I’v been living with hpv and my girlfriend for 4 years. I had treatment once for several non cauliflower looking warts. I didn’t notice them for a while because they were so small. They just looked like zits to me. After the initial treatment there has been no recurrences except last week I had one but in 3 or 4 days it went away. Today I noticed a very small rash on the head of my penis. So my questions are:
1. Can warts just go away?
2. How should I get my girlfriend to care about getting a pap smear? (she doesn’t even knowing the connection to cervical cancer)
3. Can hpv be contained in a small area (the head) and be so small it is barely noticeable?

Thanks for writing.  Great questions.

1. Visible warts can resolve on their own – but the HPV virus is not cured.  This means that even though you may not see any growths on your penis, you can still transmit HPV to a partner.

2. It is important that every sexually active women receive gynecological care and pap smears.  You may want to share with her this information so she can learn about this important medical test.

3. Yes, it is possible for the visible manifestations of HPV to be located to one area.
I encourage you to establish a relationship with a physician so that you can get checked.  This is the best way to take care of yourself, and anything less is a disservice to both you and your girlfriend.  You may want to bring your girlfriend with you to the visit so that your doctor can talk to you both.

Best of luck.

Lisa has had HPV for 2 months, and has not yet had any treatment.   She has asked:

“How are they spread, and can they lay dormant. If so, for how long?”

Thank you Lisa for this great, and very important question!

HPV is spread from direct contact.  Skin on skin.  Most often this is related to a sexual encounter, but need not always be.  Because HPV can occur anywhere on the skin, condoms do not provide full protection.

It is true that HPV can lay dormant.  Sometimes for decades.  In this case, you would be a carrier of the virus.  That is to say, the virus would be in your cells – but not ‘expressing themselves’.  It is still possible to transmit HPV during this stage.
Hope this helps, and we hope that you GET TREATMENT.  The sooner the better.  HPV treated early is a simple matter.  Left untreated puts you at risk for develping HPV induced cancer.