What are genital warts?
Genital warts are a very common sexually transmitted infection. They’re caused by infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV). But are HPV and genital warts the same thing? And what do genital warts look like? Here I’ll answer some of the most common questions about genital warts.
What are the symptoms of genital warts?
Genital warts are small, flesh-coloured growths that appear in your genital or anal area. They can appear on their own or in clusters, and range in size from tiny (a few millimetres) to larger lumps. Sometimes they can be itchy, and they might become red or sore too.
How serious are genital warts?
Genital warts don’t tend to be harmful to your health. You might find them uncomfortable though, or feel embarrassed about how they look. You may also develop more warts over time, and they might get larger in size. You also risk spreading them to partners if you don’t get them treated. It’s possible for untreated genital warts to transform into a type of cancer. But this is very rare.
What causes genital warts?
Genital warts are caused by two particular types of the human papilloma virus (HPV) – HPV types 6 and 11. HPV and genital warts are not the same thing. You can be infected with HPV but not develop warts. But you’re more likely to pass the virus on if you do have warts. HPV is passed on through sexual contact. This can be during vaginal or anal sex. But it can also just be through close genital contact, without actually having sex.
How do you get tested for genital warts?
If you think you may have genital warts, you can get checked at a genitourinary medicine (GUM) or sexual health clinic. You can ask at your GP practice too. It’s always worth being tested if you think you could have been exposed to an STI, even if you don’t have any symptoms. This might be if you’ve had unprotected sex with a new partner, or if a regular partner tells you they have an STI.
A doctor or nurse can diagnose genital warts by checking the affected area and examining any warts. They may need to look inside your vagina or anus.
How are genital warts treated?
Genital warts can go away on their own, without treatment. But this can take a long time for some people. Your doctor or nurse may recommend one of several treatment options to help get rid of them. These include the following genital warts treatments.
- Applying a cream or liquid to the warts. You can usually do this yourself at home.
- Freezing warts off with liquid nitrogen (cryotherapy).
- Using heat to destroy the warts (electrocautery).
- Cutting the warts out with simple surgery, under local anaesthesia.
- Using laser therapy to destroy the warts.
Which treatment your nurse or doctor suggests will depend on how many warts you have, how big they are and where they’re located.
It’s a good idea to tell any current or recent sexual partners if you have genital warts. They might want to get checked for genital warts and other STIs too.
Is there a vaccine for genital warts?
There’s a vaccine that protects against various strains of HPV. It helps to protect against cervical cancer, anal cancer and cancers of the mouth and throat, when they’re caused by HPV. It protects against the strains of HPV that cause genital warts too. The vaccine is routinely offered to boys and girls aged 12 to 13. It’s also available free of charge to men who have sex with men up to the age of 45, at sexual health and HIV clinics. You can also pay to get the vaccine at a sexual health clinic.
How to stop genital warts spreading
There are many other things you can do to lower your risk of getting or passing on genital warts, as well as other STIs.
- Use a condom whenever you have vaginal, oral or anal sex with a penis.
- During oral sex, you can use a latex square (dental dam) to cover the anus and vaginal opening, including the area around it.
- Don’t share sex toys. If you do, wash them well or cover them with a new condom before anyone else uses them.
- Before you have unprotected sex with somebody new, have a test for STIs.
Hello, I'm Dr Naveen Puri, I'm one of the GPs at Bupa Health Clinics. Today I'd like to talk to you about presenting with problems that may be of a sexual health nature.
We know that people can often feel embarrassed talking about their sexual health for fear of judgement. Some shame or embarrassment may accompany your concerns, but please let me assure you, as doctors, we've heard it all before.
Any concerns you have we've come across on many occasions and we're here to offer you a judgement and pain-free service in as far as we possibly can.
It's in your interest to tell us all your symptoms so we can help you get better and prevent any consequences that might come into play if you don't seek out help for your condition sooner rather than later.
We know for example some untreated infections can lead to problems with fertility. They can lead to pelvic inflammatory diseases or severe infection of the testicles so rather than you getting worse and your symptoms progressing to something more serious, let us know sooner rather than later so we can help you.
In terms of accessing sexual health services, there are many ways young can do this. We offer the services within Bupa and you can also access the services within the NHS as well.
Some people like to go to a walk-in service where they can turn up and wait for an appointment, others prefer to book an appointment in advance and that way they know when they're going to be seen and arrive at the clinic in an appropriate time frame as well.
I'd also say there's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about, we have seen and heard all of the symptoms before.
The kind of things people come to us with range from pain during intercourse, a discharge, either from the penis or the vagina, or other symptoms such as abdominal pain, a sore throat or other things that could occur after an infection is acquired.
So, whatever it might be, let us do the detective work for you. Let us know what your symptoms are.
Feel free to bring someone with you if you'd like, write your problems down so you can discuss them with us. Or use the language you want to as well, we don't expect you to know the medical terms for things we can help you with that as well.
And hopefully, together we can get to the bottom of whatever your issue is, and we can provide you with an appropriate treatment or cure if that is available as well.
We offer a range of sexual health services within our Bupa Health Centres. So whether you have symptoms and need to speak to a GP or don't have symptoms but want a check to see if you currently have an STI we have a check to suit you. Any customers who test positive receive a follow up with a GP and support from our 24/7 Nurse HealthLine. Learn more today.
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Sources Sources
- Genital warts. Sexwise. www.sexwise.org.uk, last updated May 2020
- Genital warts. BMJ Best Practice. bestpractice.bmj.com, last reviewed 19 March 2022
- Leslie SW, Sajjad H and Kumar S. Genital warts. StatPearls Publishing. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books, published 14 February 2022
- HPV vaccination guidance for healthcare practitioners (version 6). UK Health Security Agency. www.gov.uk, last updated 7 April 2022
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