Aa
Please Help
I've been told by my doctor that I have HPV warts on my genital area (I'm a male) and I'm absolutely devastated. I terrified that it could be high risk HPV and I'll end up with cancer. Also I never performed oral sex on a female but I feel a tickle in my throat that I'm guessing is warts in my throat which is leaving terrified of getting throat cancer and that throat warts are complicated. I don't eat nor do I sleep, all I want in life is a nice family but who would date someone with this disease, what can I do?
What can you do? Two things, get educated and step back a bit to get the big picture about where you happen to be in your HPV journey. With HPV, there are two types of the virus of which there are many different strains of each type. There are high-risk strains which can lead to cervical cancer in women, penile cancer in men, and anal cancer in both sexes. There are also low-risk strains which cause genital warts. You've been diagnosed with the low-risk type of HPV, obviously. For men, there is not test (at least on the U.S.) for high-risk HPV nor are there any symptoms in men. It can be detected in women during an annual check-up. You should do your own research in penile cancer to alleviate your fears, but it's so super low, like laughably low to be worried about. Even in women, if cancer were to happen, it takes at least a decade or two in which case it's long before detected and handled. Most high-risk strains resolve themselves, anyway, so even if a woman has abnormal cells, they often return to normal on their own.
You, however, have low-risk, wart-causing HPV. Here's what you can expect (and no, your life is not over. It's just on a pause). You can expect to have wart outbreaks (one or multiple at a time) approximately every 2 weeks to 3 months apart for around a year. This could be a little less or up to a year and a half. Some rare infections have outbreaks lasting to the two year mark but that's uncommon. When you detect an outbreak, make an appointment to get them burnt off with liquid nitrogen or electrocauterized. Don't sweat the healing process. It may look like it's going to scar, but I've not a single scar and I've had wart outbreaks for two, one year periods of warts. It'll heal fine. Just don't mess with it while it's healing. Then, if you've gone 3 months with no outbreak, start to become cautiously optimistic you're nearing the end. If you go 6 months with no new outbreaks, become much more optimistic. Once you're in the 6 months to a year range of no new outbreaks, being to become very optimistic, and if you've gone a year and more, I'd consider myself over the outbreak stage. You'll still have the virus, and it can come back in uncommon instances, but for the majority of cases, you are no longer contagious and could resume sexual activity as if you'd never been infected (although you probably shouldn't be having unprotected sex with people you don't know). Know that during this period of outbreaks, you are contagious between wart treatments. Not 100% guaranteed, but quite likely. If you are to have sex, disclosure is highly recommended, and a condom is a must. Genital to genital contact where the condom doesn't cover or during foreplay can still spread the virus so be careful with that.
Okay, now on to where you fall in the big picture of your HPV journey. Bro, you are in the initial stage of shock, fear, self-loathing, beating yourself up, and thinking catastrophically. If you read through this forum, you'll see that your severe mental and emotional reaction to your new diagnosis is experience by nearly every new person here. It's to be expected. Hell, go back to my original posts in 2009 or whenever and see how melted down I was. Oh, man, I was particularly bad. Anyway, you're going to be okay and you're for sure going to be able have a nice life with a nice family. You got HPV because almost everyone sexually active is going to get it at some point in their lives. It's on the rise now, too, with the popularity of hook-up apps and peoples tendencies to not use protection. Almost everyone gets it and you're in that group, too. Now, reread what I wrote up above of what you have to do, and do that. Just go through the steps, and two years from now you'll most likely be past this experience. Oh yeah, HPV warts doesn't really like to be in the mouth. It happens but it much rarer than the genital types so you can stop worrying about that. That tickle you feel is your catastrophic thinking. Warts arn't cancer causing. Again, read up on HPV and throat cancer and see how rare it is. It's exceedingly rare.
Well, good luck processing and with your journey. You'll be okay, I swear. Once some time has gone by, the way you're feeling now will fade. Take care.
You, however, have low-risk, wart-causing HPV. Here's what you can expect (and no, your life is not over. It's just on a pause). You can expect to have wart outbreaks (one or multiple at a time) approximately every 2 weeks to 3 months apart for around a year. This could be a little less or up to a year and a half. Some rare infections have outbreaks lasting to the two year mark but that's uncommon. When you detect an outbreak, make an appointment to get them burnt off with liquid nitrogen or electrocauterized. Don't sweat the healing process. It may look like it's going to scar, but I've not a single scar and I've had wart outbreaks for two, one year periods of warts. It'll heal fine. Just don't mess with it while it's healing. Then, if you've gone 3 months with no outbreak, start to become cautiously optimistic you're nearing the end. If you go 6 months with no new outbreaks, become much more optimistic. Once you're in the 6 months to a year range of no new outbreaks, being to become very optimistic, and if you've gone a year and more, I'd consider myself over the outbreak stage. You'll still have the virus, and it can come back in uncommon instances, but for the majority of cases, you are no longer contagious and could resume sexual activity as if you'd never been infected (although you probably shouldn't be having unprotected sex with people you don't know). Know that during this period of outbreaks, you are contagious between wart treatments. Not 100% guaranteed, but quite likely. If you are to have sex, disclosure is highly recommended, and a condom is a must. Genital to genital contact where the condom doesn't cover or during foreplay can still spread the virus so be careful with that.
Okay, now on to where you fall in the big picture of your HPV journey. Bro, you are in the initial stage of shock, fear, self-loathing, beating yourself up, and thinking catastrophically. If you read through this forum, you'll see that your severe mental and emotional reaction to your new diagnosis is experience by nearly every new person here. It's to be expected. Hell, go back to my original posts in 2009 or whenever and see how melted down I was. Oh, man, I was particularly bad. Anyway, you're going to be okay and you're for sure going to be able have a nice life with a nice family. You got HPV because almost everyone sexually active is going to get it at some point in their lives. It's on the rise now, too, with the popularity of hook-up apps and peoples tendencies to not use protection. Almost everyone gets it and you're in that group, too. Now, reread what I wrote up above of what you have to do, and do that. Just go through the steps, and two years from now you'll most likely be past this experience. Oh yeah, HPV warts doesn't really like to be in the mouth. It happens but it much rarer than the genital types so you can stop worrying about that. That tickle you feel is your catastrophic thinking. Warts arn't cancer causing. Again, read up on HPV and throat cancer and see how rare it is. It's exceedingly rare.
Well, good luck processing and with your journey. You'll be okay, I swear. Once some time has gone by, the way you're feeling now will fade. Take care.
You are reading content posted in the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Community
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