometimes it reactivates. Try to understand having HPV as an expected, normal, unavoidable result of being sexual. If the skin bump you removed several months ago was a wart, you might still have that virus, but it is unlikely to cause you harm and probably unlikely to transmit to a partner. But the aswner to your question is yes:  once someone has HPV, it may persist forever, but usually remains inactive. In that sense, HPV -- like herpes -- is "for life". But it usually doesn't matter.

Your HPV immunization protects you in event of new exposures to any of the 9 types of HPV covered by the vaccine (which cause 90% of health problems due to HPV). However, at your age you probably already have been infected with some or most of those types, so it's difficult to predict how effective it will be in preventing new infections. On the other hand, more recent research indicates that the vaccine does have modest effect in reducing the frequency of reactivation of existing infections. You should go ahead with the recommended third dose of vaccine.

Of course if you develop any future signs of possible active HPV infection -- like another genital area wart -- leave it alone and see a doctor for diagnosis and proper treatment. In the meantime, do not worry about this, or about infecting sex partners. You can assume that any current or future partners you might have also have had HPV and may still have it. It's in everybody! And it's normal.

Lots of information about HPV is available online. Two excellent sources are ASHA, the sponsor of this forum (www.ashasexualhealth.org/human_papilloma_virus/) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (https://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/default.htm).

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

HHH, MD

The varicella zoster virus indeed persists for life in anyone who has had chickenpox. However, it is not transmissible to other persons, unlike both HSV and HPV.

Do yourself a favor:  go back and CAREFULLY read my opening comments in this thread. Then suck it up and move on. There is absolutely nothing in any of this that should make this "a stressful way to live".

That makes two follow-up exchange which means this thread is over. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Just live with your HPV like everybody else does. Also please note the forum policy against repeated anxiety driven questions on the same topic. This being your second thread about your HPV concerns, it will have to be your last. Thank you for your understanding. I do hope the discussions have been helpful. Best wishes.