some questions about HPV

[wynken.livejournal.com]

I have some a ton of questions about HPV that i thought some of you might be able to answer for me. It would be greatly apreciated!

(btw thanks so much for all the comments on my last post!!!)

1. Can a man be tested for HPV if it is not a wart causing form of HPV? Can they test for it through blood work or something?

2. If a person infected with the type of HPV that does not give warts gives HPV to a partner could it somehow transform into the type that gives warts?

3. Can you get it through oral sex?

4. If 2 partners (male and female) both have HPV (the same strand) but the woman has it vaginally can she get it in her anus if they have anal sex? or should anal sex be avoided completely?

5. How effective are condoms with this type of STD? i hear they don't provide much protection.

6. if a man and a woman are both infected with the same strand of HPV is it ok for them to have unprotected sex?

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i'm sure i will think of a million more. but i guess that will do for now.

i only ask these questions here becaus i can't find the answers in any other place that i look.

THANKS! you ladies rock!

Comments

[enigmae.livejournal.com]

1. I was told and have read in a number of places that there's no definitive HPV test for men, but perhaps I'm wrong

2. The above poster said HPV causes warts. My understanding has been that not all strains of it cause warts however, and in some people even the strains that cause warts won't cause them.

3. You can get it through oral sex.

4. Even if you have HPV vaginally you can get it anally regardless of whether you have oral sex or not. Anal sex might increase the spread of warts though if you or your partner have them.

5. OK, here's the deal. I strongly believe condoms are not as effective against STD's as we hav been led to believe. Though obviously a condom is a million times better than no protection, what I've been reading has led me to the conclusion that a number of STD's are not terribly difficult to transmittable even with a condom. I've had five partners in the three years since I became sexually active, and condoms were used with every single one, every time. I ended up with two STD's (though luckily nothing too serious).

6. I don't know why it wouldn't be ok for unprotected sex to occur between two people with the same strain of HPV, as long as there's no concern about other STD's

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

The above poster said HPV causes warts. My understanding has been that not all strains of it cause warts however, and in some people even the strains that cause warts won't cause them. The way my doctor described it, HPV generally causes warts, though it might stay latent on the body for years, so not everyone who has HPV will have warts. There might be strains that never cause warts. I haven't read that anywhere, but I might have just missed the information.

I strongly believe condoms are not as effective against STD's as we hav been led to believe. Though obviously a condom is a million times better than no protection, what I've been reading has led me to the conclusion that a number of STD's are not terribly difficult to transmittable even with a condom. I've had five partners in the three years since I became sexually active, and condoms were used with every single one, every time. I ended up with two STD's (though luckily nothing too serious). I'm willing to believe that condoms are relatively effective for what they cover and while they're covering it. But there are so many ways to share fluids outside of a condom. My warts are on my vulva and come in contact with the lowest part of my lovers' penises, the area around them (I don't know whether that has a name, but I almost called it the vulva!), and the scrotal area, as well as fingertips (if we don't use gloves, and we usually don't). Of my two primary lovers, the one with which I've had a fluid bond for 4 years doesn't use a dental dam with me, while the other one does. I'd already been involved with the first one for 3 years when I first noticed the warts (the doctor said they were just normal variances in skin texture, as mine aren't very typical), so he figures he's been exposed repeatedly and probably carries it.

[urania.livejournal.com]

OK, now i'm curious about your "normal variances in the skin"... see me be paranoid ;) Sorry if I'm asking for TMI; i'm nosey and I know it, so if I'm pushing just say so :P

I have, around my vulva on the edges of the inner labia, what I think of as "chickenskin"... it's got little bumps that look whitish on the top, but don't come to a head or "pop" like pimples, don't grow, and just stay there. I remember having them long before I was at all sexually active, and I've never had any of the more "large" or "standard" warts; no gyno has ever mentioned these to me as a possible problem. Still, they make me nervous, and I'm (paranoically ;) wondering what your "skin irregularities" looked like... if they were like this, I just may bring it up more pointedly with my doctor next time I see her

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Those sound like little sebaceous bumps to me, though you could ask your doctor. Mine were like little sesame seeds (and in some places, poppy seeds) in the inner labia. The biggest one (sesame seed sized and shaped, maybe a little bigger) was right on the line between the inner and outer labia, and itched. I didn't notice it at first, fully three years ago, and scratched it off, and it bled. I thought it was just an irritated scab that I'd scratched off, so didn't worry about it. A year later, it reappeared and I asked my doctor. She said that it just looked like a skin tag or variation in skin texture, normal, and not to worry about it. (My ex-husband was also told that the bumps at the base of his penis were skin tags, and that's what I believed. I assume I got HPV from him. I haven't talked to him in a few years, so he doesn't know I've been diagnosed with it.) A full year later, I'd developed a few more smaller bumps further in on my inner labia, and I pointed those out to my doctor. At that point, she said, "Okay, it looks like you have atypical HPV."

My bumps are a little softer than most HPV warts, and are exactly the color of the surrounding skin. She still hasn't done any definitive diagnostic tests, though. I'd been seeing her, a GP, for gynecology, but for a number of reasons (probable HPV, a benign hyperkeratosis patch on my inner vulva that I want watched, and because I'm gettin' old) I'm switching back to a gynecologist, and my first appointment with her is on Friday. At that point, I'll ask for a definite diagnosis either way.

Re:

[urania.livejournal.com]

aha.. that makes sense. I can picture what you mean; it's somewhat reassuring that it doesn't match what I've got (I would have been confused because, like I mentioned, it's been there since forever! :)... anyhow, good luck at the doctor's, hope all goes smoothly!

Re:

[wynken.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry- i have an unrelated question- if someone finds out they have HPV do you think they should tell all of their old partners? or would that just be dangous and unnecessary?

[84.livejournal.com]

Don't you think you'd like your SO to know he may be carrying something that might give you cervical cancer? Not telling only breeds more ignorance on the disease.

Re:

[wynken.livejournal.com]

i agree. just wondering what others thought.

[oceandream9.livejournal.com]

I didn't bother telling the guy who gave it to me because I realized that he wouldn't change his lifestyle, and because he was an evil person who I didn't want to speak to again. Not evil because he gave it to me, but because of other reasons...
I did tell an old friend I had had sex with afterward. He wasn't pleased, but then chuckled and said, "well, I guess I can't say you never gave me anything." You have to decide for yourself.

Re:

[wynken.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

"The above poster said HPV causes warts. My understanding has been that not all strains of it cause warts however, and in some people even the strains that cause warts won't cause them."

this was my understanding as well.

If you get HPV through oral sex does it get on your throat or something? a comment a while back said something like that. sounds creepy.

[oceandream9.livejournal.com]

Genital warts and herpes are contracted through skin contact. A condom won't prevent it anyway. Sucks, huh...