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Here are a sample of some of the questions listed as of 8/25/2002. For most current Questions and Answers, click here.
Questions:
I have a bump on the shaft of my penis but it has been there for at least ten months that I am sure of and has not changed or gotten any bigger that I can tell anyway. Could this be a wart?
Any opinions on Beta-manaan? Reputable product? Success rate?
Are all strains of HPV transferable to the mouth?
Can the warts on the hands and feet cause genital warts if they come into contact with the genitals?
Can you get HVP or Warts in your anus?,I know very little about this, so sorry if my question is silly or sounds bad.
Hi, My Dr. has told me that the HPV is in my DNA, and that I am in the 10% of women that the outbreaks will keep coming back. Is this true? what can I do to reduce the outbreaks?
How can I tell who I got this virus from?
How is HPV in the mouth treated?
How long does it take for Hpv to show up?
how long is the average time it takes for a first time outbreak of small warts to go away, after 2 or 3 cryosurgery treatments?
I have a question about different treatments that cliam to kill the virus hpv. Oxi-Med, Warts No more cream, and Heal warts all claim to get rid of symptoms and kill the virus at the same time. Is this true? Is it better the aldara?
I have had HPV high risk virus for about 5 years. I had three laser treatments. The itch and pain in vagina are unbearable. Are there any means to relieve these side effects?
I have HPV.I have anal warts.I tried almost anything to remove them and I still have them. Do you know any way to take them away?
i have read that you can transmit through touching your partner, and then touching yourself...do you know how true this is? and if so...any touching at all is a risk?
I have small warts outside of my mouth on upper lip are that are small from HPV. Are they contagious? Any remedies. Thanks?
I just found out that I am infected with hpv from my boyfriend. My doctor said e should use condoms, but if we already have the same virus why should we start using condoms?
I may have contracted HPV from cunninlingus to my mouth area. Is this contagious when kissing even though hardly visible. What strains would this be and is it the same strain as the genital type given to me? thanks.
I noticed these little bumps like a couple of months ago on my penis, I thought nothing of it - well about after couple of months I saw little bumps on my left arm I wanted to ask you is this HPV and if there something I could do to get rid of it?
I was diagnosed with hpv in december. i asked my doctor if you could get it oraly and she said yes. now i have this hard bump on my toung it was white but now its just flesh colored and it kinda hurts. is this a wart? and if it is how do i get rid of it?
i was wondering if there were any things i could purchase at my local drug or health store for treatment of what i think could possibly be genital wart?
If I got HPV well into a committed relationship, does it mean my partner has cheated on me?
If I had an abnormal pap smear, does it mean I will get genital warts now?
If you heard that you have an abnormal pap smear in the ASCUS field, or whatever...does that mean that you have HPV?
Is HPV curable?
Is it in any way deadly?
is it possible to be infected with the HPV virus any other way then sex?
Is smoking a big factor? if i dont stop is it more likely to stay?
Just recently I was diagnosed with HPV. I found out I have both low risk and high risk types. I have the different types that can cause cervical cancer. This worries me very much. What are the chances of me getting cervical cancer if I go to the doctor regularly and stay healthy?
Many congrats for this site. My question is straight and simple. Suppose that one undergoes a surgical operation and, thus, is given some blood through transfer with infected blood (i.e., the doner was infected). Is it possible to get HPV in this case?
My girlfriend cheated on me....did she get it from there?
My old girlfriend was diagnosed with HPV. How do I know if I have. My doctor is clueless.
My pap in 4/01 and 9/01 were normal with no HPV. My last two 3/02 and 7/02 were abnormal and I tested + for HPV. Did I get it from my partner who I have been dating since December of 2001?
My pap smear came out ASCUS a couple months ago. A few days before I had my pap smear done I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend. I had an HPV test done and it came out positive. Does this most likely mean that he gave this to me since my pap smear came out ASCUS right after we had sex?
okay here is my question, i was dignosed with hpv, and i had warts on my cervix, i had the surgery, now my question is when you have the warts on your gentail areas how long do they last, and he is another by any chance do woman get hair bumps on the genitail area.
the hpv can be transmitted by kisses or use the kitchen stuff everyday? thanks
What are the symptoms of genital warts?
what does it look like
What does it look like and what are the symptoms?
What is the incubation time for HPV?
When I was younger I had a wart on the palm of my hand on two seperate occasions. Could this be a reason I have genital warts?
Where can I find more information and answers?
Which treatments would you recommend?
Why is there no test for HPV?
Answers:
No, it does not mean your partner has cheated. HPV has an indefinite incubation time, so you could have gotten it from a previous partner and it could just now be showing up. I have heard that it can lay dormant for several years. Same goes for your partner - he/she could have gotten infected from a previous relationship, be carrying the virus, and have given it to you. So don't panic, but don't be naive either. If you think there was cheating, check into it. If not, don't lose trust.
Genital warts don't always look like the pictures you might find of them on the web. They start out very small, and may look something like skin tags or bumps. Then, they increase in size. But if you're seeing something that wasn't there before, and it's fleshcolored and bumpy, then it's a good idea to get checked out.
No, they can't. Warts on the hands etc. are usually caused by HPV types 1 and 2, but genital warts are caused by types 6 and 11. So they are not the same thing.
Because there's no set incubation time, it is very difficult to tell who you got HPV from. Personally, I don't know who I got it from. If you've had two partners in the past that seem questionable, you'll probably never be able to know. But, some ways of narrowing it down are: - you can not get HPV from someone who was a virgin when you had sex (providing he/she has not had previous sexual contact of an intense nature, such as rubbing genitals with someone else) - if someone you were sleeping with had a lot of partners (or even a few), this is a good indication - if you had a long-time partner for years, and then you had a short-term one, and a few months later got HPV, then it is likely you got it from the short-term one, although that's not a sure indication. - HPV takes at least a couple of months to show up. Someone you just slept with last week didn't give it to you.
No, most likely you will not get genital warts. The type of HPV that causes cervical dysplasia is different from the type that causes genital warts. If you have had an abnormal pap smear and have shown no signs of getting genital warts, you probably do not carry the type of HPV that causes warts, and therefore you will not get warts unless you expose yourself to a new type of HPV, or that type of HPV is lying dormant in you. So don't worry about warts unless they've shown up.
Checkout http://groups.yahoo.com for some active HPV support forums.
As of right now, there is no actual test to detect the HPV virus in a person's body. This is because the HPV virus does not show up in blood. (By the way, in case you were wondering, you can give blood even if you have HPV. It doesn't make a difference.) The way doctors diagnose HPV is simply to look for the symptoms (warts), or to take a pap smear if the patient is female. This is why so many people are carriers; doctors will see no signs of HPV, pronounce the person clean, and the person will go on his or her merry way and infect other people without ever knowing about the virus. Now, there is a very new development in the HPV world known as the Digene Hybrid Capture II test. This is basically a DNA test for HPV in the skin cells. Right now, it is being used on women only, to analyze which type of HPV they have. It is not widely available just yet, and it is mainly used to detect the cancer-causing types of HPV (dysplasia strains 16 and 18). For more information, go to www.digene.com
There is no cure for HPV. HPV is very treatable, though no one treatment is right or the same for everyone. HPV does regress or go into a low term remission. At this time no one know what the virus does. At this time HPV is not found in any test. HPV is many times controlled by the bodies own immunity. HPV can reactivate and many times does after years of sleep. HPV many times reactivates when your immunity is impaired such as with age, sickness, depression and pregancy. When the virus is in low-term remission it is not as contagious, but the virus can be transmissed at this time through the bodies natural shedding process. No one know when this happens. In a committed long term relationship HPV should present no problem each person share the others virus. Each partner understanding the risks and having encourgaing regular check ups for both parties. Until we are sure that HPV is 100% elimated from the body we must assume we can be contagious informing all sex partners of the virus and allowing that person to choose. Thousands and thousands of people have a virus reactivate after many years in a dormant stage. Until testing is approved and we know 100% we are not contagious we must assume we can transmit the viurs. The virus enters the body through a cut, scratch or micro-brasion during sex. Lubrications do help in preventing these microbrasions. TSH
There's no way of telling when you are going to get symptoms, if you ever do. The incubation time for HPV is unknown. Sometimes it takes only a month, sometimes it takes several years. The longest I have ever heard was 11 years. Sometimes, it never shows up at all. But the person is still infected - they just don't show signs.
Good diet, lots of excercise in most cases reduces symtpoms/occurence! There are a few drug companies researching various vaccines and treatments - don't know when more information will be available on this. Give it a few years we'll have cures for a bunch more of these annoyances!
For my questions and answers I went to www.ashastd.org There is a free HPV hotline you can dial if you'd like to speak with someone one-on-one. They can also send you some booklets in the mail about HPV. There is also chat rooms available for you to speak with people and experts about it.
My HPV website's FAQ can be found at:
http://www.angelfire.com/md2/healthandhpv/faq.html
Also, there's a large HPV FAQ at:
http://www.arhp.org/CervicalCancerInsert/cervical_cancer_insert.htm
No, not all. If warts appear in the mouth, it is caused by strains 6 and 11. Also, oral cancers can be caused by type 16. But there are over 30 types of genital HPV, and most of them are not transmittable to the mouth (only the few). Oral HPV is, at best, uncommon, although I do know people who have it.
If you've had sex with more than one partner - all you can make is a good guess! There isn't really any way of knowing where you came up with this. The combination of lots of people having it and also lots of people showing few or no symptoms makes a hard search for an easy finger point.
From 3 weeks to several years. You can have the virus and never show symptoms. Likewise, if your immune system is compromised you may notice an occurence or more frequent occurence.
I personally didn't have any success with cryosurgery (with 3 visits like you mention). I noticed the greatest improvement by quitting smoking and eating more vegeatables. Sounds like a stretch, but 3 cryo visits and no significant progress - about 6 months after that I focused on health and it had the greatest impact. You might want to try this technique, or another treatment option if 3 visits hasn't helped you.
Do NOT go treating a wart unless you have been previously diagnosed with HPV by a doctor! What you have may not be a wart. Go to a doctor, and let him/her look at it first. Then you can treat the wart.
Try jogging to the store - get some excercise! It is my reccomendation even to those who don't have HPV to get excercise, increase water intake, and supplement a healthy vegetable and fruit diet with a daily multivitamin. Quit smoking and drinking if you do that! I've heard of various herbs and vitamins available at grocery stores that some have had success with: Folic acid, Vitamin E, Zinc and/or Echinachea. I like to take a Cayenne supplement it improves circulation and it's my belief that this helps heal by greater oxygen delivery throughout the body.
There are various treatments available. Some of the more popular I have found Podophyllin Applied directly to the affected area to kill wart. I believe this is an acid formula with potential toxicity. Podofilox Topical at home version of Podyphillin. Strength is less (supposedly so is toxicity) and can be prescribed by doctor. Cryotherapy Freeze the wart dead. Laser Therapy Have your doc zap them away. Aldara Topical at home cream - claims to modify immune response in applied area. Have heard good/bad things about this option. I'm sure there are many other less popular treatments available, these are the ones I've heard of. AL
There is no known cure for HPV. However, eventually the immune system does repress it by reducing it to a low level. At the point of natural suppression, it would be unlikely for a person to transmit the virus. Researchers don't know whether it is actually ever fully eliminated from the body, but at any rate it quits being contagious after a while. The time it takes to get to this point varies from person to person, according to their immune system. The longer you have gone without having symptoms, the more likely it is that your body is reducing the viral levels. HPV does not tend to be persistent in most cases, and most people who have contracted it are not thought to be permanently contagious.
Well there is no real way to tell, but my wife did have oral sex with someone else besides me...and that is where we think she got it from
No your question is not silly. It's best to ask questions then not know. Yes you can. Sometimes the symptoms you can have is pain or bleeding when using the bathroom. I'd go to the doctor if you are worried about this and usually they can do an exam to see if there are warts present. I hope this helps. If not there is a good website to go to that offers really good up to date information about HPV. The website is: www.ashastd.org
Hi, I recently found out that I had HPV. My Dr. told me I had both high and low risk hpv. What he told me was I might not even get any out breaks even though I have the type that causes it. He said for me to start taking vitamins daily, like centrum, and also take Vitamin E daily. You would not believe how Vit. E helps your immune system. I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
HPV in the mouth is similar to other locations but with more limited treatment options - surgical removal, cryotherapy, interferon alpha. Oral warts cannot be treated with some of the more popular topical remedies like Podophyllin or Aldara.
I've heard different things about this cream but Aldara is supposed to get rid of warts. I would speak with your doctor about it if you haven't tried it yet. I hope this information helps. If you keep getting them removed and they come back then I guess it's just a matter of time to see when your body reconizes the virus and supresses it. Here are some ways that can help: If you are a smoker....quit! If you are not taking vitamins, start taking them today. Vitamins such as Centrum. Also, if you are not already, take Vitamin E. Vitamin E is a wonderful vitamin that helps your immune system. Keeping yourself healthy is the best advice. So exercise, take your vitamins and hopefully these will be helpful.
Warts on the genitals and warts on different parts of the body are not the same thing at all. The warts on the genitals can not be transmitted to other parts of the body (except the mouth, and this is uncommon), and common warts on the body can not be transmitted to the genitals. So whatever is on your arm has nothing to do with your penis. However, I would still consider getting checked out because any time there are bumps on your privates, it's a good idea to get them looked at.
It could be a wart, but I'm not sure. I would suggest you ask an ear, nose, and throat specialist about it. They seem to know the most about these things.
My pap smear showed up as ASCUS last month. I was very worried because I heard that ASCUS means HPV. If you have an ASCUS pap show up and your Dr. does not do an HPV test, make sure you ask for one to be done. ASCUS does not mean that you have HPV it just basically means that they found cells in your pap that they really don't know why they are there. ASCUS stands for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. Squamous stands for "round" cells. Usually these cells are not found on the cervix when they do a pap smear. There is a 50/50 chance that a person with an ASCUS pap does not have HPV. When an ASCUS pap shows up it could be brought on by many causes such as stress, hormones, if you just recently had a period, etc. In my case after I had the ASCUS pap show up they did do an HPV test and it came out positive. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.
Quit smoking. Very important. If HPV can get you to stop smoking, it will be one of the best things thats ever happenned for you!
Smoking, eating healthy, and exercising are all big factors.
Yes stop smoking! Smoking makes your cells weaker in your body. HPV is an immune type virus. You need to keep yourself as healthy as possible! Start taking vitamins daily, such as centrum. And also take Vitamin E daily. You would not belive how helpful this Vitamin is.
It's possible. You can reduce your risks and other's by limiting the number of partners and wearing protection / preventing contact with another's infected area.
It is very hard to tell at this time. Especially if you haven't had any signs of warts appear. What you should do is just take care of yourself. Start taking vitamins such as Centrum. Also make sure to start taking Vitamin E daily. Keep yourself healthy. If you smoke, please try and quit.
Warts stay on the genital area until you have them removed. They just kinda sit there. There are different creams you can talk with your Dr. about that remove the warts without surgical treatment, that is if they are on the outside on the genital area. Hair bumps can occur on the genital area, if I'm understanding what you mean by hair bumps. Usually after you shave the hair will try to grow back. Sometimes the hair is trapped under the skin causing those bumps to appear. In time the hair will push through.
Once I was exposed to the virus I did the following things: -quit smoking -quit drinking -started excercising -increased fruit and vegetables -1 multivitamin day -increased water intake -occasional echinachea I haven't noticed any symptoms of the virus even though the exposure should have led to warts. Hope this helps.
Sometimes warts will respond to Vinegar(Acetic Acid) by turning white. In some cases the warts won't respond. Even without warts the virus can many times still be transfered. If it does turn white, you should definitely visit a doctor - and if it doesn't turn white, you may want to still visit a doctor just to check out whatever it is that you are noticing. For males, reference 'pearly penile papules' for information that may address related concerns.
Very frequently men have some bumps on their penis. There are 3 likely things: hair follicle, penile papule or wart. Generally the pearly penile papules appear on teh head of the penis. If you look closely at pictures of most genital warts you'll notice that they generally come in patches of more than one and have a rough cauliflower like appearance. See post: ('Pearly Penile Papules').
I have never tried beta-mannan, but I am very wary of the website. The man who owns the thing makes it out to be a cure-all. And we know that as of yet, there is no cure for the HPV virus. So I wouldn't trust it.
I believe strains 6 and 11 can cause warts in the mouth. I don't think this is very common.
I don't know anything about the different creams for sure but I know that nothing can actually "kill" the virus all together. You will always have that virus in your system. It's like the chickon pox. Once you have them you will always have that type of virus in you, it's just not seen anymore. The different creams just make the visual symptoms of HPV such as warts go away. Sorry I couldn't be much help with the different treatments. There is a website you can go to which is: www.ashastd.org They have a free hotline just for HPV that you can call and get information. I called and I found it very helpful.
I would recommend tea tree oil. This product may sting when you first apply it, but then it cools the entire area down and you will probably feel much better. -B
Yes, HPV can be transfered through genital contact. If someone touches you in a spot you have it and then touches themself in a vulnerable spot - then yes its possible. If I was concerned about coming into contact with HPV then I wouldn't have any sort of sexual behavior with the person. Personally, now that I'm a little more familiar with HPV and realize that as many as 50%+ of the sexually active population have it- I'm more focused on being healthy and preventing any outbreaks. Hope this helps a bit.
There is no reason to use condoms if both of you are infected. Why worry about passing a virus back and forth that you already have? *However*, you shouldn't have sex while you have symptoms.
You're right because once you've received hpv from your partner then you have it. Sex with the same partner with the same hpv you have will not increase any other different types of hpv to form.
I haven't heard of HPV on the arm before. Regarding the bumps, please visit post: (' Bumps on Penis')
First what you should do is go to your doctor and let him tell you if you do have genital warts or not. If not, then I'm sure he/she can prescribe a specific medicaiton to get rid of what you might have.
If you have had an abnormal pap smear most likely you do not have HPV and you won't get genital warts. But still if you are worried about being exposed to this virus since so many people have it, I would ask your doctor to test you specifically for HPV. Sometimes a pap smear will come back ASCUS. This simply says that there are cells on your cervix that are normally not there. You have a 50/50 chance here of either having HPV or not. Usually ASCUS is a sign of HPV but not always. If you ever do get an ASCUS pap make sure the doctor tests you for HPV. But if I were you I would get tested for HPV, especially if you're sexually active.
No. It can cause Cancers cells however, on both men and women if not watched closely by your doctor.
HPV should not be a deadly virus. You should go to your doctor regularly for pap smears to make sure there are no cancerous cells on your cervix. If those cells are present the doctor can usually take them off the cervix and hopefully they won't come back. What you need to do is start taking care of yourself. Take Vitamin E daily! Also start taking Centrum. If you smoke, please try and quit.
Yes, it is possible for HPV to be transmitted through genital contact or transitive genital contact. If someone touches an infected area and then touches themselves, there is a possibility they can contract HPV. Sex increases the chances as minor tears in the skin can open the door to transmission and/infection.
I've heard figures at - if dysplasia is mild 2/3rds of the time no problem develops. If a problem or cancer does appear and you catch it early - there is a 90% chance it will be eliminated in 1 treatment, and 99% chance that it will be eliminated with second treatment. These figures are rought and from what I've collected on the internet. It adds up to: Keep in touch with your doctor at least yearly, and live healthy. This is something everyone should do anyways. Stay healthy - especially no smoking if you're a smoker! Quit!
Women with HPV should not get cervical cancer if you go to your doctor regularly and keep a close watch out. If you do have some cells that need to be removed off your cervix then usually after that things should be fine. Just start taking care of yourself since you know you have HPV now. Take Vitamin E and Centrum Vitamins daily.
HPV is not present in blood, therefore it is also not transmittable that way.
Difficult to tell if you aren't showing symptoms. Your chances increase if you participated in unprotected sex. I'd reccomend being extra health concious towards the possiblity of assisting your immune system to supress or prevent an occurence or infection.
There really is no way to tell for sure. One of the best ways is knowing if your partner has it. Symptoms can appear as early as a few weeks and distant as a few years. If you have a hunch as to where you might have gotten it, I think you probably have the best idea. Good luck, I'm sorry I don't have a better answer.
There is really no telling where or when you got HPV. When your pap smear was normal did you also have an HPV test done? They are 2 different tests so if you just had a pap smear then you could of had the virus then and just didn't know. Since you know now start taking care of yourself. Take vitamins, such as Centrum and take Vitamin E daily.
Actually, the incubation time for HPV is a few months. If that was the first time you had sex with your boyfriend, then you didn't get it from him (and he is now infected). If it isn't the first time you had sex (protected or unprotected, I don't care), and if you have been having sex for a few months, then you could have gotten it from him, but you could still also have gotten it from a past sex partner. There is really no telling either way. You definitely need to let your boyfriend know that he is infected as well, even though he will probably not show any symptoms.
There is really no telling who you got the virus from. If you had any signs or symptoms before having sex with your boyfriend then most likely you had it before him. Start taking care of yourself to prevent future outbreaks.
HPV is a sexually transmitted disease so it can not be transmitted through kissing or by using kitchen utensils by a person with HPV who has touched or used them.
(From question: What are the symptoms? Answered by: Rebekah) Genital warts don't always look like the pictures you might find of them on the web. They start out very small, and may look something like skin tags or bumps. Then, they increase in size. But if you're seeing something that wasn't there before, and it's fleshcolored and bumpy, then it's a good idea to get checked out.
HPV is also known as human papillomavirus. It does cause genital warts but in most cases people never show any symptoms of having HPV. That is why so many people have it and don't know it. It is estimated that 80% of people have HPV. That's 3 out of 4 people! Genital warts can be single or multiple growths or bumps that appear in the genital area. These usually appear as soft, moist, pink or red swellings. They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large. Some cluster together forming a cauliflower-like shape. Sometimes you can have itching or irriation. If you think you might have this I would go to your doctor. Hope this helps!
No. The types of HPV that cause regular warts on the hands, feet, etc. are a totally different type of HPV than the ones that cause genital warts. You cannot transmit them from your hands to your genitals or vice versa.
no. genital warts are a whole diffrent straind of warts.
No, that is a totally different type of HPV. There are 100 different types but 30 of those types of HPV are sexually transmitted. If you have genital warts then you came into contact with a person with HPV, and you were infected by that virus.
Start taking care of yourself! Start taking vitamins daily. For sure start taking Vitamin E daily. Centrum is also a good vitamin to take with that. If you haven't yet I would talk to your doctor about different treatments available that would best work for you.
Getting and Transmitting HPV
Can I get HPV from having warts on other parts of my body (hands, feet)?
Can I get it if someone who has a wart on their hand touches my genitals?
Can I get it from toilet seats, bath towels, swimming pools, hot tubs, etc.?
How about kissing?
Touching someone down there who is infected?
Oral sex?
Sex with a condom?
How about having sex with someone who has HPV, but hasn’t had symptoms in a long time?
If I have HPV, is it possible that my sex partner doesn’t have it? Should I worry about infecting him/her if we have already been having sex?
If my partner and I both have HPV, can we pass it back and forth by having sex? Will we re-infect each other all over again?
Will using tampons spread the virus?
Is this HPV?
I am a virgin male who has never done anything sexual with a girl. But
I have a bunch of little bumps on my penis. IS THIS HPV?
Is HPV the same as genital warts? If I have HPV, will I always get genital warts?
Can you have genital warts without having HPV?
I had an abnormal pap smear. Does this mean I will get warts, or worse, cancer?
Is HPV related to Herpes? Can HPV turn into Herpes, or vice versa?
The pictures of HPV I have seen on the
net look nothing like my little thing. Are all cases that severe?
I had this little bump on my genitals, just this one little bump. My doctor
froze it off and told me it was nothing. Is this HPV?
HPV incubation time and why there is no
test
How long does it take for HPV to show up after I’ve been exposed?
How can I tell who I got the virus from?
Why is there no test for HPV?
The HPV Breakout
What is the possibility of the warts returning?
If I had a mild breakout this time, will
my next one be more severe?
I already got treated. Is there anything I should be doing that I am not?
Are there vitamins I can take to reduce my chances of a breakout?
Is smoking a risk factor for HPV?
Fertility issues: HPV and having children
Will HPV affect my ability to have children?
Can I give HPV to my children at birth?
Other Issues
Are 80% of adults really infected?
How big of a deal is this?
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