Condylomas are specific growths on the surface of the skin. Their appearance is caused by the presence of the papilloma virus in the human body. Many people ask the question: can condylomas go away on their own? Answer: yes, in most cases of HPV infection, genital warts go away on their own within 2 years. But, even if the condylomas go away on their own, the virus remains in your body. In some cases, without treatment, condylomas grow into large cluster formations.
Rice. 1. Condylomas are caused by the papilloma virus
In what cases can condylomas go away on their own?
Without proper treatment, condylomas can go away on their own due to several reasons:
- the penetration of the virus into the human body stops, as a result of which its concentration in cells decreases;
- human immunity is restored as a result of therapy;
- the formation of condylomas can be seasonal, so they appear most often in autumn or spring when the body’s defenses decrease;
- after competent treatment of diseases such as chlamydia, genital herpes, gardnerellosis and others.
- normalization of vitamins and microelements in the body.
Rice. 2. Condylomas can go away on their own
Can HPV cause cancer?
Who is more likely to have cancer? Does cancer occur in men after HPV infection?
Oncologist Professor Lyubov Ivanovna Korolenkova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Head of the Gynecological Oncology Committee of RAGIN, (Moscow) tells
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is not cancer, but it can cause changes in the body that lead to cancer. HPV infection usually goes away on its own in most people who are infected. But when this does not happen, HPV remains in the body for a long time. Some types of cancer may then develop.
What types of cancer does HPV cause? These include primarily cervical cancer in women, penile cancer in men and anal cancer in women and men. HPV can also cause cancer in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils (called oropharyngeal cancer). All of these cancers caused by HPV infection do not go away on their own and lead to death without treatment.
How quickly does cancer occur after infection? Cancer develops very slowly and diagnosis may not be made until many years or even decades after the initial infection with the virus. Currently, there is no way to know who will have only a temporary HPV infection and who will develop warts or cancer after acquiring HPV.
HPV-associated cancer in men. Despite the fact that HPV is a very common infection in men, they develop genital cancer much less frequently than women. Some categories of men are at increased risk of developing malignant diseases.
Which men are more likely to have HPV-related cancer? • in men, as well as women, with a weak immune system (including HIV-infected people). With low immunity, the risk of malignancy increases. They are prone to more abundant growth of condylomas (genital warts) and to a more persistent recurrent course. • in men – homosexuals. This group has been shown to be more likely to develop anal cancer.
How do men become infected with HPV?
Dermatovenereologist-cosmetologist Professor Elena Valerievna Lipova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, President of COGIN (Moscow) tells
Anyone can become infected with papillomavirus. Let's talk about men. You can get HPV by having sex with someone who has it. This disease spreads easily during anal or vaginal sex. In addition, everyone should know that the infection can also be transmitted through oral sex or other close contact of the skin and mucous membranes during sex. HPV can be transmitted even if the infected person has no visible signs or symptoms.
If you are infected, will HPV necessarily cause health problems for you? Most HPV infections go away on their own and do not cause any health problems. However, sometimes the infection does not disappear and symptoms of HPV-associated disease develop over a period of time. This may occur months or years after infection. Therefore, it is always difficult for doctors to predict and know exactly when you became infected. Some types of HPV can cause genital warts, dysplasia, or cancer. Skin papillomas may also occur. Science does not know why some people develop these diseases from HPV and others do not.
What are the symptoms of HPV? When should you go to the doctor? Most men who acquire HPV through sexual contact never show symptoms. The infection usually goes away completely on its own without medication. However, if HPV does not go away and continues to persist in tissues, it can cause genital warts or some types of cancer. If you know you may have been exposed to HPV, you should see your doctor for a checkup. You should also seek immediate advice if you have anything new or unusual, such as warts, or unusual growths, lumps or sores on your penis, scrotum, anus, mouth or throat.
How do genital warts appear? Genital warts usually appear as a small bump or group of growths of skin or mucous membrane in the genital area around the penis and anus. These warts can be small or large, raised above the surface of the epithelium or completely flat. But more often they look like cockscombs or cauliflower. Warts may disappear on their own, remain unchanged, or grow in size or number. A doctor can usually diagnose warts simply by looking at them. The problem is that genital warts can return even after treatment. The types of HPV that cause warts do not usually cause cancer.
What does a woman need to know about protecting herself from cervical cancer?
Professor Natalya Vladimirovna Artymuk, obstetrician-gynecologist, chief gynecologist of the Ministry of Health for the Siberian region, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Kemerovo, tells the story.
Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the leading causes of death in young women; the average age of those killed is 45 years. In the 21st century, death from this disease seems absurd! However, 600 women die from cervical cancer every day worldwide.
Why can't cancer be cured? The problem is late detection of the disease. If the disease is diagnosed in its early stages, most women can be treated effectively. In the last decade, a negative trend has been noted, such as an increase in the number of patients with advanced stage IV uterine cancer. patients: 15.8% – uterine cancer in the initial stages; 39.5% – uterine cancer stages III–IV.
Cervical cancer is a completely preventable cause of death.
They say that when a woman dies of cervical cancer, someone else besides cancer is to blame for her death...
What is cervical cancer? This is a malignant neoplasm of the cervix. Unlike other forms of cancer, heredity does not play a special role here; this tumor is caused by certain types of human papillomavirus, or HPV; cervical cancer, vulvar and vaginal cancer are caused predominantly (in 70% of cases) by HPV subtypes 16 and 18. Genital papillomas are caused in 90% by HPV subtypes 6 and 11. It has been established that 8 out of 10 women will be infected with HPV during their lifetime. For most people, the body's defenses cope with the virus and remove it from the body. If this does not happen, then certain diseases arise.
If you are sexually active, you are at risk of contracting HPV.
Anyone, both men and women, can become infected with HPV. This virus is easily transmitted. Stage one HPV infection has no signs or symptoms.
How to protect yourself from cancer?
Primary prevention is the prevention of HPV infection. This requires the use of means that prevent infection, increased sexual culture and vaccination.
Secondary prevention is the early diagnosis (or screening) of benign cervical diseases and precancerous diseases (dysplasia or CIN).
Treatment
Mild cervical dysplasia transforms into cancer only after 5 or more years, so timely diagnosis and correct treatment 100% avoid the development of the oncological process. At present, there are methods of gentle treatment of cervical diseases that make it possible to completely eliminate the pathological process painlessly on an outpatient basis. A prerequisite for surgical treatment of cervical diseases is a biopsy of the cervix followed by histological examination.
What else do you need to know about condylomas?
In the case when condylomas go away on their own, we can conclude that the body was able to destroy the virus on its own. This phenomenon can occur in young and physically strong people. Skin formations can also disappear after a person has suffered severe stress. Unfortunately, in some patients, condylomas not only do not go away, but, on the contrary, grow with renewed vigor. This process is directly influenced by the state of the human immune system. Therefore, you should not hope for the spontaneous disappearance of condylomas. If you have the slightest suspicion of their presence, you should immediately consult a doctor.
What is HPV?
What diseases does the virus cause? Is it dangerous for men? Women? Children?
Gynecologist Professor Svetlana Ivanovna Rogovskaya, Doctor of Medical Sciences, President of RAGIN, representative of the International HPV Center, tells the story.
HPV - human papillomavirus - is a very common virus in the world. HPV can be passed from one person to another through vaginal, anal or oral sex. It is also transmitted through other skin-to-skin or mucous-to-mucous contact during sex or other activity. It is estimated that 79 million Americans, most in their late teens and early 20s, are infected with HPV.
Who gets infected with HPV? Almost all sexually active people who have not been vaccinated against HPV are at risk of becoming infected with human papillomavirus at some point in their lives. It is important to understand that becoming infected with HPV is not the same as being infected with HIV or the herpes virus. Here are other features you need to know!
Activation of the immune system
Can papillomas disappear on their own for no apparent reason? This often occurs when the immune system is activated. Let's assume that the patient has changed his lifestyle: he began to eat right, gave up bad habits, and regularly takes vitamins. This leads to normalization of the immune system, and in some cases, to the disappearance of warts.
Papillomas may disappear after a course of therapy with immunomodulators. These drugs do not affect the activity of the HPV virus, but they strengthen the body's defenses. Sometimes this treatment is enough, and the warts disappear on their own.
Papillomas in the mouth and throat
Can papillomas in the mouth disappear on their own? On the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, both ordinary flat warts and genital warts are observed. Not all rashes go away on their own.
In any case, you should not wait for papillomas in the mouth to go away on their own. After all, they can be very easily injured while eating. And this is fraught with malignant degeneration of tumors. Therefore, papillomas in the oral cavity need to be treated and, if necessary, removed.
Can papillomas in the throat disappear on their own? Patients often ask otolaryngologists this question. There are cases when rashes on the tonsils and throat disappear on their own. However, you should not count on such an outcome. Papillomas in the throat cause severe discomfort to the patient when breathing and swallowing. In addition, they often degenerate into malignant tumors. Therefore, in this case, you cannot delay treatment.
Is treatment necessary?
Do small warts need treatment? Or is it better to wait until they disappear on their own? You should not hope for self-healing. In mature patients, papillomas very rarely disappear without treatment.
It is necessary to visit a dermatologist and undergo diagnostics. This is especially necessary if papillomas on the skin and mucous membranes form systematically. After all, such a symptom indicates the presence of HPV in the body. Laboratory diagnostics will help determine the strain of the virus and its oncogenicity.
Genital condylomatosis
Can papillomas disappear on their own in intimate places without treatment? As already mentioned, genital warts usually form on the genitals. Such rashes cannot disappear on their own. They are subject to mandatory therapy. It is important to remember that genital warts are often formed when infected with oncogenic types of HPV. Therefore, there is no way to do without treatment.
Often patients seek to avoid removal of condylomas. Can papillomas disappear on their own in intimate places after treatment with medications? Taking antiviral drugs and immunomodulators leads to the disappearance of growths on the mucous membrane only in mild cases. With extensive and confluent rashes, it is impossible to manage only with conservative methods of treatment. Nowadays, there are many low-traumatic and painless ways to remove papillomas. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of such a procedure.
During pregnancy
Can papillomas disappear on their own during pregnancy? During pregnancy, both the appearance and sudden disappearance of warts may occur. This is due to hormonal changes in a woman’s body. But this only applies to simple warts on the skin.
Patients often ask whether papillomas in intimate places can disappear during pregnancy. On the mucous membrane of the genital organs, it is not ordinary warts that form, but genital warts. Such neoplasms never disappear on their own. It is urgent to undergo a course of treatment. Condylomatosis in an expectant mother can negatively affect the development of the fetus. There is also a high risk of infection for the baby during childbirth.
What to do with the screening results?
- If during a visit to the gynecologist you do not find any changes in the cervix, the cytological smear is normal and additional testing does not reveal papillomavirus, plan your next visit to the doctor in a year.
- If, during an examination with an unchanged cervix and normal cytology, as a result of testing, you were diagnosed with HPV, a repeat examination with cytology and analysis for the virus is necessary after 6 months. There is no need for treatment.
- If there is a combination of HPV carriage and moderate cytological changes, a colposcopy is performed; if it is satisfactory, the next similar examination is carried out after 6 months. If, during colposcopy, the diagnosis of dysplasia is confirmed, or the picture is unclear, then a biopsy is performed to confirm and clarify the severity of the lesion.
- If the detection of papillomavirus is combined with mild cervical dysplasia, and you have not given birth, observation for 6 months is possible! If there are no positive changes during this time, surgical treatment is necessary.
- The combination of HPV carriage with moderate or severe dysplasia requires surgical treatment without waiting.
- The combination of HPV carriage with mild and moderate dysplasia in pregnant women and adolescents requires observation, and local use of interferon preparations is possible. The risk of progression of the process in a pregnant woman even over 9 months is very small, but often there is a decrease in severity or even
**ISIDA recommends the Cervical Health prevention program, which includes:**
- primary consultation with an obstetrician-gynecologist;
- colposcopy;
- examination for chlamydia, herpes virus (type I, II);
- microcultural diagnostics of mycoplasma and ureaplasma with determination of sensitivity to antibiotics;
- bacteriological examination of urogenital secretions;
- repeated consultation with an obstetrician-gynecologist;
- PAP test;
- examination for human papillomavirus with genotyping;
- bacterioscopic examination of urogenital secretions.
And finally, the most dangerous manifestation of HPV:
- flat condyloma of the cervix. If all other forms are a manifestation of an acute process or an exacerbation of a chronic one, then flat condyloma is a manifestation of a long-term process that has caused a change in the epithelial cells of the cervix. Flat condyloma of the cervix can eventually lead to cervical cancer. But even in the presence of cell changes, condyloma flata is a viral disease and can be amenable to conservative antiviral treatment.
In children and adolescents
Can papillomas disappear on their own in a child? In childhood, simple and vulgar warts are most common. They can go away on their own during puberty. Teenagers experience serious hormonal changes in the body. This can lead to the disappearance of papillomas.
However, hormonal changes can also trigger the appearance of warts. Simple papillomas in adolescence are not a pathology. During puberty, such neoplasms may appear and disappear. Children's warts finally disappear in adolescence, when hormonal levels stabilize.
Other reasons
However, there are also quite dangerous reasons for the disappearance of papillomas. Sometimes a person accidentally picks off a wart and does not notice it. It seems to him that the growth disappeared on its own, but in fact the papilloma was traumatized. In this case, a bleeding wound forms at the site of the rash.
It is important to remember that traumatizing warts is very dangerous. This can provoke malignant degeneration of papilloma cells. There is also a risk of infection in the wound. It is necessary to treat the damaged area with an antiseptic, apply a bactericidal adhesive plaster on top and consult a dermatologist.
Sometimes patients notice that a red formation has appeared next to the usual papilloma. Soon after this, the simple wart disappears, and a new rash remains on the skin.
This means that the patient has a benign vascular tumor - a hemangioma. It looks like a red or purple growth on the skin. The adjacent wart begins to darken and gradually dies. This occurs due to the fact that the hemangioma takes a lot of blood, and the nutrition of the tissues in the papilloma stops.
