Genital warts are actually a localized viral infection of the skin, which forms a little tumor. The genital wart bumps often have the common body cells along with the wart virus or the human papilloma virus. Genital warts can affect both, men and women. In the genital area, the genital warts would generally appear:

o    Inside and outside the vagina

o    On the penis shaft or tip

o    Near the anus

If you want to avoid genital warts, you will have to refrain from any kind of sexual activity with a person who has genital warts. If you feel that condoms and other contraceptives can give you the necessary protection from genital warts, then you are completely mistaken. The condoms and other contraceptives do not cover the penis completely and so do not offer complete protection from the human papilloma virus that causes the genital warts.

When you have decided for the treatment of the genital warts, you will have to consider few things. First, you will have to consider the side effects of the treatment. Second, you will have to consider the size, location, and the total number of the genital warts. Third, you will have to see the qualification, skills and the experience of the doctor who is about to treat you. Fourth, you will have to see the cost of the genital warts treatment, which will often include the cost of the medications.

If you are a lactating mother or if you are pregnant, you must tell the health care professional or the doctor who is treating you for the genital warts. Some of the medications which are prescribed by the doctors may have adverse effects on the body of the mother and the fetus or baby. People often get confused between the genital warts and the pimples. During the visual examination, the doctor will want to be entirely sure that the bumps are genital warts and not pimples.

For the confirmation of the presence of the genital warts, the doctor may ask for some additional tests. After the results, if you test positive for the HPV infection, then the doctor will give you the genital warts medication. After taking the genital warts medication for few weeks to months, the doctor may call you to his or her clinic to check the progress of the medications. People who are not aware of the virus that causes the genital warts think that genital warts are caused by bacteria.

Such people may try antibiotics, which is a very bad idea for genital wart removal. Often if the genital warts are not responding to the genital warts medication, the doctor may try the Podophyllin resin method. This is one of the most frequently used treatment methods for the removal of genital warts. Podophyllin resin is a brown colored liquid and is spread over the genital wart for not more than four hours. After four hours, the Podophyllin resin is washed off from the surface of the skin.

Most of the times, the doctors will administer the Podophyllin resin and keep a close watch on the timing. If you keep the Podophyllin resin for more than four hours on the skin, you will find that the region where you had applied the Podophyllin resin will become very itchy. If you have applied the Podophyllin resin accidentally to some other parts of the body that does not have the genital warts, you will have to wash that area thoroughly.

Although there is no permanent cure for genital warts, there is a vaccine that was developed in the United States of America few years ago. The name of the vaccine is called Gardasil. Before you take this vaccine, the doctor must be contacted immediately and only after the consent of the doctor, the vaccine must be taken.

The Gardasil vaccine is administered to girls and ladies who fall within the age group of 9 to 26 years. The Gardasil vaccine is administered in three doses. There are two major disadvantages of the Gardasil vaccine. First, this vaccine cannot give you protection from all the strains of HPV. Second, if you are already infected by the HPV, there is no way that the Gardasil vaccine can protect you from it.