Should I be having treatment of warts if we both already have it

Can I have sex while I have visible warts? Should I be having treatment of some kind? If we both already have it, what are the benefits of using a condom? Can it spread to the mouth? Can we still have oral sex? Can it spread to the cervix? What might make it worse? What might make it better? Can it spread through clothing/towels, ect? Should I do something more than laundering? Are we at risk of getting anything else? Can we still give blood?

Now, before I go into my answers, I will say that this is only for my kind of HPV. She said mine is warts caused by a virus that is sexually transmitted and contagious. It’s exterior only, small affected area, no pain.

She said that unless sex causes pain, there is no reason to abstain and that unless my outbreak gets larger, spreads, gets painful, ect that there is no need to treat it. For me, she would recommend cryongenical(sp) aka freezing, which would leave the skin there damaged and she saw no need to do anything since there are no complications.

She said condom use, in a long-term, monogomous relationship could be optional. Now, some studies show less frequent outbreaks with regular condom use, but the doctor said that with the type of HPV I have, it’s not going to spread or get worse without condoms. My kind is not the type that will grow on the cervix. Mine likes the moist area around the opening. Sex may aggrivate the outbreak by friction, but that’s with or without a condom. As for spreading to the mouth with oral sex, she did research on this before I came into the office and said she could not find one single case of this happening. She said my type likes the genitals and that’s where it lives.

As for what might make it worse? Lower immune systems as with HIV, and pregnancy. She said with my type, the pregnancy hormones tend to make the outbreak worse. During pregnancy, she would monitor it carefully and remove them as necessary. She said there would be no complications or concerns during pregnancy except that warts could block the opening and a C-section would be needed. She said she’s only seen one case where that was necessary. There were no dangers to the baby, and my type can’t be passed to the baby during pregnancy or labor.

Nothing will make it better except treatments, though it may disappear on it’s own.

As for spreading it, laundering ect, she said it’s a virus that is transmitted from skin-to-skin contact that cannot live in the air. It needs a warm, moist environment to survive outside of the skin. There were two cases she’s heard of where people contracted it in a tanning bed, because the bed was hot enough to keep the virus alive. Wearing undergraments in tanning beds prevents this. The virus can’t be passed through reusing towels, and I don’t need to worry about my dirty clothes/towels infecting others.

And as for giving blood, she said HPV wasn’t on the list of items they reject blood for, and that since my type is transmitted through the genitals not the blood, it shouldn’t be an issue. But disclosing the infection prior to donating is a must, just in case.

That, in a nutshell was my appt. That’s me. I feel better. And my bf was wonderfully supportive through it all. He told the doctor how nervous I was about HIS reaction to everything, and she explained that because of where it is, it affects our self-esteem. But she compared it to having regular warts on your hand. “Would you make a big deal because of that? No. Okay then, this is the same thing, just down there.”

Now before I hear that it’s NOT the same thing because it’s an STD and contageous, she treated him like he’s infected and that we’re the same except I have warts and he doesn’t. So the only difference between him and me is that I have warts down there, which he didn’t even notice, and still doesn’t care about.

Me? I’m still feeling contaminated and hate the thought of him looking down there, let alone being intimate. But I’m not scared anymore. And given time, I’m sure things will get back to normal with sex, because he loves me regardless and it doesn’t matter to him one iota. When we first starting dating, I didn’t think of myself as pretty or dare I say sexy. But his whole-hearted belief that I was changed my perspective somewhat. Same thing. I may still find it… disgusting, but as long as I’m with him and he doesn’t care, it really doesn’t matter.

Anyways, I hope some of this post is informational, or at least interesting. Just thought I’d share…