HPV Symptoms
HPV Symptoms – Exploding The Myths
Perhaps the most important point to note about HPV symptoms is that in many cases there are none!
Both men and women can carry one of the strains of HPV that results in genital warts, or worse still, cervical cancer, yet show no signs or symptoms whatsoever. Yet they can be pursuing an active sex life and unwittingly passing on the virus to one sexual partner after another.
In fact, the most prevalent strains of HPV that have been linked to cervical cancer are the least likely to show any symptoms for many years. Between 3000 and 4000 women die every year from cervical cancer, which is often treatable if caught in its early stages. Medical researchers believe that this number is so high because most women have no idea they have cervical cancer until it’s too late.
Remember that every time you have sex with a new partner, you are having sex with all the partners they had before you and all the partners those partners had…ad infinitum.
So before you swear off sex for the rest of your life, let’s look at some of the misunderstandings and myths surrounding HPV.
Symptoms of HPV
So… What IS HPV?
The human papilloma virus, also known as HPV, is actually a broad family of DNA based viruses and STDs. As of the time of this writing, about one hundred and thirty different types of HPV have been identified.
With so many different types of HPV out there, there are also several different kinds of symptoms. Below, we’ll try to list some of the more common signs and symptoms of various types of HPV:
Warts
Depending on the type of infection, different types of warts may appear on various parts of the body. Here are some of the HPV symptoms for the more common forms of HPV in men and women.
Common warts
Common warts are caused by cutaneous HPV types, such as HPV-1 and HPV-2. These common skin warts generally appear on the hands and feet, though they also appear on the elbows and knees. These warts are easily identifiable, with a cauliflower like surface. Contrary to popular misconception, cutaneous HPV types rarely cause genital warts. Luckily, cutaneous HPV do not come with any risk of serious cancer development.
Plantar warts
Plantar warts are similar to common warts, caused by cutaneous HPV types 1, 2, 4, and 63. Plantar warts are generally uncomfortable, growing inward on the soles of the feet, and sometimes causing pain. These infections attack through direct contact with the skin, usually through tiny cuts or abrasions in the outermost layer of the skin.
Subungual and periungual warts