How is HPV Treated?
Treating HPV is often difficult and frustrating for both the patient and physician. Treatment of visible genital warts for the average patient often requires several treatments before symptoms subside. These treatments are not cures. After treatment the virus may remain in nearby skin and lie dormant for months or even years before becoming visible again, and in some cases visible warts never return.
The CDC recommends treatments of visible HPV genital warts that vary from patient-applied therapies such as podofilox and imiquimod to provider-administered therapies such as cryotherapy, podophyllin resin, trichloroacetic acid (TCA), bicholoracetic acid (BCA), interferon, and surgery.
Preventing HPV, Preventing Cervical Cancer
Because we know that the type of HPV virus without genital warts is the cause of cervical cancers, and there is no treatment for this type of HPV, prevention of HPV is a key factor in the prevention of cervical cancer. Preventing HPV includes the same recommendations as for prevention of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), specifically meticulous condom use by all sexually active individuals who are not in long-term monogamous relationships.
Limiting the number of sexual partners you have in your lifetime may also be a significant component in the prevention of HPV and the associated increased risk of cervical cancer (evidence suggests that people with multiple sexual partners have a much higher incidence of HPV and cervical cancer).
Needless to say, if your sexual partner tells you that he/she has HPV, genital warts, or any other STD--see your physician immediately.
