A troubling aspect of sexual health in recent times is genital warts, which can grow in, and around male and female sex organs. These may form into ugly groups that can even affect the anal area. Genital warts are the result of one of the forms of human papilloma virus or abbreviated to HPV that are transmitted sexually, even orally and are actually a form of virus.
Using a condom in this case will not always prevent the genital warts; women can be infected and be unaware of the situation for a long time, making the genital warts easy to transmit to other sexual partners.
Just to compound the problem, there is no reason why once a person is infected, they do not have to show signs straight away and the virus may not activate for months, even longer. The person who contracts them however, becomes a silent carrier and that is how this disease is spreading rampantly in today’s world.
To date, more than 100 human papilloma virus viruses have been discovered but the one that causes anogenital warts is called human papilloma virus 6 (HPV6). Although outer warts can be easily seen, women who develop them inside their genitalia may not see these HPV warts until a doctor examines the site.
Women may display some additional discharge as genital warts may cause the area around them to be moister than other areas and it is this condition, which promotes their growth. To remove them, the most popular method of wart removal is to apply liquid nitrogen to the infected area; which has a very low temperature. This liquid nitrogen will kill the infected skin and tissues. Doctors usually carry this out because liquid nitrogen is not generally available to the general population. The process is not a very painful procedure and whether liquid nitrogen is used depends upon the location.
Sometimes these days lasers are used to remove warts but often a doctor will prefer to use electrocautery although a minor surgical procedure cannot be ruled out. Eradicating them is not completely assured as they can return after treatment and every method available to remove them is still reliant on the area they are located. Imiquimod liquid is used topically to treat genital warts (and anal) as it helps the body’s immune system to fight the virus and to get rid of them but it does not kill the virus and new infections can still appear when Imiquimod is being applied.
Although Imiquimod cannot always be used, and in particular it is not to be administered when a woman is pregnant. However, it also has restrictions on its use inside the vagina and on the genitals or when the skin around the area is inflamed. Like all medications, Imiquimod has side effects and if these are experienced it should be stopped at once. This should be discussed with your doctor prior to its use. HPV is such a serious subject, the information on genital warts provided here should not be viewed as complete or in-depth; further facts and advice may be needed from your medical practitioner.
