Genital warts are a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are many types of HPV: some cause genital warts, others can cause cancer. There is no treatment for HPV itself, but a health care provider can treat the warts.
How you get them
- Oral, vaginal or anal sex with an infected partner.
- Even when invisible: warts too small to see can still spread.
- Rarely, from a woman to her baby during childbirth.
Symptoms
- Often painless, with no symptoms — you may not know you have them.
- Sometimes itching, burning, bleeding or discomfort.
- Look: a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area, flesh-colored, flat or bumpy like cauliflower.
| Where warts usually appear | |
|---|---|
| Women | in or around the vagina, on the cervix, around the anus |
| Men | tip of the penis, around the anus, on the scrotum, thigh or groin |
Diagnosis
A provider can usually tell by seeing them during a physical or pelvic exam.
Treatment
Untreated warts may disappear, stay the same, or grow and multiply. A provider can:
- use medicines, creams or ointments;
- remove them by burning, freezing or cutting.
HPV stays in the body after treatment, so warts can come back and you can still spread HPV.
Prevention
- HPV vaccine: protects best before exposure — ideally before becoming sexually active. Over 26 and unvaccinated? Ask your provider about the possible benefits.
- Latex condoms, used correctly, greatly reduce but don't eliminate the risk. With a latex allergy, use polyurethane condoms.
- The best way to avoid infection is not to have anal, vaginal or oral sex.
Sources
Based on "Genital Warts," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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