Treatment for Genital Warts
HPV genital warts treatment
While visible genital warts often go away with time, the virus cannot be eliminated once it is in your bloodstream. This means you may have several outbreaks over the course of your life. This makes managing symptoms important because you want to prevent transmitting the virus to others. Genital warts can be passed on to others even when there are no visible warts or other symptoms.
Treatment is required to relieve painful symptoms or to minimize their appearance.
Topical treatments:
- Imiquimod (aldara)
- Podophyllin and podofilox (condylox)
- Trichloroacetic acid (tca)
If visible warts do not go away with time, you may require surgery to remove them. We can remove the warts through:
- Electrocautery, or burning warts with electric currents
- Cryosurgery, or freezing warts
- Laser treatments
- Excision, or cutting off warts
- Interferon injections
Women who have been diagnosed with genital warts may need to have pap smears every 3 to 6 months after their initial treatment to monitor any changes in the cervix. This is because certain types of hpv that cause genital warts are also associated with cervical cancer and precancerous changes in the cervix.