New Members Read

[empathy60]

Since we get an abundance of new members here quite often, I thought I'd make some basic announcements that might help a great majority of you.  While questions are always welcomed, if you have (or suspect you might have) HPV, you can benefit from the following links/sites:

Center For Disease Control:
http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/

American Social Health Association:
http://www.ashastd.org/hpv/hpv_overview.cfm

And "All The HPV Info You Could Ever Need" is a compilation of frequently asked questions about HPV answered by expert forum doctors:
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/STDs/All-the-HPV-info-you-could-ever-need/show/70?cid=133

All of these sources are very credible and progressive in my opinion.  There is A LOT of false information available on the internet about HPV, full of old research, myths, inaccuracies and propaganda.  Take any information you don't receive from a qualified source or medical professional with a grain of salt.

Also, a list of sites to AVOID [in my opinion] when seeking HPV information:
http://www.hpvforum.com/
http://www.stdmatch.net/ (forum boards)
HPV Livejournal Community
Yahoo Answers (answered by many unqualified members)
Some of the information provided by the New York Department of Health.  (While most of the basic info is accurate, they are using old research and falsely proclaim HPV is contagious for life.  New research indicates this isn't usually the case.)

[empathy60]

I had one operator who did that, but another who was very helpful.  Also, one of my partners who was absolutely clueless about HPV called the hotline after I referred him and he learned tons and it calmed him down plenty and put the situation in perspective.  I would recommend it simply because you won't get any false information, as you will with other sites.  It was a lot easier for me to have him to talk to an authority and helped us both and made a difficult time a lot easier.  Also, for those who need any other STD testing and aren't web savvy, the hotline can refer you to free testing clinics in your area.

[empathy60]

No problem :)

I also forgot to mention to also AVOID the Myspace HPV community as well as to avoid many user made Yahoo groups.  Lots of false information is posted in these mediums.  In my opinion, the most credible sources on the web are the CDC, ASHA, and the doctor's advice given in the expert forums here on MedHelp.  The CDC also has a toll-free 24 hour hotline, where you can talk to a CDC operator at any hour and receive information about any STD (including warts/HPV) and referrals to an STD clinic in your area.  You can also remain anonymous through this hotline.

CDC Hotline number:

1-800-CDC-INFO

[ibizan]

Thank You as usual for disseminating credible resources that give the truth about HPV and other std's.