Getting Treatment For Genital Warts
If you are someone who has developed genital warts, you want
treatment fast. The warts are embarrassing, painful and can
even be quite frightening. The good news is that there are
effective treatments for genital warts. The bad news is
that while you can treat genital warts you cannot cure the
underlying virus that causes them.
What Are Genital Warts?
Put simply, genital warts are a type of sexually transmitted
disease caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. There are
approximately 130 strains of HPV currently identified but there
are two subtypes of HPV in particular responsible for causing
genital warts.
These two subtypes, known simply as subtypes 6 and 11, are
believed to cause 90% of all genital wart infections. Luckily
doctors have come up a variety of treatments for genital
warts.
How Treat Genital Warts
Typically, doctors can diagnose decide treatments for
genital warts just be seeing the affected area. Once a doctor
determines that you do have genial warts, they have a multitude
of genital wart treatment options to give you. Depending on the
size and location of the genital warts, treatment will
vary.
The first things a doctor will use as a genital wart
treatment are creams. There are different types of creams.
Imiquimod cream is popular, for instance. This cream is applied
to the affected area.
Another treatment for genital warts is a 20% podophyllin
anti-mitotic solution that is meant applied to the affected
area and later washed off. However, this treatment should not
be used if you’re pregnant because it is absorbed through the
skin and can cause birth defects. Another of the creams, 5%
5-fluorouracil cream, should not be used if you are attempting
to get pregnant.
For smaller genital warts, treatment involves freezing them
off like you do with warts that occur in other areas like the
hands. You also have the option of burning the warts off or
even having lasers cut them off.
For larger warts that do not seem to be responding to
regular treatments, surgery is sometimes employed to remove
them. There is also a drug that can be injected into warts that
keep returning but the injection is very expensive and is not
any more effective at making them stay gone than other
treatments. Home treatments for genital warts are typically not
as effective either.
It’s important to know that while these genital wart
treatments get rid of the warts themselves they do not get rid
of the underlying HPV infection. HPV cannot be cured, and
that’s why there’s a risk that genital warts will reoccur.
Despite that, however, most genital wart
treatments are effective, even if it’s only in the short term,
and even a short time without the painful symptoms is
beneficial.
INFORMATION ON GENITAL WART TREATMENT
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