Once you have contracted the HPV virus, there is no known cure for it. In many cases, depending upon the strain by which you have been infected, the virus will run its course on its own and your body will be clear of it within a few years. But for some types of HPV, it gets a little more complicated, because they tend to hang around indefinitely weakening your immune system and/or causing you to be vulnerable to more serious disease. But while there is no treatment for the HPV virus itself, there are treatments for certain symptoms or conditions caused by the disease.

If you develop common warts, say on your hands or feet, t hey can often be treated very simply and successfully with over-the-counter medications for wart removal. Or you may wish to have your doctor remove them for you. Many people simply allow common warts to run their course and clear up by themselves. It is important to know that when common warts are cleared or go away, the virus may still be present in your body for some time. That is why warts keep coming back, and often require several treatments before you don’t see symptoms anymore.

Genital warts work in much the same way. There are medications available that your physician can give you to help clear up genital warts. These will also often reappear several times and require treatment more than once. In the vast majority of cases, the appearance of genital warts is not an indication that you are at risk of cancer. The strains of HPV that cause genital warts are generally NOT those strains related to cancer.

If you do contract a strain of HPV that can cause cancer, you will not know it for years. That is why, if you are sexually active at any point in your life, you need to have ongoing and routine health screening for HPV-related conditions. In this sense, HPV treatment is an ongoing process; this is why it is important for women to have regular pap smears during their annual gynecological exams to check for signs of changes in cells on the cervix that may indicate cancer. In early stages, cervical cancer is very treatable by minor surgery and poses minimal risk.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about 12,000 women are diagnosed yearly with cervical cancer. In at least 70% of these cases, the HPV virus is responsible, and the patient was unknowingly carrying the virus for several years. Since there is no definitive medical test for HPV status, these patients are always unaware that they carry strains of HPV that lead to cervical cancer.

Although the particular strains of HPV that cause serious health conditions are not common, the risk of cancer is serious enough that it is important to educate yourself about HPV and learn what you can do to prevent yourself from being at risk.

Many doctors will argue that testing for HPV is an art, not a science. This simply means that there is no precise, one hundred percent accurate way to test for HPV.

The most common symptoms of HPV, being warts, are generally easy to identify. Be they common or genital warts, they’re easily spotted by their conspicuous cauliflower like appearance.

Even so, if you suspect that you have contracted HPV, it is a good idea to have your doctor verify this. Oftentimes, what may be a simple blemish, a pimple, or something else entirely may be misidentified as a wart, and the wrong treatment may be applied, as such, it’s always wise to attain a professional’s opinion.

That said, warts are not the primary concern in HPV testing for women. The primary concern is the risk of HPV types 16 or 18 developing into cervical cancer.

A lot of attention is paid in the media to the problems of breast cancer, of HIV, and, more recently, of Swine Flu. It seems odd, then, that so little attention is paid to cervical cancer and HPV, as, every year, cervical cancer kills an estimated forty thousand women. The vast majority of these cases are linked to human papilloma virus.

To be clear, the HPV strains that do lead to cervical cancer are not the types that lead to genital warts and similar conditions. Rather, the HPV types that lead to cervical cancer show absolutely no symptoms visible to the naked eye. Vaginal bleeding may occur, but it is much more common for the condition to show absolutely no symptoms until the cancer has developed into an advanced stage.

You check yourself for lumps and you check your skin for spots after a day in the sun, it is equally important to have a regular pap smear conducted.

You will want to talk to your doctor to arrange scheduled pap smears. The information below will provide a rough guideline, but there are several factors at play, besides your age, that should determine how frequently you should have the test conducted.

For sexually active women or women over the age of eighteen, you should have a pap smear conducted once every one, two, or three years. Although many doctors insist on an annual pap test for any woman aged eighteen to thirty.

A majority of doctors believe that a woman who has reached the ages of sixty five to seventy with no abnormal test results may safely stop having the test conducted. Most women who have had hysterectomies performed do not need pap smears after two or three years of normal results.

A woman who has had a series of abnormal test results may be asked to take a pap test every six months in order for her doctor to keep a close eye on the situation. Abnormal test results may be a bit ambiguous, and it may be hard to identify the problem, if there even is a problem in the first place, with a single pap smear.

When portions of the cervix are removed or operated on in response to an abnormal test result, an annual test should be conducted in order to check for recurrence of abnormal cell growth

Most importantly, you should absolutely not neglect your doctor’s advice regarding a regular pap test. Even if you believe a regular pap test to be unnecessary due to your age or other circumstance, you should not stop having the test conducted until your doctor says so.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3133751

The human papillomavirus is a common infection affecting twenty million Americans. Known also as HPV, the infections symptoms appear on the skin and mucous membranes. HPV may not show signs or symptoms. A wart outbreak signals an HPV infection. The human papillomavirus has many different types, including strains that can cause cancer. HPV infection is often caused from skin or mucous contact with an infected person. HPV has many strains that are transmitted sexually. While an HPV cure has yet to exists, the infection often has no consequences to the carrier. The immune system can cure the body on its own and if it does not, many treatment options are available.

Many different strains of the human papillomavirus exist and the virus type dictates the course of treatment. The type of HPV is usually distinguished by the symptoms it presents. Some symptoms, like plantar warts, common warts and genital warts are readily attributed to the correct HPV strain. Other strains may not present any identifiable symptom. These are mostly discovered during Pap smears or other routine tests. Other rarer strains cause respiratory papillomatosis. In immunocompromised, HPV causes epidermodysplasia verruciformis which results in skin lesions.

The most common method of HPV cure is the wait and see option. Often, the infection will clear on its own. The body’s immune system eradicates the virus and heals the affected cells. This is seen commonly in women who have had an abnormal Pap smear. When they are tested again (usually one to two years later), they are found to be virus free.

Cryotherapy is a treatment option that removes the affected tissue with low temperatures. A doctor uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the abnormal cells and surrounding area, destroying the tissue and preventing re growth. This method is often employed because of its efficiency and low risk of side effects. The procedure is simple and virtually painless.

Another option is called conization. Conization is often used as a diagnostic tool, but is employed in HPV treatment as well. The procedure excises a cone shaped section of tissue that can be tested for specific HPV strains. Therapeutically, the doctor will try to remove all irregular cells. Women subject to cervical conization are at risk for cervical stenosis. This can result in endometriosis (abnormal cell growth in and around the uterine cavity). Cervical conization causes incompetent cervix in some pregnant women. This disorder often results in preterm birth and miscarriage.

LEEP or Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure is something that has seen more implementation in recent years. The procedure uses electrical currents to remove abnormal cells. The doctor performs the procedure while the patient is under local, or in more extreme cases general, anesthetic. LEEP can cut and cauterizes at the same time which makes it a popular option. While it is safer than conization, LEEP can cause infection and hemorrhaging.

Your doctor can also prescribe a topical agent to treat HPV symptoms. Two types of topical applicants exist: one to destroy affected tissue, and another to aid the immune system in fighting off the infection. Both are initially effective, but the warts removed almost always reappear. In addition, topical solutions for HPV cause skin irritation, sores, and inflammation in many patients.

No HPV cure has yet been found, but there are abundant treatment options available. These different options can decrease HPV symptoms and sometimes remove them altogether.