Genital warts are very infectious and accounts for the reason of their continued prevalence but they also need to be treated early before they grow large. The unfortunate fact is that those found around the male and female genitalia are only transmitted through acts of a sexual nature and that includes oral sex; they are actually a virus called the human papillomavirus or HPV for short. Genital warts are difficult to prevent even using safe sex techniques and it is quite probably that person who has them may be completely innocent as it is not always apparent that a person has them if they are internal.
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. The strain that causes ano-genital warts is called HPV6 (human papillomavirus 6) but this is only one of over different types of HPV virus. Although outer warts can be easily seen, women who develop them inside their genitalia may not be seen until a doctor examines the site.
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. Liquid nitrogen is still the method of choice for wart removal for doctors and dermatologists as the very cold temperature destroys the skin and tissue but it normally takes more than one treatment. Using liquid nitrogen is a painless process but cannot be used on certain areas of the body which is why it is for the doctor or dermatologist to decide.
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. A self administering treatment called imiquimod is designed to help the person’s immune system fight the genital warts but this cannot destroy the virus and there are no guarantees more will not form even though it is being applied.
It is best to get a doctors consent to use imiquimod as it cannot be used in every circumstance including pregnancy,it also can’t be used inside the genitals or inside the vagina nor on inflamed skin. If you experience blisters in the area of use, an itchy genital area even body aches then you must stop using imiquimod but speak to your doctor who can provide more information on this subject. With such a serious subject, the information on genital warts provided here should not be viewed as complete or in-depth; further facts and advice should be sought by a doctor if you have personal concerns.
