Genital Warts Symptoms
Do I have Genital Warts?
This type of disease in the medical field is referred to the term Condyloma acuminate, also known as genital warts. There are 100 types of this virus and approximately 40 of them can infect the genital area.
When this infection is diagnosed, and it may not be obvious at first, there will be a cream colored cluster of small spots or a series of lesions in the area of the genitals in both women and men that can be noticed. This is the HPV or Human Papilloma Virus; a genital virus that is sexually transmitted.
Common warts are not the same since they only infect the skin in other places of the body. HPV-16 alone is 50% the cause in cervical cancer in women whereas HPV-18, HPV-31 and HPV-45 together are accounted for 80% of all cervical cancer in women. On the other hand HPV-6 and HPV-11 are “low risk” possible cancer causing viruses.
This highly contagious virus can affect patients, men and woman equally, at any age, but mostly between the ages of 17 to 33 years. A single contact with an infected person is enough to catch HPV. If HPV is found in children, sexual abuse should be speculated, since it is in most cases a sexually transmitted disease.
What are the symptoms of HPV?
Both men and women have the same symptoms. The size of the warts may be less than one millimeter to several square centimeters. There is a lot of itching, but genital warts in themselves are not painful, and there may be some discharge.
Specifically in men the area of the penis, scrotum, rectum and urethra is where the warts appear. They are soft and raised and some are fingerlike, rough or pearly and grey colored.
In women genital warts are in moist areas of the vaginal opening and lesions can be visible in the cervix or rectal area. There really are no symptoms although some women may experience blood after sexual intercourse and a vaginal discharge with some itching.
In-Home Self Care
Since there are no symptoms for genital warts, although small lesions on the skin can be detected, the patient must be cautious by preventing trauma to the infected area which could result in bleeding, therefore avoid squeezing or touching the warts.
One of the most important things to remember for the prevention of contracting this disease is to always use condoms and to never have unprotected sex. The use of male or female condoms may also prevent transmitting the infection to a sexual partner.
Medications do exist for genital warts such as Podofilox which is an in-home topically applied cream; more effective than Podophyllum resin, which is often used as a genital wart prevention cream.
Some reports of recurrences of the warts are higher when using Trichloroacetic Acid; a solution which often causes burning and pain after application on the infection.
Efudex also known as 5-Fluorouracil is a cream that needs to be applied on the infected area long-term and causes some burning. Aldara another name for Imiquimod is a new cream which causes some irritation to the affected area.
As always it is wise to consult with a doctor or pharmacist prior to using these medications, some of which can be purchased over the counter.
For more Information Read: Top 3 Natural Genital Warts Treatments Tested