flat warts on bikini area?

[jrox]

I've had some bumps near my bikini area for a couple months now, and only recently got them checked because I was rather embarrassed about them, especially because I've started having personal relations with somebody new. The bumps started off itchy from what I remember and then healed. I thought they were razor bumps or burn and continued to shave over them. Now they're clustered, slighltly raised and light pink, and they're only on one side of my bikini area. Nothing near my genitals whatsoever. I went and saw a GP and she called them warts.  I was worried she meant STD.She told me they weren't in my vagina so she didn't think so.  I got referred to a dermatologist. His nurse called them flat warts. The dermatologist also said they probably weren't STD related from the looks of them and said I may have spread them through shaving.

So I guess what I need to know is, is it possible to have HPV that's not an STD related issue? I've had unprotected sex a few times with this partner and I feel awful now that I know that I might have possiblly exposed him to something that is/is not STD related. How can I prevent him from being exposed if we continue to have sex? Will these warts come back after treatment? Does he have a high chance of getting them even though the warts look healed and if he has no open cuts on himself? Can he get them if he accidentally touched them or was in contact with them later down the road? I've only had unprotected sex with one other partner of 8 years. He has had no visible signs of warts since our relationship. I guess most of all, if I do have HPV that's not STD related, is that a bad thing? Do I need to expose this?

Thanks for your patience Doctor. I'm still really worried as you can see if I'm going to find out from a third doctor that I do have an STD after all!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

These are all good questions, but I think you needn't worry too much about them.  It's usually hard to say where warts were contracted, whether they're on the genitals or the hands.  Most of the time there was no obvious source.  Also, most of the time they don't appear elsewhere on the body, so touching doesnt seem to spread them very often (and neither does shaving, even though conventional wisdom says it does.)

It's of course important that you treat your own.  If your boyfriend were to get them, they would appear on the penis where he can see them, and they don;t pose any health risk in males.  As for your worry that you may have inadvertently exposed him to something, I don't think you should upset yourself over that.  There's little or jo evidence that condoms prtect against the wart virus (though of course they are important to prevent transmission of herpes and HIV.)  Even if he gets warts someday, there's no saying whether he got them from you or from some other partner, since so many people have or have had warts at some point.

My advice is just to get the warts taken care of and get yourself checked to be sure they're gone, including regular Pap smears and routine helth maintenance of that kind.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff