Treatments For HPV

Looking for information on treatments for HPV? HPV stands for Human Papillomavirus. There are actually over 100 different infections that make up HPV's. Unfortunately, approximately 20 million Americans suffer from HPV. Symptoms of HPV include genital warts, genital lesions, oral and upper respiratory lesions, common warts, plantar warts, and flat warts. In most cases, HPV is transferred from one human to another through skin to skin contact. Some strands of HPV are contracted through sex, such as the strands that cause genital warts.

There are no cures for HPV. Luckily, in most cases, your own immune system is able to remove HPV from your body. If you have any warts from HPV, your body will most likely get rid of them on its own. However, in some cases, you will need to seek treatment for the removal of stubborn warts. If you have genital warts, common treatments include freezing the warts with liquid nitrogen or having them removed surgically. Before surgery is a viable option, doctors will typically write you a prescription for Aldara or Condylox. Both are creams that you apply to genital warts.

If your body is unable to remove your common plantar and flat warts on its own, you can try applying salicylic acid to the warts, which will remove small layers of your wart at a time. Aldara, the cream that doctors prescribe for genital warts, also works for common plantar and flat warts. Surgical removal is considered a last ditch effort to remove common plantar and flat warts. If you have any pre-malignant lesions from HPV, common forms of treatment include surgical removel, cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen), laser surgery, and electrocutery.