Electrocautery done but 3 warts remain...

[scared103]

I found out that the bumps I saw growning on my penis were not just extra skin, ingrown hairs, or acne so I decided to go to a urologist to get checked out. The bumps were a mixture of skin colored and dark.
Id been under alot of stress lately due to my stormy relationship with my girlfriend which I heard can decrease your immune system and make warts appear or multiply.

My girlfriend had a yeast infection a few months ago but she and I still continued to have sex. I think I contracted it from her and my penis became red and the skin cracked and peeled. This was when the doctor said that I could have been exposed to HPV. After her infection cleared I was left with the scars from the cracked skin but after those healed up there were bumps and they muliplied.

Anyhow I finally went to get checked...the doctor didnt even blink an eye before telling me that I definitely have HPV. He gave me 2 options..cream or burning. I chose the burning.

He injected me with local anaesthetic and went to work on me. It has only been two days now. He prescribed me with 3 days worth of antibiotics which I hope is enough but the wart areas were scabbed or burned...not quite sure which. But from friction the scabs rubbed off of some of them and now they ooze a clear pus-like substance.

Ive also discovered 3 more small warts that I think the doctor missed...or maybe they just developed...I dunno. Im not sure if I should let myself heal up first before going back to se the doctor or what. I am living in Japan so Im not sure about all the treatment options that were open to me but the burning seemed like the best choice. Ive been wanting to put some antibacterial ointment on the burns for the pain but not sure thats a good idea either.

My health insurance doesnt cover any of this and I feel like my life is over. I still havent told my girlfriend about this at all because she and I cant even have a normal conversation about anything anymore. Im at a loss for what to do at all. Any advice anyone?

[scared103]

Well, no response from anyone yet...
In the end I ended up going back to see the doctor...twice in one day.
He told me I was being paranoid about all the bumps I was finding.
Let me mention by the way that when I called him up the day I wrote the original post he told me to shave off all my hair, which I did and made it infinitely easier to see all the little ones that he had missed. I drew marks in felt pen to help him pinpoint and then when back. Had to go back again because I found more when I looked after I got home.

It was quite an ordeal and he mentioned that they have a 30-40% recurrance rate.

Ended up telling my gf about them but not that I had the treatment. I urged her to get the HPV test but she wasnt convinced that she should. Even faced with the risk of cervical cancer. Education in this country about these things is severely lacking.

I'm worried about her but I can't push her on it...I guess all I can do is wait.

[empathy60]

Genital warts aren't the end of the world and you're doing everything right.  If your girlfriend gave you low risk HPV (the type that causes warts), she isn't in risk of developing cervical cancer.  This is assuming she doesn't have high risk HPV as well.  You can't force anyone to take care of their sexual health, and it sounds like you've encouraged her plenty.  Warts recur about 20% of the time according to doctors in the expert forum, but eventually the body controls the infection, making it virtually impossible to transmit to future partners or have wart recurrences.  After 3-6 months of being wart free you can probably assume the warts won't come back.  I'd read up in the expert forum, there's lots of good advice there.  Also, if you have other unanswered questions, paying the $15 is well worth it.

[scared103]

Thanks so much for your reply...I've been feeling all alone about this.
I've been searching through the expert forum but most of the information regarding HPV and treatment is about women.

Not much for us guys dealing with HPV to relate to. I really worry about my girlfriend having genital warts on the inside and not having them taken care of...and after last nites revelation we're not even on speaking terms and no idea when we will be.

I've read that keeping a low stress level helps the immune system but her health and how much she blames me for it is doing nothing for my mental health.

I'd like to feel like I've done and said the right thing and encouraged her enough but I feel responsible and the guilt eats at me...

[scared103]

I know its only been a few days but...does anyone know about how long it takes for these scars to heal? And what is the end result? Is the scarring very bad?

[alv86]

hi scared103 i just wanted to say that i had a similar situation with my ex bf, i found a gw, and when i told him he pretty much disregarded everything i said, believing theres no way he could hav given this to me or me it to him because he has no warts!! he refuses to believe he could hav contracted it and wont believe me that it can be passed even using a condom! we never used a condom so im 100% positive he now has it, or had it and gav it to me, wel never know!! i sent him an email telling him everything iv researched and hes still in denial but theres not much i can do now, iv done the right thing and told him, its up to him now to look after himself and do the right thing in not infecting others (though something tells me he doesnt care about that)!!! encourage ur ex to continuosly check herself for warts and thats all u can do!!!:)

[scared103]

Thanks for your reply. Its funny how stupid some people can be about things. Especially their own health. So hard for us too that are worried about them and may have some guilt that we've spread this thing to them.

Guess its a wake up call for us to stop having unprotected sex and to be more careful in the future.

I wish that my ex and I were on good enough terms that I could urge her to do anything. I hate to just leave things the way they are and say its up to her but I guess that's what I'm gonna have to do for now. She doesn't seems to care about spreading it around either...

[empathy60]

"Guess its a wake up call for us to stop having unprotected sex and to be more careful in the future."

I'm not trying to start any sort of argument, but keep in mind condoms do not fully protect against HPV and other STD's.  So even when you're being safe, you're still taking a risk.  Despite its low risk, I caught HPV from a single exposure while using a condom with an asymptomatic partner.

[alv86]

empathy i totally agree, this whole thing has completely changed my attitude to sex, protected or unprotected!! if it was me that contracted this in the 1st place and passed it on2 my ex then it was gotten from sex using a condom which i just find scary!! i also find it ridiculous that this isnt stressed more in school or whatever, like i was tautght about std's but never once heard mention of hpv until i was diagnosed with GW and even at that point my dr was extremely vague n basically said u hav this 4 life!! when i told my close friends about how easily hpv is spread they were all so shocked n it really opened our eyes, i just wish my eyes had been opened sooner, i just always thought using a condom was fine, clearly not!!!!