When I first heard of HPV and Genital Warts in the same sentence as “highly contagious” and “no cure” understandably I was a bit alarmed, so what steps can you take to ensure genital warts prevention.
What actions should I take for Genital Warts Prevention?
Genital warts prevention is actually quite a hard thing to ensure absolutely 100%. Like most things in life Nothing is guaranteed but the good news is that you can take measures to limit your chances of contracting the disease.
Firstly you need to remember that the human papillomavirus (HPV) is highly contagious and can be passed on even if the infected person has no obvious outbreak.
So it’s probably best to discuss ways to reduce the risk of exposure to HPV rather than genital warts prevention.
Preventing Genital Warts through Abstinence
The best way to reduce your risk is through abstinence. Although it is not totally practicable for most people to go without sex you should at least remain abstinent and be especially careful during outbreaks.
How effective is Safe Sex at Genital Warts Prevention?
Safer sex practices are important to limit many STD’s not only genital warts.
Condoms should always be used during sexual contact of any kind, including oral sex. It cannot offer 100% protection as the condom doesn’t cover all of the genital area. For women there are female condoms available which may be worth considering.
It’s also important to avoid skin-to-skin contact of genital areas with those who might be infected.
Treat any outbreak as quickly as possible so as to limit growth of genital warts. Remember that if you wait too long then it’ll only take longer for you to be rid of them again.
It is advisable to keep a bottle of Wartrol at home so that you are prepared when an outbreak does occur. That way you can start treating it immediately and not waste time waiting on delivery.
Can Vaccines help with Genital Warts Prevention?
Vaccines are now available for both men and women and should be taken into serious consideration.
There are two HPV vaccines currently on the market, Gardasil and Cervarix. Although they do not offer total immunity both have shown to protect against strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancers and in the case of Gardasil it may also provide protection for about 90% of all genital warts cases. Gardasil has been FDA approved for use in both men and women.
Hopefully in the future further vaccines will become available that will offer guaranteed genital warts prevention. Until that time the methods described in this article, although they cannot ensure total genital warts prevention, are the best methods available at the moment.