Can you get genital warts from non-sexual contact? It's possible but probably not common. For example, you could spread hand warts to your genital area by touch. And since HPV can be recovered from inanimate objects like tanning couches, underwear and sauna benches, it's possible to pick up the virus from these types of sources.
Genital warts show up as one or more painless fleshy growths.
· In girls -- Warts can pop up on the vulva, vaginal introitus (entrance), labia majora and minora, perineum (the skin between the vagina and anus), and anal area. They can also hide inside the vagina and on the cervix.
· In guys -- Warts can appear on the head and shaft of the penis, the scrotum, the pubic area, and the anal area.
Girls may be amazed to find out they have warts around their anus. "But I've never had anal sex!" they say. This happens because vaginal warts can easily spread to the anal area by normal genital touching. And, of course, having anal sex puts the receptive partner at risk for getting anal warts and the insertive partner at risk for getting penile warts.
A doctor can almost always diagnose genital warts by a simple examination. Sometimes a biopsy is done to make a diagnosis. In a biopsy, the entire bump, or a part of it, is removed under local anesthesia and sent to a lab for analysis.
The tricky thing about genital warts is that even if you don't have any bumps you may still be infected. That's not fair, but it's true. Those infections are silent, meaning your genital skin is infected but you don't know it.
Silent infections are all too common with STDs like genital warts, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and even herpes. That's why STDs are spread so easily -- you can give or get them and be none the wiser.
Am I at Risk for Getting Genital Warts?
You are if you have any sort of genital-to-genital contact with another person (guy-girl, girl-girl, guy-guy).
Life would be so simple if you could do just two things and eliminate your risk of getting genital warts or any STD:
