I was just diagnosed with genital warts and was prescribed Condylux. I have been reading online but would like to hear from people that used Condylux. How effective is it, how do you know its working, whats the fastest its removed the warts?

Also, once the warts are gone can they come back? If there is no sign of the warts am I still contagoues?

Thank you.

Hi there Confused1912,

Thanks for your post to our message boards. Condylox®, a form of Podofilox, is a topical solution that comes in a cream or gel form, destroys the tissue. Condylox is only indicated for use on external genital warts, and is not appropriate for difficult-to-reach places and may cause some localized irritation. This cream or gel is typically used for twice a day for 3 days a week, up to 4 weeks. Your health care provider can direct you to repeat this cycle, if needed.

Warts do recur in some cases, but by no means all. When they do recur, they show varying degrees of persistence. Some people may experience only one episode, while others may experience several. However, most people's immune systems, with time, seem to gain control over HPV, making recurrences less frequent and usually eliminating them eventually.

Some experts believe that removing genital warts may lower the risk of transmission since it reduces the areas of tissue that contain most of the virus. Removing warts cannot guarantee that the risk of transmission is removed. However, if no symptoms recur in the subsequent months following treatment, the chance of transmission dramatically decreases, and some researchers consider the possibility of being contagious during this time to be greatly diminished. It's difficult to be more specific than that, sorry to say, and no test exists to determine if the virus is able to be transmitted to a new partner or not.

Review our information about genital warts at http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_learn_warts.cfm#7.

Best,

Fredo
HPV Board Moderator

Thank you very much for your reply.

Very glad to do it, and I hope you'll visit our boards often.

Fredo
HPV Board Moderator

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ASHA Moderator

Lets say after the treatment, they do not re-appear. Is this something I am going to have to worry about for the rest of my life?

Hi again,

See what I posted in my original response re: recurrences and transmission over the long term.

Warts do come back in some cases, but typically don't persist. It's not unheard of for longer term recurrences to happen, but it isn't typical.

There is no data to judge the "odds" of being able to transmit at a given point, and no test to help anyone figure this out, but long term persistence isn't characteristic with HPV, leading many researchers to think the likelihood of transmitting the virus to a new partner probably diminishes greatly over time, especially when one has gone an extended period with no additional evidence of warts or cervical cell changes. Proving this remains difficult at present, however.

Best,
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator