What are genital warts?

Genital warts are skin growths in the groin, genital, or anal areas. They can be different sizes and shapes. Some look like flat white patches, and others are bumpy, like tiny bunches of cauliflower. Sometimes you can't see the warts at all.

Genital warts are spread by skin-to-skin contact. The virus is usually spread through sexual activity. Genital warts are a common sexually transmitted disease (STD).

What causes genital warts?

Genital warts are caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Some types of HPV cause genital warts. But these are not the same types of HPV that cause abnormal cervical cell changes and cervical cancer.

You are more likely to get genital warts if you:

What are the symptoms?

Most people infected with the virus that causes genital warts don't have symptoms. But if they do, the symptoms may be so mild that they may not know they are infected. The symptoms may include pain, itching, and bleeding.

If you have symptoms, they will probably occur 2 to 3 months after infection. But you can have symptoms from 3 weeks to many years after infection.

Visible genital warts appear only during active infection. But it is possible to spread the virus even if you can't see the warts.

How are genital warts diagnosed?

A doctor can often tell if you have genital warts by looking closely at your genital and anal areas. He or she may ask you questions about your symptoms and your risk factors. Risk factors are things that make you more likely to get a disease.

Sometimes the doctor takes a sample of tissue from the wart for testing.

How are they treated?

Talk to your doctor about whether you should treat genital warts. They usually go away with no treatment, but they may also spread. Most people decide to treat them because of the symptoms or how the warts look. But if you don't have symptoms and are not worried about how the warts look, you can wait and see if the warts go away.

If you do decide to treat genital warts, talk to your doctor about the best treatment for you. There are prescription medicines you or your doctor can put on the warts. Or your doctor can remove them with lasers, surgery, or by freezing them off.