Genital Warts

Genital warts are one of the most common sexually transported diseases/ infections (STI). The virus responsible for this is called human papillomavirus or HPV. The infection causes small warts or bumps to form in and around the genitals and rectum area.

While there’s no particular cure for HPV, genital warts medicine can successfully treat genital warts.

Genital warts can affect all individuals - but is more common in young adults and teenagers, though males are slightly more at risk.

Genital warts can affect the following areas:

• Anus

• Groin area

• Penis and scrotum

• Rectum

• Vagina, along with the vulva, vaginal lips, and cervix

• Lips, mouth, tongue, and throat

While there are many different types of HPV, not all of those types lead to genital warts. The two that cause this are HPV 6 and HPV 11.

What causes genital warts?

As you might have guessed, genital warts spread through skin-to-skin contact - especially during sex. In fact, the warts and the virus, both are quite contagious. It is all the more worrying because, once you have the virus, you are always infectious. In fact, even if you don’t have visible warts or use genital warts medicine to get the warts removed, you can still infect others.

Genital warts spread in the following ways.

• Intercourse, be it in the form of anal, vaginal-penile, or vaginal-vaginal

• Genital touching with the partner that doesn’t include ejaculation

• Giving oral sex to your partner who has HPV or genital warts

• Receiving oral sex from someone who has HPV or genital warts on their mouth

One can have HPV and not have genital warts, but can still be a carrier of the infection. This is particularly troublesome if you have more than one sexual partner, since in that case, it becomes difficult to know which partner gave you HPV and genital warts.

You’d be shocked to know that most people who are sexually active may get infected with genital HPV. Here are a few risk factors that seriously up your chances of the infection.

• If you didn’t get the HPV vaccine

• Having sex with multiple partners and not using a condom

• If you have some other sexually transmitted infection

• Became sexually active at a young age

• Have a weak immune system either due to HIV or use of medicines or due to an organ transplant

Genital warts medicine and treatment

People often hesitate and feel embarrassed to consult a doctor for HPV and genital warts, and that’s why we recommend connecting with Pharmulous for an online consultation.

To diagnose the condition, our healthcare provider at Pharmulous will first ask you certain questions about your sexual history. This may include questions on symptoms that you might have experienced, how often you have sex, and how many partners you have. This will be followed by a visual evaluation to check the areas where you may be getting the warts.

When you take prescribed genital warts medicine such as Aldara, you can actually get rid of the warts. However, you should never use a random wart medicine without consultation, because most over-the-counter medicines are not for treating genital warts. Moreover, there are a few different treatments to cure genital warts, and so, it is better to consult a healthcare practitioner before popping a pill.