HPV Prevention
4 Ways to Keep Yourself Safe From HPV
Many people have heard some scary facts about the HPV virus: that there is not a test for it, no cure for it, and it can cause cancer and other bad issues. This is all true, but there is no reason to feel powerless.
HPV is a common disease, and is an unfortunate fact of life if you want to live a full, sexually active life. However, there are concrete steps you can take to make yourself safe from infection. There are also some things you can do to protect yourself from serious health consequences once you have already acquired the HPV infection. Knowing about how the disease works, and about your options, can make you safe and help you feel in control of your health.
Learn more »
HPV Women – Why Protection Is Critical
When you have sex with a new partner, you’re having sex with every partner they ever had sex with, and every partner they had sex with, and on and on…
Researchers have uncovered over 35 different types of HPV that infect the genital tract, and of these, at least 15 are known to lead to cervical cancer. The most dangerous strains, #16, #18, #31 and #45 account for over 70% of all cervical cancers. HPV is also known to cause cancer in the vulva, vagina, anus, head and neck.
What Is HPV?
Genital HPV (human papilloma virus) is the most common sexually transmitted disease and it’s believed that up to 70% of women will have come into contact with HPV by the time they’re 60 years old.
Talking to your Sex Partner about HPV
Here is one of the simple truths of love and sex in the modern world: You need to be willing to have frank, open discussions with your partner about all matters relating to sex.
To put it bluntly, it’s not the 1950’s anymore, and it’s not a great idea to be shy or ashamed when it comes to talking to your partner about sex. If you’re a little bashful about it, remember, they talk about this stuff on daytime TV, so why be embarrassed over talking about it with the person you take to bed?
You should be willing to talk about every possible detail of your sex life with your partner, be willing to listen, and put no subject out of bounds. This is true when discussing more personal details of satisfaction, but especially true when it comes to issues of health.
If you have, or have had in the past, HPV, you need to tell any new sex partner before intercourse occurs. We know that all of this sort of clinical advice can be difficult to put to work in the real world. There’s no better way to spoil that “first time” mood than to say “Oh by the way, I have genital warts, but it’s all cleared up, now!”
Nutrition to reduce risk of HPV
There is no magic diet, no special fruit or vegetable that will make you impervious to HPV. There’s no way to reduce risk of contracting HPV by 100%, as even the HPV vaccine only protects against the high risk forms that can lead to cancer and so on. That said, you can make some simple changes to your diet to improve your immune system, so as to greatly reduce your risk of contracting HPV, and, should you contract HPV, your immune system will be able to rid your body of the infection that much more quickly.
In fact, let’s forget about HPV for a minute and just consider this: If you eat healthy, you will feel better.
A lot of health food people get it wrong. Eating better isn’t about living longer, it’s not about avoiding foods that will “kill you” (no food can really kill you unless you’re suffering from serious obesity or blood pressure and cholesterol problems) it’s about making the years you have available to you more enjoyable. If you eat well, you will be in a better mood, as nutrition plays a vital part in maintaining mental health. If you eat well, you’ll be stronger, faster, less tired, you’ll feel more comfortable and look better in your own body, your skin will look and feel better, your bones will be stronger, you’ll get sick less often, and you will be happier. You will live longer, as well, but the real point is that, in the here and now, you can improve your quality of life by leaps and bounds by making a few simple dietary changes.
The importance of getting a regular pap smear
Each year, hundreds of thousands of women throughout the world die of an HPV infection leading to cervical cancer.
Pap tests, also known as pap smears, can detect signs of cervical cancer early, as well as abnormal cells which may lead to cervical cancer, so that treatment can be more effective and less invasive. To put it simply, taking a regular pap test can save your life.
To be honest, pap smears are uncomfortable, as the process involves directly sampling cells from the outer opening of the cervix. Medical professionals will then look at those cells and be able to detect any abnormalities. As uncomfortable as it may be, there’s no excuse to neglect your health, and you will only need to receive one per year, at most, and perhaps fewer depending on your age.
The necessitated frequency of your pap tests will depend on a few factors…
Once a year
Practicing safe sex
These days, there’s simply no excuse for not being educated on the dangers of STDs, and how to prevent them with proper safe sex methods. The information on STDs and safe sex is everywhere, all you need to do is be receptive to it.
Safe Sex and Birth Control
The first thing to understand about safe sex is that birth control and preventing STDs are not the same thing. Topical spermicide will kill most viruses, as well, but it doesn’t prevent the transmission of body fluids, and it won’t do anything if you’re having sex without a condom, which is why topical spermicide isn’t very common these days: It just doesn’t work so well.
Many other forms of birth control such as the diaphragm and birth control pills are pretty much useless against sexually transmitted diseases including the HPV virus.
The only way to prevent pregnancy and prevent STD and HPV transmission is with condoms.
HPV Prevention
To understand how best to prevent contracting HPV, we should, of course, look at how HPV is spread, first and foremost. Here are some basic facts about HPV.
Common Warts
The old wives tale of getting hand warts from frogs is, well, it’s crazy talk. Toads and frogs won’t give you HPV. However, HPV can be spread quite easily if you don’t wash your hands regularly. Doorknobs, guard rails, even bar tops, anywhere hands meet surfaces is a potential carrier of HPV.
If you simply practice hygienic measures, you can seriously reduce the risk of catching common warts. Wash your hands, clean your doorknobs now and then, clean your countertops with disinfectant, and don’t swap socks and gloves with strangers.
There’s no 100% guarantee against catching HPV, but you can at least cut down on the risk tremendously.
Plantar Warts