The more common of the 250-odd strains of the HPV virus cause common warts. These strains can be picked up anywhere where an infected person touches a surface where they leave the virus. The HPV virus is very hardy, and can live on a cold dry surface for many hours or even a few days. Many people find themselves infected with common warts on their hands or feet, and never know where they could have picked up the virus. This infection is never serious, but can be unsightly, itchy or painful, embarrassing and annoying. Often, it takes several applications of ointment and some help from your doctor to bring it under permanent control.

Sexually transmitted forms of HPV are far less common, but these strains exist anywhere in the world. You can acquire one of these strains of HPV simply from engaging in sexual contact with another human being who is unknowingly carrying the virus.

When you are traveling, use the same common sense you would use at home when you are sexually active:

1. Practice safe sex. As is true with all STDs, the more sexual partners you have, the higher the risk goes that you will become infected from one of them. Studies have consistently shown that the likelihood of encountering health problems that probably originated with HPV infection rises in direct proportion to the number of sexual partners a person has had. Know that most contraceptives offer no protection against HPV infection: only condoms offer some protection, and condoms never protect 100% against HPV.
2. Be smart about HPV. When a partner claims that they don’t have an STD, know that most people with the HPV virus never know they are carrying it. Assume your partner has HPV and behave accordingly!
3. Know that only practicing oral sex does not make you safer from HPV – or from any other sexually transmitted disease. Oral sex only protects you from pregnancy. When it comes to HPV, the virus can indeed be passed, and can result in the eventual development of cancers of the throat, mouth, neck, and an HPV-related respiratory infection that can be very serious.
4. When at home, or when you are overseas for a year or more, do see a doctor for an annual exam to check for any problems that can arise from exposure to the HPV virus. If you are a woman, always have a PAP smear, which checks for early signs of cervical cancer. If you prefer to be sexually active with multiple partners, consider asking your doctor to give you the vaccine available to protect against HPV infection.

But the question is, how is everybody catching HPV? 90% of people don’t contract cancer or HIV, so why HPV? It’s a little like the common cold, chicken pox, or Pac-Man Fever; almost all of us catch it at one point or another.

Warts are actually surprisingly easy to transmit. You don’t ever even have to meet a person with warts to contract their HPV. Again, warts are no big deal, they’re just gross. They’re only a problem when over the counter medicine doesn’t seem to do anything, or they’re recurring, in which case, professional aide can help solve the problem. But, you won’t get cancer or anything like that thanks to warts. Even genital warts are not a cancer risk.

Common warts and plantar warts can be transmitted thanks to something as simple as sharing a doorknob or a public shower. The fear of contracting HIV or something through a toilet seat or an eating utensil is all bunk, but HPV can be transmitted that easily. This is thanks to the protein shell each HPV cell is equipped with. This shell allows them to survive for much longer than most viruses on even non-porous, dry surfaces. You can combat this by just practicing sanitary measures. Wash your hands regularly, keep your home and place of work clean, you know the drill. Wear those rubber slippers if you use a gym with public showers, etcetera.

Sexually transmitted forms of HPV, well, as you should know, are transmitted sexually. Anybody could tell you that. What you might not know, is that even with a condom, there is a chance of contracting genital warts. Genital warts can infect the scrotum and various areas around the genitals that are not protected by a latex condom. Skin to skin contact is all it takes to transmit genital HPV.

Again, most forms of genital HPV do not lead to cancer or any other complications, many forms of genital HPV don’t even always lead to genital warts. It’s estimated that some 50% of the population in the US has contracted genital HPV at some time or another. Since an HPV infection can even lay dormant and not show warts for years, or ever, for that matter, the only way to know for sure is to have medical testing conducted.

It is estimated that somewhere around half of all sexually active people are actually walking around with genital HPV right now, while most people will contract HPV at some point in their lives.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s usually not that big of a deal.

HPV isn’t just genital HPV, and even when it is genital HPV, it’s only the rarer forms of HPV which can lead to cancer, and those strains do not show themselves in the form of genital warts.

HPV includes common warts (hand warts), plantar warts, elbow warts, flat warts, and even some strains that don’t even cause any visible signs or lead to further health complications.

Most children will contract hand warts at some point in their early lives. Hand warts are uncomfortable and ugly, but they won’t lead to cancer, they’re easily treated, and 90% of the time, they clear up in a few weeks with or without treatment.

While they may cause unsightly and uncomfortable warts, most forms of HPV are relatively benign, and do not pose any serious health risks. The problem is that there are strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer, and that these strains usually cannot be spotted without a pap smear.

Tens of thousands of women die every year thanks to genital HPV leading to cervical cancer. The vast majority of people who contract HPV may wind up okay. Again, HPV only rarely leads to cancer. However, the risk is very real. You’re more likely to catch a cancer-causing strain of HPV than you are to get struck by lightning, so if you don’t stand under trees during a storm, don’t have sex without either using protection, or having STD tests done for both partners.

Luckily, there is an HPV vaccine available that can help prevent contracting cancer causing strains of the virus. The vaccine has been shown to be most effective when administered around the age of puberty, and is definitely worth looking into for either yourself, or any young women in your family. Yes, that may seem like an awkward subject to bring up, but let’s forget about that for a minute and face the facts: Some forty thousand women die of HPV related cancer every year. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.

So to sum all of the above up into a list of “just the HPV facts”…

You have a very strong chance of contracting HPV in your lifetime. Your odds for catching a life threatening strain of HPV are slim, but the possibility is very real, nonetheless. Contracting HPV can only be prevented by the vaccine, using condoms, and/or having STD tests conducted on yourself and your sex partner.

The chance of catching HPV is very real, but you can significantly reduce the risk by practicing safe sex. You can strengthen your immune system against HPV and genital warts infections by eating properly and exercising. Basically, just be careful, live a healthy lifestyle, and you should be relatively safe.

There is a bit of a misconception that HPV is an entirely sexually related disease. Just to get this clear: It is not. HPV includes genital warts, but there are literally dozens of different types of HPV. To put it simply, all warts are caused by HPV, and there are some forms of HPV that don’t actually show any visible signs on the surface of the skin.

Most forms of HPV are merely uncomfortable or unsightly, warts are a form of tumour, but they are generally benign tumours, meaning, ugly as they are, they’re of no risk to your life or long term health. However, a few types can lead to cancer or other major complications.

If you’ve spotted an unsightly wart on your hands or feet, or your doctor has informed you that you have been infected with HPV, you’ll need to take measures to treat the hpv symptoms, of course, but you should also take measures to prevent passing it on.

Common warts or hand warts

Because of the protein “shell” surrounding an HPV cell, HPV can lay dormant for longer than most viruses even on non-absorbent, dry surfaces. If you’re dealing with hand warts, just make sure to spray down surfaces such as countertops and doorknobs with disinfectant and keep a generally sanitary environment at work and at home.

Luckily, most common wart hpv treatment options will have you putting a band-aid or other medical adhesive over the infected area, so as long as you wash your hands and reapply the bandages as needed, there’s not too much risk in passing on common hand warts.

Plantar warts

Unless you’re swapping socks with your friends, plantar warts are kind of hard to pass on in your normal routine.

If you go to a gym or health club and use communal showers, just make sure to wear rubber shower sandals. This is generally recommended whether you’re dealing with plantar warts or not, as you can keep from contracting HPV and foot funguses, as well.

Venereal HPV

There’s a misconception that if you don’t see any warts, you can’t pass HPV on. This is not true though. Not only can you pass venereal types of HPV on when there are no symptoms, there are also venereal HPV types which have no visible symptoms, but can lead to cervical cancer and other complications nonetheless.

In this day and age, you have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the many, many options for safe sex out there. The only form of safe sex that has much potential to prevent HPV, though, is using a condom. There is no cure for genital warts or HPV in men or women.

Know the sexual history of every sexual partner you become involved with, no exceptions. Unless you and your partner have both had HPV tests conducted and you know for a fact that you are both clear, use a condom every time. Condoms take only a few seconds to apply, and it just isn’t worth the risk to go without.