Genital warts

Does treating the warts reduce the chance of passing HPV on?

Assumed removing them would make me less contagious, then read something suggesting treatment is cosmetic. Which is it?

low_tide 2 months ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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paper_lantern 2 months ago

Somewhere in between, and the honest answer is that it is not fully settled.

Removing visible warts reduces the amount of virus present at the surface, which plausibly lowers transmission. What it does not do is clear HPV from the surrounding skin, so it does not make you non transmissible.

half_light 2 months ago

Which is why most people treat for the reasons that are actually solid: comfort, appearance, and not wanting to look at them. Those are good enough reasons on their own.

open_window 2 months ago

Condoms reduce transmission but do not eliminate it, because HPV spreads by skin contact and a condom does not cover every area of skin involved. Worth knowing so a condom is not treated as a complete answer.

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