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What's surgical genital wart removal like?

I saw an RN today to figure out if I had skin tags or warts on my labia majora. I have skin tags in other places on my body, so I thought they were skin tags, but the RN wasn't sure, and sent me to see a P.A. who has more experience with identifying and excising warts/skin tags.

When I called the P.A.'s office, I was told they would probably surgically remove the tags/warts/whatever they are, (regardless of whether or not they are warts) with a shot of lidocaine and then excise them. Has anyone ever had this done? If so, what was it like? How long did it take you to "recover"?

I prefer the freeze-therapy option over the acid and the surgical removal, but I'm not sure if they'll do that. The "surgical procedure" idea just seems painful and drastic.
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Avatar universal
*5 I had yesterday (typo sorry)
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Avatar universal
Well, looks like it's warts. The PA put some TCA on the 4 I had yesterday, and today I noticed that I have a new, tiny wart growing just beneath the treated ones.
This is bull. LOL I want these things gone!
I can't decide if I should talk to her about surgical excision or if I should ask my GYN to take care of them. I don't want to risk these things multiplying, and I certainly don't have 30-100 days to hope TCA gets rid of them.
Now I'm supremely worried about giving this to someone. I'm not sexually active right now, but would like to be in the future. I know that condoms can reduce the risk of transmitting HPV, but they won't eliminate it.
I have also read that not everyone who gets the strain that causes warts will get warts. Does anyone know where I can get any facts on things like that? I'm really worried about my potential to give this to someone.


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101028 tn?1419603004
unfortunate they didn't send to lab so you knew for sure what you had. makes a big difference with partners if this was warts or just skin tags :(  
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Avatar universal
So, I only had about 5 small warts, in different places. The PA said the same thing as the RN; there was no way to tell what they were and that the methods of removal are the same for warts as for skin tags.
She used some TCA to frost them and said to come back in 10 days for another treatment. I'm hoping they go away, because the PA said TCA takes anywhere from 3-10 treatments to work. Suffice to say I do NOT want to be dealing with a wart battle for 30-100 days.
If they're not gone in 2 treatments, I'm going to either ask for cryotherapy, or go see my GYN so he can excise them. I read that cryotherapy tends to be much more effective than TCA.
Due to the length of time and uncertainty of the efficacy of the treatments, that surgical excision is sounding more appealing every day. They're really tiny, so I can't imagine it would be too bad. Anyway I'll keep you all posted.
What were everyone's experiences with removal like?
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101028 tn?1419603004
I'd see a dermatologist for this. Sounds like they are guessing at this point and best to have a better idea of what is going on. they will probably want to remove one to send to the pathology lab to know for sure what they are. It's really not bad at all - nothing some tylenol won't take the edge off for a day or two.  

grace
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