"When the Road to Pleasure is Bumpy"

Is something blocking your way to sexual gratification? Feeling a bump around you or your partner’s sexual organs? It could be genital warts.

Genital warts grow on the penis and inside or around the entrance to the vagina and anus. These are caused by a family of viruses known as human papillomavirus (HPV). Genital warts are transmitted directly through skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal, or oral sex with an infected person. A mother can infect her baby through birth, but this is rare.

Genital HPV infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) worldwide. There are as many as 6 million fresh cases of genital warts in the United States alone each year.

For women, growths or bumps in and around the vagina or anus or on the cervix in females are signs. For men, the same sight is on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. These could be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large, and could be clustered together to form a cauliflower-like shape. These are usually the color of flesh and are painless.

It may take months or years before symptoms appear—if there are symptoms at all. The average incubation period is one to six months. Sometimes, the warts are too small and flat that they are ignored.

HPV can invade a woman’s vagina and cervix. The virus can lead to changes in the cervix that can cause cervical cancer, so if you feel such bumps, have them treated immediately. Men infected with HPV are not safe, either. They are at risk for cancer of the penis and the anus. But don’t be so bothered—only 10 to 15 of the 30 or more genital HPV types can cause cancer.

If the risk of cancer troubles you, remember that like most STDs, genital warts can be avoided by abstinence or by having sex with only a single, uninfected partner. Condoms also offer protection, but not if the warts are outside of the area protected they cover.

A vaccine called Gardasil has been formulated for women who are 9 to 26 years old. There is no cure for HPV infection; the treatment removes only the genital warts it causes. The therapies for genital warts are prescription medications, liquid nitrogen (called cryosurgery), and laser treatment.