What is HPV?


HPV, or the Human Papillomavirus, is a papillomavirus that can infect the skin and mucous membranes of human beings. While the majority of HPV types may only infect the skin without leading to any serious symptoms or further health complications, a number of HPV types can cause verrucae, or warts, while others may actually lead to cancer, and in some cases, the cancer may lead to death.

HPV isn’t really as scary as it sounds. The truth is that nearly everyone has had some form of HPV in their lifetime.

Most of us have been fortunate enough to have only experienced common warts, or hand warts, caused by HPV-1 and HPV-2. Some of us have also experienced plantar warts, elbow warts and so on.

Luckily, these types of warts can be removed easily enough with some simple over the counter or prescription medication. Many chemical based wart removers can be used safely in the comfort of your own home without so much as a visit to the doctor (though as always, a physician’s input is always advised).

Genital warts, typically caused by HPV types 6 and 11, are probably the form of HPV that worries people the most. While these, too, can be easily removed with medication, the discomfort involved may make people squeamish. Oddly enough, though, it’s not really the genital warts you should be scared of, but the genital HPV types that show no symptoms at all.

The fact is that the types of HPV which cause genital warts are not the same as the types which can lead to cervical cancer. About a dozen different types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer, and none of them show any real external symptoms, nor can they simply be treated with medication.

For this reason, it’s very important that women between the ages of 21 and 65 have a regular Pap smear screening.

It’s uncomfortable and a bit embarrassing, but if you catch cervical cancer early, it is entirely possible to get rid of it. It is estimated that cervical cancer kills roughly 253,000 women every year of about 473,000 diagnosed cases. There is a vaccine available to protect against these strains, but even so, there’s no substitute for safe sex and regular screenings.

Now, to put something of a rumour to rest, the various strains of HPV only tend to affect a certain area.

Genital warts will not spread to your hands, and common warts will not spread to the genitals.

You will not contract genital warts through oral sex. Common warts can spread from hands to feet, they can affect the elbows, and so on, but genital warts and common warts are two very different things. That said, the actual treatment for warts tends to be about the same. For genital warts, you will want to seek out medication specifically designed for that purpose, but should you suffer common warts on the knees, you will want to treat them exactly as you would common warts on your hands.

We can’t really advise that you use home remedies, as even the ones that sort-of work tend to be inefficient. However, you should consider eating a wealth of fruit and vegetables when fighting off an HPV infection. A medicinal treatment will cure the warts, but your immune system has to prevent them from coming back.