Genital Warts (Human Papillomavirus)
Medications
Medicine may be used to destroy bothersome genital warts, relieve your symptoms, and reduce the amount of area affected by warts, particularly when the warts are:
- Visible, bothersome, and growing in a small area.
- A cosmetic concern and you want them removed. Warts that are growing around the anus or on external genitals, such as on the penis or vulva, may be removed because they are unsightly. Some treatments that remove genital warts are more likely to leave scars. Therefore, cosmetic concerns about scarring may help guide the choice of treatment.
Topical medicine often is the first treatment. For safety, a health professional will apply the topical medicines that could damage the skin around the warts; you can apply other medicines at home. If warts return after one course of treatment with topical medicine, they are treated again only if there are clear reasons for retreatment.
Medication Choices
Treatment applied at home
The following medicines can be applied to the affected area (topical treatment) at home:
- Imiquimod (Aldara)
- Podophyllotoxin (Condyline)
Do not use these medicines during pregnancy.
Imiquimod and podophyllotoxin. appear to be the most effective medicine options that can be applied at home. Read the instructions carefully before using these medicines.
Treatment applied by a health professional
Treatment by a health professional can:
- Treat areas that you cannot reach easily.
- Treat a large area.
- Remove the warts quickly.
- Be expensive.
- Be painful.
- Have side effects.
Medicines applied by your health professional include:
- Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) or bichloroacetic acid (BCA).
- Podophyllin resin (Podofilm).
- Intralesional (injected into wart lesion) interferon.
- Fluorouracil (Efudex, Fluoroplex).
Treatment during pregnancy
Treatment for pregnant women includes trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and bichloroacetic acid (BCA), which have been found to be both effective and safe. Podophyllin resin, interferon, and fluorouracil should not be used during pregnancy because they can harm the fetus.
What To Think About
Avoid sexual contact in the treated area until the area is completely healed.
Some medicine may be more expensive than others.
Warts on the vulva or penis that do not go away on their own or after treatment often are biopsied to rule out precancerous or cancerous conditions.
Recurrence
Removing genital warts does not cure an HPV infection. Although warts may go away with topical treatment, they may return because the HPV virus may still be in the body's cells.
Even if genital warts have been removed or destroyed:
- You may still be able to infect sex partners with HPV.
- You should continue to use condoms during sexual intercourse if you have multiple sex partners.
- You may choose to discontinue condom use if you are in a long-term, single-partner (monogamous) relationship.
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| Author: | Carrie Henley Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: November 16, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Tom Bailey, MD - Family Medicine Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH - Infectious Disease | |
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