Q:

A:

Once you have found out you have HPV, it depends what gender you are in order to know how best to advise you.

I'm assuming you are talking about genital HPV, as hand and foot warts (and other parts of the body) are generally handled with treatment of the lesions with freezing with liquid nitrogen, or medicated solutions applied.

Genital warts are handled a little differently.  On the penis, they can be treated with applied medication, or freezing with liquid nitrogen.  However, even if the wart itself disappears, it is not always the case that the HPV is gone and that you are no longer contagious--your own immune system is responsible for eliminating the virus.

In the vulvar/vaginal or cervical area there are a variety of topical applied medications as well as freezing that is done.  Pap smears can help monitor whether any cellular changes are happening as a result of the HPV infection and whether there are any precancerous changes.  We also have the ability with the pap smear technology to look specifically for HPV DNA types, whether they are high risk for causing cervical cancer or low risk.  High risk HPV means you need to be seen frequently for pap smears and possibly biopsies of the cervix, to make sure there is no change that is life threatening. Low risk types can be watched in a more relaxed manner.

Knowing you have the infection is the first step so you know to use some kind of latex protection when you have sexual contact with your partner, although it is not 100% protection from transmitting the virus sexually, it is better than nothing.  Most HPV infections will eventually resolve on their own, so making sure you are protecting your partner, and coming in regularly for check ups is the most important care.

                     ~The Doc