Lifestyle Blog

How Can Genital Warts be Treated?

There is serious concern amongst sexual health experts about the rise in cases of genital warts; affecting the genitalia of both sexes they can even infect the anus. The human papillomavirus is the primary name for the various strains, also abbreviated to HPV; people are infected by sexual intercourse, oral or otherwise. The problem it is difficult not to contract genital warts because even condoms cannot prevent them; and the person who passes them on may be completely unaware they have them.

Contact with an affected person is no guarantee they will spread immediately because they may not develop for months or sometimes many years.Nevertheless, once infection has occurred, the virus has a new host and the disease gets spread even more. Ano-genital warts on male and female genitalia belong to a specific strain of human papillomavirus virus called HPV6 although there are now over 100 known types. Unfortunately women can be unwilling and unknowing carriers of warts as they are often hidden in the vagina and probably won’t be discovered until she has visited her doctor for a routine examination of her cervix.

Women have the added problem that their genital area can be quite warm but also damp and are likely to have increased discharge which is an ideal situation for genital warts to thrive in. To remove them the most popular method of wart removal is to apply liquid nitrogen to the infected area; which has very low temperature and will kill the infected skin and tissues. The use of liquid nitrogen is dependant on the location of the infected area; this is a painless procedure but must be performed by a doctor.

Sometimes these days lasers are used to remove warts but often a doctor will prefer to use electro-cautery although a minor surgical procedure cannot be rules out. Every method is dependant on the location of the infection but they are persistent and even if they are successfully removed, they can return at a later date. Designed to help a person’s immune system to fight the infection as well as destroy them, imiquimod can be used on ano-genital warts as well but once again, it cannot guarantee re-infection will not occur (even while it is being administered).

Before using imiquimod it is a good idea to consult with the doctor first because there are instances where it cannot be used as a treatment, including when a woman is pregnant,its use on inflamed skin or internally is also not recommended. This is a strong substance that has side-effects like many medications so someone using imiquimod needs to look out for coughs, blistering, aches all over and an itching in the genital region; a doctor would be able to elaborate on this. This article has been provide to supply general information on genital warts only and does not try to bypass professional medical advice which should be sought from your doctor or dermatologist.