HPV is a common virus that can cause warts and cancer in the genital area in both males and females. But it’s important to remember that a Pap smear doesn’t detect all forms of HPV and most people have no symptoms at all.
It spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, especially vaginal or anal sex or oral sex. It can also be transmitted to an infant during birth.
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When certain strains of HPV get into the skin, they cause it to grow thicker and harder. This growth is called a wart. Some warts are not painful and may even look like normal bumps on the skin, so it is important to check them regularly for signs of infection. Warts are most common in wet areas of the body where the outer layer of skin is less protected, such as the genital area and the lips and throat.
HPV is very common and can spread through sexual contact or from skin to skin contact without sex. It can also pass to infants during birth. It can cause genital warts in women and men and precancerous cells that may lead to cervical cancer in women.
Vaccines can protect against the strains of HPV that most often cause genital warts and other health problems. However, they do not protect against all strains of the virus and it is important to practice safe sex. This means using condoms, abstaining from sex altogether or limiting it to one partner.
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Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections can lead to wartlike growths on the skin or in the genital area. In some cases, HPV can cause cancer in the uterus or anal region. Many people with HPV do not have symptoms.
In the genital area, genital warts may grow as flat lesions, cauliflower-like bumps or tiny stemlike protrusions. They appear weeks, months or even years after a person gets HPV. In women, genital warts often develop on the vulva or in the vagina. In men, they usually appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus.
In the throat, HPV can lead to throat cancer in adults and children. HPV can also cause head and neck cancers that occur in the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, salivary glands, throat or larynx. Head and neck cancers caused by HPV tend to be more treatable than those that aren’t. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck can be a sign of throat cancer and should be evaluated by a healthcare provider. Lymph nodes are small lumps of tissue that contain immune cells that help fight bacteria, viruses and other things that can make you sick.
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HPV can cause changes in the cells on the cervix, but these usually don’t lead to cancer. Changes are usually seen by a health care provider during a pelvic exam called a Pap test, and they can be a sign of HPV infection or cervical dysplasia.
The Pap test is a routine screening for cervical cancer that uses a sample of cells from the cervix to look for abnormal cell growth. It’s important to get a Pap test at least once every three years, or more often if your doctor tells you to do so.
If a Pap test shows abnormal cells, your doctor will likely want to do more tests to check for HPV infection or cervical dysplasia. These may include colposcopy (a procedure that uses a lighted magnifying instrument to examine your cervix and removes some of the tissue), cone biopsy, or scraping of the cervix.
Most HPV strains that affect the genital area don’t cause any symptoms. But the virus can also cause genital warts, which are rough, cauliflower-like bumps on your skin.
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HPV spreads through intimate skin-to-skin contact. It can infect the skin and wet places (mucous membranes) on or near your genitals, anus, penis, mouth, throat, and vulva. Some types of HPV cause warts on the skin or in your genital area. Some can also lead to precancers or cancer in your vulva and cervical lining. The HPV vaccine can protect you from the high-risk strains of HPV that can lead to precancer and cancer.
Having heavy bleeding during menstruation can be a sign of an HPV Infection. This bleeding can be so heavy that you soak through one or more sanitary pads or tampons every hour for several hours in a row. You might have to get up at night to change them. You may pass blood clots that are the size of a quarter or larger. You might feel tired or short of breath from the excessive blood loss.
Your healthcare provider might order a Pap smear to look for signs of abnormal cells on the cervix. They might also do a procedure called a colposcopy, which uses a lighted instrument to magnify your cervix and bring any cells into view for inspection.
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The sound of your voice originates in the larynx (or voice box), which sits at the base of the tongue on top of the windpipe. It contains vocal cords that vibrate to create the sounds you make when speaking. When you have a voice change, it can be a sign of many different conditions, including an HPV infection.
HPV is an extremely common sexually transmitted virus. There are over 100 different types and subtypes of HPV, some of which can cause genital warts. Others can lead to precancerous and cancerous changes in the cervix, and some strains of HPV are linked to a type of throat cancer known as Heck’s disease.
The Pap test and HPV test can help detect if you have an HPV infection. The Pap test detects abnormal cells in your cervical cells, and the HPV test detects the presence of certain HPV strains. Depending on your age and risk, you may get both tests together (cotesting) or just the Pap smear. The HPV vaccine protects against the strains that cause genital warts, but it doesn’t prevent pre-cancerous or cancerous changes in the cervix, so you should still have regular Pap tests and practice safer sex.