I will share my story and perhaps you may have some answers for me.

About two months ago, I noticed a small bump (what looked like a skin tag) on the outside of my anus. I made an immediate appointment with the doctor and was bluntly told that I had a minor case of genital warts. I was shocked as I’ve only slept with three people (I’m 24) and all have been in long-term monogomous relationships. The few external lesions were frozen by cryosurgery and I was told to use Aldera which worked wonderfully, but was unfortunately VERY painful. Luckily, I am currently visually free of GW.

However, I expressed concern to my doctor that I feared something may also be inside my anus, so I was sent to consult a surgeon. Upon inspection, he noticed two lesions and said that I’d need to go under anesthesia to remove the internal warts as they can multiply and in some men (predominantly gay men who seem to suffer most from anal warts), it can cause problems when going to the bathroom.

After the surgery (and a very, very horrendous recovery) I was told at my follow-up visit that the surgery had been more extensive than the surgeon had expected. After analysis of the removed tissue by the pathologists, I was told that I had had anal dysplasia…a possibly pre-cancerous condition. Luckily it was caught early. Still, I have to go to constant check-ups and have anal pap smears.

I have never shown any symptoms on my penis.

But all the doctors contradict one another.
I have been left so very confused by it all. Is it possible that I can clear the VIRUS? I don’t mean the symptoms (as I’m aware that they often go away on their own), but the VIRUS that causes these symptoms. Might there be a time that I’m not contagious? Women with cervical dysplasia seem to clear it up in 6 months-3 years. What’s the information on men (or women, for that matter) with anal dysplasia? Is it entirely different? My doctor said I wouldn’t benefit from the HPV vaccine and yet you say, it’d be smart even for those infected to get it.

I’m afraid to touch myself, let alone let anyone near me. I’ve had to see a counsellor just to deal.

I know that this post may be full of misguided or untrue statements, but I am not here to defend them, but to learn and hopefully get some straight-up answers.

Please help.

HPV often DOES go away on its own (yes, from antibodies that we develop), but there’s no way to know for sure when and if it leaves without frequent testing.

You can test positive for HPV infection without having any disease (meaning cervical dysplasia, or precancerous changes) – and hopefully the infection clears before disease develops.

Even if you have HPV, you can still get the vaccine. It won’t help the infection clear faster, but will help you from being reinfected with those strains in the future. HPV isn’t like chicken pox – we think that you can be infected with a particular strain, clear it, and then be reinfected again. So the vaccine can help everyone.

As for assuming that all guys have HPV…most guys will have HPV at some point, and it’s reasonable to guess that he may have it when he’s with you. This doesn’t mean don’t have sex with him – just use condoms (to reduce the risk), get the vaccine (to reduce it further) and get tested (with pap and HPV tests).

Don’t we naturally develop antibodies to fight viruses? So like Sue says, will it go away on its own? My GYN says to get the vaccine, so I’m assuming I don’t have HPV even though I’ve had unprotected sex with some partners. :hangs head in shame: Do the tests always read accurately?

Ugh, so many questions unanswered….