To understand how best to prevent contracting HPV, we should, of course, look at how HPV is spread, first and foremost. Here are some basic facts about HPV.
Common Warts
The old wives tale of getting hand warts from frogs is, well, it’s crazy talk. Toads and frogs won’t give you HPV. However, HPV can be spread quite easily if you don’t wash your hands regularly. Doorknobs, guard rails, even bar tops, anywhere hands meet surfaces is a potential carrier of HPV.
If you simply practice hygienic measures, you can seriously reduce the risk of catching common warts. Wash your hands, clean your doorknobs now and then, clean your countertops with disinfectant, and don’t swap socks and gloves with strangers.
There’s no 100% guarantee against catching HPV, but you can at least cut down on the risk tremendously.
Plantar Warts
One of the most common ways plantar warts are spread is through communal showers or walking around barefoot. HPV can survive on even flat dry surfaces for awhile, thanks to their protein shells, but they’re much easier to transmit on wet surfaces.
You probably don’t have anything to worry about if you have no cuts or abrasions on your feet, as the soles of your feet are pretty thick, and plantar warts generally need a break in the skin before they can sneak in and set up shop.
The best way to prevent plantar warts is to, well, just stay away from communal showers if at all possible, and don’t go outside without shoes on. Practice sanitary measures, use those tacky rubber shower slippers if you share a locker room at the gym, and don’t worry if people think you’re an eccentric because you spray the locker room shower floor down with disinfectant every time you need to bathe.
Genital Warts
As most of us know, genital warts are a sexually transmitted disease, spread through direct sexual context. It’s not very likely that you’re going to get HPV transmission through a toilet seat or anything like that.
The best way to prevent genital warts is, of course, by safe sex practices. This means knowing your partner’s sexual history, letting them know yours, and using condoms as long as there persists the slightest uncertainty.
Okay, many readers are now probably saying “Well I’m sure we’re safe, so to heck with condoms!” but it’s not so easy!
HPV can lay dormant in an infected person for several years. In fact, some people may contract genital HPV and never know it, because no outward signs of the virus are present. Yes, you can have genital HPV your entire life and never get a single wart. There is no way of telling for sure and being one hundred percent certain that a person does not have genital HPV without HPV testing being conducted.
It should be noted that even with condoms, there is no one hundred percent guarantee that HPV cannot be transmitted, not even counting the possibility of defective condoms. This is because HPV breakouts can occur on the scrotum or anus, and other areas not protected by the condom. Spermicides don’t exactly have a perfect record when it comes to killing HPV, either.
There is no one hundred percent guaranteed way to prevent transmitting HPV, so it’s imperative that you get tested if there’s any doubt at all in your mind, and that you practice safe sex without exceptions.
An Ounce of Prevention…
As of the time of this writing, there is no way of curing HPV. There are ways to get rid of warts, but there’s no way to cure HPV. Someday, we might cure HPV, but for now, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of, well, you know.
HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV. We are dedicated to helping you. For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV Treatments.
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