Learn About Treatments For Genital Warts

Are you suffering from genital warts? Warts, whether found on ones genitals or anywhere else on ones body, are caused by the human papilloma virus HPV. HPV comes in a variety of strains that cause different types of warts. It is infectious and can be passed on during unprotected sex. Genital warts is one of the most wide spread sexually transmitted disease.

If you have genital warts, you should know that you do have a number of treatment options. Please keep in mind though that those genital wart treatments do not "cure" the problem as there is no cure for HPV.

General Notes on Genital Wart Treatments

The primary purpose of genital wart treatments is to remove any warts that can be seen in order to get rid of any symptoms you may be having such as general itching, burning sensations or even occasional bleeding. Removing these warts can reduce the risk of any of your sexual partners contracting HPV, although you should still practice safe sex!

When choosing your genital wart treatments, your doctor will take into account the size of your warts as well as how many you might have and where they are located. In addition, your wishes will be considered as well as the cost of the treatments, potential side effects and of course, what insurance may cover. Some genital wart treatments can be handled in the doctor's office with ease while others may require a hospital visit or even at-home treatment.

Primary Genital Wart Treatments

Unless your warts are rather prolific, spread all about your genital area, most doctors will want to start you on a topical cream or chemical gel. Some of these topical genital wart treatments must be applied by a doctor or nurse practitioner inside an office or clinical setting while others can be applied at home. Podofilox and Imiquiod are two of these topical agents that can be self-applied to external warts only.

Warts that have developed in particularly sensitive areas such as inside the urethra, rectum or cervix will require a different approach. Genital wart treatments for these more sensitive and hard to get to places may include surgical excision, cryotherapy and electrocautery. Electrocautery is the use of electricity to burn the warts off while cryotherapy involves the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze them off. Surgical excision is likely to require a trip to hospital as it involves cutting the warts off.

A one size fits all approach to Genital wart treatments is not right because everyone's body and tolerance for pain is different. Discuss with your doctor all of the available options and make the decision together on the best way to get rid of those troublesome warts. Genital wart treatments are only a temporary solution, the HPV virus cannot be cured therefore there is a good chance that another outbreak will occur in the future.