What does
An oral HPV infection has no symptoms and cannot be detected by a test. If you have symptoms that concern you, it does not mean you have cancer, but you should see your health care provider to get it checked. You may undergo a physical exam. Your provider may examine your mouth area.
Does oral HPV go away? It's likely. In fact, most oral HPV infections clear up on their own without treatment in about two years. But, for some people, the virus stays in their system for decades.
Oral HPV spreads mostly through oral sex and mouth-to-mouth contact between people. During mouth-to-genital or mouth-to-mouth contact, HPV particles in the saliva or mucus of someone with the virus enter someone without the infection through an open cut or sore in the mouth or throat.
Also referred to as Heck's disease, the bumps on your tongue are because of HPV strain numbers 13 and 32. In such a condition, the wart inside your mouth grows papules of pink or white color, giving it a cobblestone appearance.
HPV can infect the mouth and throat and cause cancers of the oropharynx (back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils). This is called oropharyngeal cancer. HPV is thought to cause 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.
Further, micro-abrasions that expose the basal layer in non-infected partners provide an opportunity for infection. While sexual intercourse is the primary means of transmission, genital-to-genital interactions, oral-to-genital interactions, or deep (French) kissing can also spread the virus.
What does oral HPV look like? HPV infection within the mouth will first present as small red, pink or pale sores, similar to any mouth ulcer or canker sore. That is why prompt action on your behalf to see a dentist is a must if you detect any oral abnormality in your day-to-day life.
Signs of HPV
The most common are small, hard sores called warts, but not everyone who has HPV gets them. They may be raised, flat, or shaped like a cauliflower, and they can be different sizes. They can show up on your genital area or other places, depending on the type of the virus you have.
HPV can cause genital warts and lead to cervical cancer. Certain types of HPV can cause an infection in the mouth and throat. In some people, this can cause oral cancer.
Warts are small bumpy benign structures that are pink colored if keratinized via a single layer and look white if multiple layers are involved. A wart or bump in the tongue because of HPV is cystic in appearance and is a raised white spot like structure. Usually, once grown, they stay for months or even years!
In most cases (9 out of 10), HPV goes away on its own within two years without health problems. But when HPV does not go away, it can cause health problems like genital warts and cancer.
Is HPV Contagious Forever? Most cases of HPV clear up on their own after one to two years, and you'll no longer be contagious once it leaves your system. However, the virus can remain dormant for years, and some people experience infections that stick around for much longer.
In women, these strains can cause cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, and anus, as well as head and neck cancers. Almost all cases of cervical cancers are caused by the HPV virus. In men, high risk strains of HPV can cause penile, anal and head and neck cancers.
Infection with high-risk HPV does not usually cause symptoms. The precancerous cell changes caused by a persistent HPV infection at the cervix rarely cause symptoms, which is why regular cervical cancer screening is important. Precancerous lesions at other sites in the body may cause symptoms like itching or bleeding.
Yes. Although most infections occur following intercourse, HPV may also be passed on during oral sex and genital-to-genital contact. Even more rarely, a mom can transmit the virus to her baby during birth.
HPV cannot be treated. Doctors can remove visible genital lesions and warts caused by HPV, but there is no cure for the virus. Unlike other sexually transmitted infections, HPV is caused by a virus and viruses cannot be cured with antibiotics.
HPV usually doesn't make you feel sick or cause any symptoms. Your immune system can fight off the infection before you ever know you have it, but you could still spread it to others before that happens. If you do get symptoms, the most common signs of HPV are genital warts.
How did I get HPV? HPV is a sexually-acquired virus. Even if you were to have sex with a single partner in your life, using condoms every time, there is an 80% chance you will acquire HPV in your lifetime. HPV can be spread by contact between genital skin, so LGBQTI people can also get the virus.
The number of HPV positive cancers of the tonsil and base of tongue (oropharyngeal cancer) is rising quickly. Several studies evaluating the prevalence of active oral HPV infection have found that three to five percent of adolescents and five to 10 percent of adults have an active HPV infection.
Genital warts look like skin-colored or whitish bumps that show up on your vulva, vagina, cervix, penis, scrotum, or anus. They kind of look like little pieces of cauliflower. You can have just one wart or a bunch of them, and they can be big or small. They might be itchy, but most of the time they don't hurt.
HPV is sensitive to some chemical disinfectants, including hypochlorites and formulas containing peracetic acid and silver. Additionally, automatic machines using sonicated hydrogen peroxide are especially effective against HPV-16 and HPV-18, two high-risk strains of HPV.