Alright, here goes nothing...

I'm a 25 yr old male, Caucasian, and I was diagnosed with genital warts last fall. I, to put it bluntly, was shocked. I had always used condoms except for one time with my ex, and yeah...the exact words in my mind were "Holy ****!"

I was uncircumcised, and the warts were small tabs of skin that formed a circle on the foreskin itself. After consulting with my general health physician and a urologist, I was advised the best course of action would be a circumcision. I underwent the procedure (And yeah, I totally understand why they do it to babies now. ) and presto-chango, no more warts.

I've been clean since then, taking a daily multivitamin and just trying to be healthy. However, today I noticed three small bumps along the line of scar tissue where my foreskin had been removed. Given that they look nothing like the previous warts I had, I don't know if they're more of the same or something different. I'm going to call the urologist in the AM and make an appointment, regardless.

I guess my main question would be related to that -- once you get them, do GW always look the same? I had Planter's Warts on my feet as a child, and they always looked the same. Would the appearance really change?

Also, any other health suggestions I should take? I'm a full-time grad student, so a lot of my time is taken up with that...I'd like to start working out, but I can never make my schedule regular enough to fit it in.

Hi Serenity,

Warts can have a variety of appearances: large or small, flat or raised, skin color or somewhat whitish or reddish, rough or smooth in texture. There can be a single lesion, or multiple warts. A recurrence doesn't have to be identical in appearance to an initial episode.

Recurrences aren't uncommon, especially in the first three months following treatment. The immune system usually clears the underlying HPV infection eventually, typically in 6-24 months. Healthy lifestyle stuff might include not smoking (a big thing with HPV) and, really, common sense in terms of rest, stress, diet, etc. What you'd do for general good health, really.

Whatever you do, avoid the many "snake oil" cures for warts/HPV on the Internet. Not a single one of 'em should be taken seriously.

How are you doing with all this?

Fredo

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ASHA Moderator

Fredo:

I'm dealing rather well, actually. It happened, and nothing I can do -- no hand-wringing, or self-beating, or whatever -- will allow me to go back in time and do something differently. I'm a very pro-active person, and I believe that an individual can choose the make the best out of a situation or allow the situation to control them. In other words: you can let the river's current take you where it wants, or you can climb out and redirect that motherf***er to where you want it, lol.

I have a girlfriend who I'm seriously considering marrying -- we've been open about it from the start, and since the types of HPV that cause warts are typically low-risk we're both just taking precautions. Condoms for sure, along with her bi-yearly check-ups. We both decided that we care too damn much about each other to let something small drive one of us away.

In terms of "clearing the virus," the time frame you mentioned was close to what I was told from my urologist. It will be 6 months from diagnosis in April, so I figure I'm just going to count down the months and be vigilant.

What an excellent perspective! Thanks for posting that, I appreciate your comments. Please stay in touch and let us know how things are going.

Best always,
Fredo

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ASHA Moderator

Just a quick update:

I went to the urologist today, and apparently the new small flaps could either be skin flaps due to the healing from the circumcision...or new warts. I got a prescription for Condylox, in a gel form, and I'm supposed to use it for 4 weeks before I go back to see the Dr again. Wish me luck!

Good luck man....keep us posted.

Fredo

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ASHA Moderator