I was just diagnosed today with genital warts....thanks to my ex-boyfriend and his lies. Anyway....my clinician put bichloroacetic acid on the warts and prescribed Aldara cream. I guess I'm just wondering if others went through this same treatment and how it turned out for you. Also...for you younger ones...how did you tell your parents?

Hey DewDrop86,

I had a similar procedure done. I did thr TCA acid or what we call the tri-acid. It's similar to the acid treatment you had. The TCA acid works well for me but the Aldara cream gave me a yeast infection so I didn't continue that. However Aldara works differently on people so it may work for you.

The experiences I had were burning at the site of the acid treatment but it only lasted for a few minutes. After the burning, the skin turned slighly white almost pale and I could feel the skin getting tight. This was my immune response. After a couple of days, the skin peeled away to reveal a tender red area because the acid keeps working even after a shower. You can tell how deep the acid will burn so just be on the lookout for deep burns, ulceration although this can be rare. During the treatment, my doctor told me to take tylenol, advil or aleve just in case any sweeling occurs and my doc let me know it was okay to use Polysporin or Neosporin on the burn sight. I prefer Polysporin because sometimes neosporin can break people out if they are allergic to the Neomycin ingrediant.

Soon you may see healing and yucky white skin but don't owrry, your skin is growing back. There may be some discoloration but give it time and soon you should have smooth healthy skin back to normal.

The warts can come back in the same spot the burn was performed but this is normal since HPV is a virus.

I've warts for about 18 months but I've noticed that I'm having less occurrence. Usually your immune system can take care of it but keep in mind it may come back. Doctors aren't sure if the body rids itself or just brings the viral load down.

I hope this helps and just holla back if you need more info.

There are two websites that can help.

www.maketheconnection.org
www.thehpvtest.com

Trust me you are not alone and it's up to you if you want to inform your parents but don't stress. HPV is common and manageable. You can still have children and still have relationships and still have a healthy sex life.

Totally understand how you feel. I contracted it the same way from my ex but hey there's too much out there to experience in life than stress.

Be Strong and Be a DIVA

Oh yeah sorry for the misspellings I type too fast

Thanks for the info and the links, Isis. Just a quick note that genital warts almost always involve "low risk" HPV types that are not associated with cervical cancer, and the HPV test is not licensed for use as follow up with genital warts.

The information is still good to know, though, as virtually all women need regular Pap tests and for those over age 30, they can ask their healthcare provider if HPV testing (along with the Pap) is a good idea for them.

Fredo

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well i'm 21, and i don't have GW-i have SIL, but as far as telling my parents, my mom was standing right there when i got the phone call and of course wondered why i was tears....i've never told my dad although i'm sure my mom has....the best thing to do is educate yourself and help educate those that care about you, if there are a couple of things you have to understand, you ARE NOT dirty, you are NOT ugly, there is NO need to feel any shame....this "horribleness" happens to sooooooo many people, and it's sad that it's so common and soooooo many people out there will judge you, but i always say "get busy living or get busy dying"...it sounds like you're being proactive about the situation which is the best thing you can do, be strong!!!!! i've only been on this board of couple of days and it's a great outlet!!