How can you tell if you have HPV?

This lesson is part of the WARTES HPV Masterclass. Preview: the first part of the narration.

Today I will answer a question I hear very often: "Doctor, how can I tell if I have caught HPV?" The answer may surprise you. Most of the time, you cannot. Most people who meet HPV have no symptoms at all: no pain, no itching, and no visible wart.

As we said in the previous video, the presence of HPV does not mean that disease will develop. If symptoms appear, when do they appear? Warts can show up weeks, months, or sometimes even years after meeting HPV. So do not think, "I must have caught this last week." Even when we know when a wart appeared, we usually cannot know when, or from whom, HPV was passed on.

And HPV found in your partner does not mean there has been a new infection in your relationship. What does a genital wart look like? It usually appears as small bumps in the genital area or around the anus. They can be skin-coloured, pinkish or a little darker.

Sometimes there is only one; sometimes several grow side by side and look like a cauliflower. Most are painless, but some cause itching, tenderness, or bleeding with friction. But not every bump in the genital area is a wart.

In men, small pearl-like bumps can be seen around the head of the penis. We call them pearly penile papules.

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