Member Stories

HPV - Not Just For Women07.14.10 - SADD (Seattlelite Against Disease and Deception)

HPV. Forget all the medical mumbo jumbo - it's warts and they suck. All you hear about is women getting them. Cervical cancer, get your daughters vaccinated for the virus. But another part of it you don't hear about is men getting them. Fortunately I haven't had the warts on my man parts, although I've heard of men who had. Not only would that be embarrassing but really painful. I've had them on my, well, I'll just say it, anus. They are extremely painful and even more painful to get rid of. Here's a quick little story of how it happened.

One day I noticed that my butt was itching - in that certain area. I gave it up to hemorrhoids, got some cream and waited. However when putting the cream on I felt bumps. I didn't pay any attention because honestly who spends time touching their anus to see what it feels like? Well the itching got worse and worse. Eventually one day it began to bleed from wiping after going to the bathroom. I went to Harborview STD Clinic and had it checked out. The news was weird to hear - you have anal warts. What the heck are anal warts? How did I get them? I'd recently broken up with a boyfriend of one year and was starting to date another guy. I'd always been safe - condoms and all. The doctor told me I had HPV. She explained that the kind of warts I had were pretty normal - 80% of the sexually active population has them. However they can cause major problems if not taken care of - cancers, sterility and more. I was shocked. The doctor put me at ease and then said here comes the fun part. She brought out a canister of nitrous and said alright, bend over and we'll burn them off. BURN them off??? Yes. Burn. It was incredibly painful and extremely embarrassing. Nothing like having a doctor's face right in your butt burning warts off your anus.

It's been 7 years now and I haven't had another outbreak. Thank goodness. Although, every time it itches down there I get nervous. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back to the STD clinic and they've always told me - you're fine, you have hemorrhoids, quit worrying. But let me tell you - after you've had them burned off, you do not want them again. Unfortunately there's no testing for them. They don't show up on any screening for STD tests. The only way to know if you have them is to feel down there, or go to the doctor every time you are itching and think you might have them.

All I can say is - ALWAYS wear a condom. You do not want to have to go through all of the pain and embarrassment that anal warts and HPV causes. If you're gay - you don't want to pass them onto a partner. If you're straight - you definitely don't want to give them to your girlfriend/wife. Passing it onto women is worse because they can get cervical cancer among other things. So, be safe, be clean and be smart. There's no other way to put it - you don't want them. Besides - it takes a couple seconds to put a condom on. It takes a life time to deal with HPV.

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