They're usually flesh-colored, white, pink or tan. Plantar warts are caused by the same type of virus that causes warts on your hands and fingers. But, because of their location, they can be painful. Flat warts are smaller and smoother than other warts. They generally occur on the face or legs and are more common in children and teens than in adults.
Genital warts are a common sexually transmitted infection. They can appear on the genitals, in the pubic area or in the anal canal. In women, genital warts can also grow inside the vagina.
In most cases, your body's immune system defeats an HPV infection before it creates warts. When warts do appear, they vary in appearance depending on which kind of HPV is involved:. Genital warts. These appear as flat lesions, small cauliflower-like bumps or tiny stemlike protrusions. In women, genital warts appear mostly on the vulva but can also occur near the anus, on the cervix or in the vagina. In men, genital warts appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus.
Genital warts rarely cause discomfort or pain, though they may itch or feel tender. Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by HPV infections, but cervical cancer may take 20 years or longer to develop after an HPV infection.
The HPV infection and early cervical cancer typically don't cause noticeable symptoms. Getting vaccinated against HPV infection is your best protection from cervical cancer. Because early cervical cancer doesn't cause symptoms, it's vital that women have regular screening tests to detect any precancerous changes in the cervix that might lead to cancer.
Current guidelines recommend that women ages 21 to 29 have a Pap test every three years. Women ages 30 to 65 are advised to continue having a Pap test every three years, or every five years if they also get the HPV DNA test at the same time. If you or your child has warts of any kind that cause embarrassment, discomfort or pain, seek advice from your doctor.
HPV infection occurs when the virus enters your body, usually through a cut, abrasion or small tear in your skin. The virus is transferred primarily by skin-to-skin contact.
Genital HPV infections are contracted through sexual intercourse, anal sex and other skin-to-skin contact in the genital region. Some HPV infections that result in oral or upper respiratory lesions are contracted through oral sex.
If you're pregnant and have an HPV infection with genital warts, it's possible your baby may get the infection. Rarely, the infection may cause a noncancerous growth in the baby's voice box larynx. Warts are contagious. They can spread through direct contact with a wart. Warts can also spread when someone touches something that already touched a wart. HPV infections are common. Risk factors for HPV infection include:.
It's difficult to prevent HPV infections that cause common warts. If you have a common wart, you can prevent the spread of the infection and formation of new warts by not picking at a wart and not biting your nails.
Some warts can be so small and flat that they're not noticed right away. Most of the time, genital warts are painless. Some people, though, may have itching, bleeding, burning, or pain. The HPV that causes genital warts usually spreads through vaginal, oral, or anal sex or close sexual contact with the genital area. Even if there are no warts, HPV might still be active in the genital area and can spread to others.
Health care providers usually can diagnose genital warts by looking at them. Sometimes, doctors take a small sample of the wart to send to a lab for testing. This usually isn't painful. Sometimes, warts come back after treatment. This is because the treatments can't get rid of all of the HPV in the body. How long genital warts last can vary from person to person.
Sometimes, the immune system clears the warts within a few months. But even if the warts go away, the HPV might still be active in the body. So the warts can come back. Usually within 2 years, the warts and the HPV are gone from the body. People with genital warts definitely can spread HPV. But even after the warts are gone, HPV might still be active in the body.
That means it can spread to someone else through sex or close sexual contact and cause warts in that person. It's hard to know when people are no longer contagious, because there's no blood test that looks for HPV. Genital warts and other types of HPV can be prevented by a vaccine. There is no cure for genital warts — no way to remove HPV from the patient's system — meaning that treatment is focussed on removing the warts or preventing them from spreading.
The direction that treatment will take depends on the amount of warts present, their location and their physical appearance. Some patients will choose to undergo no treatment for genital warts. This option is perfectly safe but will generally prolong the problem. If the patient does opt for treatment, there are a number of different options to explore:.
Although they are not percent reliable, the use of condoms remains the most effective way of preventing the contraction genital warts. There are also HPV vaccines available. These vaccines do not protect against all strains of HPV but may be effective in preventing genital warts. To help protect against genital warts, condoms should be used every time vaginal, anal or oral intercourse is engaged in. Apart from celibacy, this is the most effective prevention method currently known of.
However, using a condom does not guarantee full protection. The virus may be able to spread from genital skin not covered by the condom. A HPV vaccine can be effective in preventing genital warts, as well as other conditions including cervical cancer.
These vaccines are most effective if given before a young person becomes sexually active and are usually given between 11 and 13 years of age. Catch-up programs are sometimes available up to the age of 26, but vaccination in people over 26 has been shown to be ineffective.
There are a number of vaccines available Gardasil and Cervarix, for example , each protecting against a number of different HPV strains. No vaccine is able to protect against all strains of HPV, nor guarantee defence against all types of genital warts. The human papillomavirus HPV that causes genital warts can also cause several forms of cancers, including: [8]. Q: Should sexual intercourse be avoided when genital warts are present?
A: Yes. HPV is highly contagious, meaning sexual intercourse should be avoided to prevent passing the virus on. If this is not possible, a condom should be worn. Q: Genital warts during pregnancy — should I be worried?
A: Generally, no. It is unlikely that HPV will be passed from mother to baby before or during childbirth. Q: Can genital warts be contracted from oral sex? To prevent the spread of genital warts through oral sex, a condom should be worn at all times. Q: Can genital warts cause cancer? A: While genital warts themselves cannot be said to cause cancer, some strains of the HPV virus can cause certain types of cancer. Cervical cancer and anal cancer are often linked to HPV infection.
NHS Choices. Accessed June 23,
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