Caused by HPV, harmless in themselves, and treatable in several ways.
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Genital warts are small growths on the genital or anal skin caused by human papillomavirus — HPV. They are one of the commonest sexually transmitted infections, and they are harmless in themselves.
Three things matter more than anything else on this page.
1. The HPV types that cause warts are not the ones that cause cancer. Warts come from types 6 and 11. Cervical and other HPV-related cancers come from different high-risk types, principally 16 and 18. Having genital warts does not mean you are at increased risk of cancer, and it does not change your cervical screening schedule. This is the fear most people arrive with, and the reassurance is genuine.
2. Warts can appear months or years after infection. The virus can sit dormant for a long time before anything is visible. Their appearance is not evidence of recent infidelity, and a great deal of unnecessary damage is done by assuming otherwise — in either direction.
3. Never use over-the-counter wart or verruca remedies on genital skin. Salicylic acid preparations sold for hands and feet will burn genital and anal skin badly. Genital warts need their own specific treatments.
One piece of good news worth knowing: HPV vaccination protects against types 6 and 11, and genital warts have fallen dramatically in vaccinated age groups.
Usually none at all beyond their appearance. Some people get:
HPV types 6 and 11 cause around nine in ten genital warts. These are low-risk types — they do not cause cancer.
HPV is extremely common: most sexually active people are infected at some point, and the great majority clear the virus themselves within about two years without ever knowing they had it. Only a minority develop visible warts.
Condoms reduce transmission but do not eliminate it, because they do not cover all the skin involved.
The gap between infection and visible warts is typically weeks to months, and can be years. Warts appearing in a long relationship are not evidence that anything has happened recently. This is the single most useful thing to know before a difficult conversation starts, and it is worth raising rather than letting an assumption take hold.
The HPV vaccine used in the UK protects against types 6 and 11 as well as the high-risk cancer-causing types. It has been offered to girls since 2008 and boys since 2019, and genital warts have fallen substantially in those age groups. It works best before exposure, and is available privately for adults who missed it — worth discussing, though it does not treat warts you already have.
Genital warts are diagnosed by their appearance. This is one area where a remote consultation has real limits, and we would rather say so than guess.
There is no useful blood test for HPV, and routine HPV typing is not done for warts — it would not change anything. Cervical screening tests for high-risk HPV types, which are a different question entirely.
NHS sexual health clinics are free, confidential, and better set up for this — they can examine you properly and offer cryotherapy on the spot, which we cannot. If you can get to one, that is generally the better route, and we will say so.
Treatment removes the visible warts. It does not clear the virus, which is why recurrence is common in the first few months — and knowing that in advance prevents a lot of disappointment.
Around a third of genital warts disappear on their own within six months as the immune system clears the virus. If they are not bothering you, waiting is entirely reasonable.
Both need applying accurately to the wart itself; protecting surrounding skin with petroleum jelly helps considerably.
Cryotherapy (freezing) is the usual choice, often over several sessions, and it is what sexual health clinics do well. Excision, electrocautery and laser are used for larger or resistant warts. We refer rather than pretending we can do this remotely.
Warts often grow during pregnancy and frequently shrink again afterwards. Podophyllotoxin and imiquimod are not used. Cryotherapy or trichloroacetic acid are the options, and treatment is often deferred. Transmission to the baby is rare, and warts alone are not a reason for caesarean delivery.
Genital warts are not an emergency. Seek urgent medical attention for:
Seek prompt assessment for:
Book a routine consultation for:
Never use shop-bought wart or verruca treatments on genital or anal skin. The salicylic acid preparations sold for hands and feet are far too harsh for this skin and cause genuine chemical burns. It is a common and painful error, and it is worth stating plainly.
Do not try to cut, burn, pick or freeze warts yourself.
There is no formal partner notification requirement for genital warts, unlike chlamydia. Current partners have very likely been exposed already, and most will never develop warts. Past partners do not need contacting.
Do not treat their appearance as evidence about a relationship. HPV can lie dormant for years, and warts appearing now may reflect an exposure long predating your current partner — in either direction.
Having genital warts does not change your screening schedule and does not cause abnormal smears. Continue with routine screening as invited — no more often, and no less.
Worth saying directly: for most people the hardest part of genital warts is how they feel about them, not what they do. They are extremely common, they are not dangerous, they do not cause cancer, and they are treatable. That is the whole of it medically — the rest is a stigma the condition does not deserve.
NHS sexual health clinics treat genital warts free, and they have what a remote service does not: cryotherapy and other physical treatments, done on the spot. That is the right route for anything beyond a small number of soft warts, and we would refer rather than prescribe repeatedly.
The most valuable thing here is prevention, and it is free. The HPV vaccine is given free on the NHS to school-age children of both sexes, and to eligible groups up to age 25, and it protects against the HPV types causing the great majority of genital warts as well as cervical and other cancers. Uptake is what determines whether this condition largely disappears in the UK.
Where a private consultation is useful is a prompt diagnosis from photographs, prescribing topical treatment such as imiquimod or podophyllotoxin for suitable cases, and discussing what warts actually mean.
The reassurance that matters: the HPV types causing visible warts are low-risk and are not the types that cause cervical cancer. Warts do not mean an increased cancer risk, and that misunderstanding causes a great deal of unnecessary fear.
Treatment takes weeks to months, recurrence is common, and treating warts does not eliminate the virus — which is worth knowing at the outset rather than discovering.
Warts do not change cervical screening intervals, and screening should continue as normal.
BASHH UK national guideline on the management of anogenital warts is the principal reference. It covers topical treatments — podophyllotoxin and imiquimod — and physical ablative methods including cryotherapy, with choice guided by wart morphology, number and site.
BASHH notes that no treatment eradicates HPV infection, that recurrence is common, and that spontaneous resolution occurs — so observation is a reasonable option.
BASHH is explicit that anogenital warts are caused predominantly by HPV types 6 and 11, which are low-risk types not associated with cervical cancer — the basis for the reassurance above.
UKHSA Green Book chapter 18a sets out the HPV immunisation programme, which uses a vaccine covering types 6 and 11 alongside high-risk types.
BASHH advises that the presence of warts does not alter cervical screening recommendations, and NHSCSP guidance confirms screening intervals are unchanged.
No. Genital warts are caused by HPV types 6 and 11, which are low-risk types that do not cause cancer. The types associated with cervical and other cancers — principally 16 and 18 — are different, and they do not cause warts. Having warts does not raise your cancer risk and does not change your cervical screening schedule.
No, and it is worth pausing before that conversation. HPV can remain dormant for months or years before warts appear, so their arrival now tells you nothing reliable about when the infection was acquired — it may well predate the relationship entirely. This assumption causes a great deal of avoidable harm.
Absolutely not. Salicylic acid treatments sold for hands and feet will cause chemical burns on genital and anal skin. Genital warts need their own treatments — podophyllotoxin or imiquimod on prescription, or cryotherapy at a clinic.
Often, at least at first — treatment removes the visible warts but does not clear the virus. Recurrence in the first few months is common and does not mean the treatment failed or that you have been reinfected. Over time most people's immune systems clear the virus and the warts stop returning.
There is no formal notification requirement, unlike chlamydia. Your current partner has almost certainly been exposed already and most likely will never develop warts; past partners do not need contacting. Telling a current partner is a matter of what feels right rather than a medical obligation.
Not necessarily. Around a third clear on their own within six months. If they are not bothering you, waiting is a perfectly reasonable choice. Treatment is for comfort and for how you feel about them, not for safety.
It will not treat warts you already have, but it protects against the other types — including the high-risk cancer-causing ones — and against reinfection with types 6 and 11. It is worth discussing, particularly if you were not offered it at school. Rates of genital warts have fallen sharply in vaccinated age groups.
Yes, exactly as normal. Genital warts do not cause abnormal smear results and do not change your screening interval. Attend when invited — no more often, and certainly no less.
August 23, 2026
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