Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Recurrent HPV wart

Around November 2009 a doctor found a bump on the base of my penis and said it was an irritated follicle.  Another doctor examined it on 1/26/10 when it got slightly bigger and he said it was a genital wart and cryosurgically removed it.  11 months later around December 2010 it came back even bigger at the same spot. On 1/18/11 I had it removed. It took 11 months for the wart to come back and so is that an indicator that my genital warts will be a recurring problem though out my life and not something that is supposed to typically clear like most hpv cases? Or was that just an anomaly and I should be home free and cleared sometime soon? since 6 months passed and nothing was there I thought I was cleared of it but it took a total of 11 months for it to come back.  

Thank You
6 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
thanks you're awesome!
Helpful - 0
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your recap is on target.

Warts do not typically itch.  On the other hand, we we focus on any part of our body, the heightened awareness can make things itch.  That your lesion itches suggests to me either that this is not a wart or that you are  paying it too much attendtion.  EWH
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Okay, doctor let me recap on what you are trying to say.  No matter how many times the wart recurs, my body will eventually clear the virus and it will never come back?  It might be a nuisance but just be patient?  
One last question and I promise this will be the end of the thread.  The two times my wart appeared it started with intense itching and I noticed the wart.  As we speak it still kind of itches and when i run my finger over the area it still has an itch.  The area that used to have the wart is now just kind of raised a little. I am scared because it still itches so I feel like it's growing back...can warts really itch like this?  Anyways I'm going back to my doctor soon but I just wanted your last opinion on all of this.  
Thank you for everything!
Helpful - 0
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the clarification.  IT was not clear to me that there was confience that it was a wart.  This issues of HPV recurrence is certainly a complex one which involves many variables, many of which are, in fact, not well understood.  Recently Dr. Handsfield responded to another client with a good explanation.  I have pasted it in below.

"Many HPV biologists believe HPV DNA usually or always persists indefinitely.  However, even with the most sensitive tests available in research labs, the virus becomes undetectable, typically over several months to a year or two -- longer for the high-risk (cancer-associated) HPV types, shorter for low risk and wart-causing strains like HPV-6 and -11.  After that, it is uncommon for that particular infection to reactivate -- i.e. recurrent warts or newly abnormal pap smears are infrequent -- and subsequent transmission to sex partners is rare.  So for practical purposes, the infection is completely resolved and can be considered cured.  "Uncommon" doesn't mean these things never happen; they do, but infrequently.

So you can understand how some experts interpret these issues into conflicting messages:  "Most HPV infections are cured by treatment and/or the immune system" versus "HPV persists and is never really cured".  My own perspective is the first of these:  people should consider themselves cured when all signs of their HPV infection are gone and there is no recurrence within a few months."


In your own case, there is still no reason to think that the possible recurrence of a wart means that you are in any way at risk for further problems or consequences downstream.  These things can be a real nuisance.  Just stick with it.  EWH
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
           Well the first doctor that said it was an irritated follicle was the one that examined the recurrence on 1/18/11 and she confirmed it as a genital wart and removed it.  Honestly I've seen pictures of warts and folliculitis and this looked more like a wart and basically both doctors confirmed it.  I just don't understand how if a person doesn't have a recurrence in 6 months he or she is assumed to be cleared.  
             I read this post http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/concerned/show/980849
that a girl had genital warts but after two years it never came back. A year after the genital warts she had an abnormal pap smear and after another year there was an abnormal pap smear. Handsfield mentioned that it was probably from the same hpv strain but I'm confused because if it was the same strain why would there be an abnormal pap smear if warts didn't show up again.  I thought after 6 months if no warts show up then you are considered cleared from the virus.    
Helpful - 0
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the Forum.  I'll try to help and provide some perspective.  The first question to consider is whether or not this really was a wart. The location, at the base of the penis is a bit unusual- most warts in men occur on the penile shaft.  Further, there seems to have been a difference of opinion. This too raises the question of whether this was a wart or something else. The location is typical for folliculitis which does tend to recur.

If this was, in fact a wart, recurrence after 11 months would be most unusual. Typically if a wart is treated/removed and does not recur for 2-3 months then there is very little chance of future recurrence.  For it to happen twice in the way you describe with such long intervals is similarly most unusual.

BTW, the fact that the lesions went away with treatment does not help to sort things out.   Wart treatment is designed to destroy involved tissue, allowing normal tissues to re-grow. It would make either warts of folliculitis go away.

My guess is that this process is not a recurring wart but something else.  The chances that this is a wart are small.  If it was/is a wart, it is unlikely to recurred an if it recurred in the way you described, this would not mean that you are likely to have a lifetime of recurring warts ahead of you.  

Either way, if it is still present or if it recurs again, my recommendation is that your first step would be to get a tie-breaking 3rd opinion, perhaps from a dermatologist as to what this might be.

I hope this comment is helpful.  EWH
Helpful - 0

You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum

Popular Resources
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.