Genital warts
What are genital warts?
HPV is a virus which causes warts on the skin, anywhere on the body. HPV can cause genital warts which appear on the vagina, cervix, vulva, penis, anus, rectum, or urethra.
Women who get the genital wart virus should see a sexual health specialist. They should go to the GUM Clinic as soon as possible. Some types of HPV are linked to cervical cancer. Also, all women over the age of 20 who are sexually active should get a test called a cervical smear as this can help health staff spot changes in the cervix before cervical cancer occurs.
What are the symptoms?
The HPV virus is pretty tricky to detect because there aren't many external symptoms. Here are two symptoms to look out for:
- Small fleshy growths which look a bit like cauliflowers in the genital area.
- Pain or itching sensation in the genitals.
How do you catch it?
You can catch the HPV virus by having unprotected anal or vaginal sex with an infected partner or touching a partner's infected penis, vagina or anus and then touching your own genitals.
How can I protect myself?
Condoms will give you pretty good protection from the HPV virus.
Because the symptoms are difficult to notice, most people carrying the virus probably don't even know they have it, so you can't trust your partner to know for sure. That's why it's best not to take any chances and always use a condom
Treatment
You can get creams and ointments to help genital warts on prescription from a Doctor or buy it from a pharmacy. This may help the discomfort you are feeling and remove any visible growths but the virus will remain in your systems and may occur again.