What Do Genital Warts Look Like
Unlike skin tags, warts have a pearly, bumpy appearance and are usually found in areas where there has been sexual contact, such as the:
- are small, some can be as large as a pencil eraser. Some people may develop a skin tag thats the size of a grape or even a fig.
- Skin tags develop rapidly, but they rarely continue to grow after the earliest stages of development.
- Its possible for a tag to change from flesh-colored to lighter brown, and then to darker brown. This color change is typical and usually isnt a cause for concern.
Skin tags are very common. They usually develop on your neck, under your armpits, or in between other folds of skin. They can also develop in your groin or on your genitalia.
Inverted Papilloma Of The Nose And Sinus
The so-called inverted papilloma is a benign growth on the mucous membrane of the nose or the paranasal sinus. It is usually noticeable because breathing is disturbed on one side of the nose, and a chronic runny nose often develops. It is not medically clear why a papilloma can develop in the nose. However, HPV is also a possible cause here.
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Appearance: Visually, the inverted papilloma resembles nasal polyps. Its wide and cauliflower-like.
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treatment: Papillomas of the nose or sinuses grow quickly. Even if the skin cell overgrowth is benign at first, the cells can degenerate and promote cancer. In addition, the surrounding bone tissue can be damaged by the rapid growth. For this reason, inverted papillomas are usually removed endoscopically through the nose. In many cases, however, the papillomas reappear and have to be removed again.
What Does Seborrheic Keratosis Look Like
Seborrheic keratoses are roundish or oval-shaped patches on the skin with a stuck on appearance. They are sometimes described as waxy or scaly. They are raised above the skin and even when they are flat you can feel them with your finger. They are usually brown, but can also be black or tan, and less often, pink, yellow or white. They often appear in numbers.
Seborrheic keratoses are characterized by keratin on the surface the same fibrous protein that fingernails, hooves, and horns are made of. This causes the textural details that often distinguish the growths. Sometimes it looks like small bubbles or cysts within the growth. Sometimes it looks scabby or wart-like. Sometimes it looks like the ridges and fissures in a brain.
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How Can I Help Prevent The Spread Of Genital Warts
- Keep the genital area clean and dry. You can use a hair dryer to help dry the area.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after touching the area with warts.
- Do not scratch the warts.
- Avoid sexual activity until the warts have completely healed.
- Use latex condoms during intercourse. Condoms can reduce your risk of getting genital warts, but warts can spread from areas not covered by a condom.
- Avoid having intercourse with multiple partners.
A vaccine is available to prevent types of HPV infections that are high risk for genital warts and cancer of the cervix. If you already have HPV, the vaccine will not cure your infection, but it will prevent infections with several other types of HPV.
The HPV vaccine is approved for boys, girls, men and women 9 to 26 years old. It is recommended for all girls 11 to 12 years old as part of their routine immunization schedule. It is given in 3 shots. The vaccine may protect against HPV for 5 years. Researchers are doing studies to see if a booster shot is needed after 5 years.
The vaccine is usually not given to pregnant women.
Developed by RelayHealth.Published by RelayHealth.This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information is intended to inform and educate and is not a replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.© 2018 RelayHealth and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
Removing Skin Tags Or Genital Warts

If you choose to completely remove genital skin tags or genital warts, your options are frequently the same. These treatments include:
- cryosurgery, which freezes off the warts with liquid nitrogen
- excision, which involves cutting the warts out manually or surgically
- electrocautery, which eliminates the warts with an electrical current
- trichloroacetic acid , which is applied topically and can be repeated weekly
It still isnt completely clear why or how skin tags develop, so theres often no way to prevent them from forming.
You can, however, try to prevent genital warts.
If youre sexually active, you can decrease your risk for HPV by using a condom or other barrier method. Its also important to disclose a history of genital warts to any sexual partner and avoid contact with new sexual partners until warts are successfully treated.
You can also get the HPV vaccine. The vaccine helps protect against the most common HPV strains, including strains that cause genital warts or increase your risk for cervical cancer.
Although the vaccine is primarily recommended for teens and young adults, you can still get the vaccine if youre over age 25. It may still have some protective benefit. Talk with your doctor to make an informed decision.
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When Should I See My Healthcare Provider About My Seborrheic Keratosis
For the most part, you dont have to worry about your seborrheic keratosis. However, you should see your healthcare provider if you notice:
- You have a new, unidentified growth.
- Its itching, irritated or bleeding.
- An old seborrheic keratosis changed its appearance.
- Many growths suddenly develop in a short period.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Seborrheic keratosis is nothing to worry about, but you should have it diagnosed just to make sure it isnt something else that could be more harmful. If you want to have it removed, there are a number of options available. Your healthcare provider can walk you through the pros and cons of each method and help you determine the best one for you, based on the nature and location of the growth. Seborrheic keratoses that are removed will not return, but you might get a new one somewhere else.
Electrocautery Curettage Or Both
In electrocautery, also known as electrosurgery, the surgeon uses an electric current to burn the growth, under a local anesthetic. In curettage, a curette a scoop-shaped surgical instrument is used to scrape off the burnt growth.
Some patients may require just electrocautery, some curettage, and others both.
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How Do You Tell Seborrheic Keratosis From Melanoma
Seborrheic keratosis doesn’t turn into melanoma, but the two can be mistaken for each other. Both can be brown or black and appear anywhere on the body. There are some important differences, however:
- Seborrheic keratoses often appear in numbers, while melanoma is usually single.
- Seborrheic keratoses tend to have texture, while melanoma tends to be smooth.
- Seborrheic keratoses are well-defined, while melanoma can have a ragged or blurry border.
- Seborrheic keratoses are uniform, while melanoma may be asymmetrical or have more than one color.
- Seborrheic keratoses change little and slowly, while melanoma can grow and change quickly.
How Long They Last
Over time, your body will often build up a resistance and fight warts off. But it may take months or as many as 2 years for them to disappear. In adults, warts often stick around even longer, perhaps several years or more. Some warts won’t ever go away. Doctors aren’t sure why some do and others don’t.
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Prevention Of Future Infection
Not having intercourse is the only 100% sure way to prevent genital warts, other sexually transmitted infections and HIV .
If you choose to have sex, you can do some things that might help prevent the spread of HPV and other STIs:
- Respect yourself and your partner.
- Limit the number of sexual partners.
- Know your partner and his or her sexual history.
- Always use a condom. Use it correctly. Use a condom every time you have sex.
- Be prepared. Have another condom ready in case the one you are using breaks.
- Avoid alcohol and other drugs. You cant make good choices if you are drunk or stoned.
- Be tested for STIs at least once a year, even if there are no symptoms. Females should have yearly Pap tests. Males should have yearly urine tests.
- Some STIs make it easier for HIV to enter the skin or mucous membranes. If you get more than one STI infection, you should be tested for HIV.
- There is a vaccine that may help protect against HPV. It is recommended that both boys and girls have the vaccine series at age 11.
What Is Seborrheic Keratosis
A seborrheic keratosis is a common benign skin growth, similar to a mole. Most people will have at least one in their lifetime. They tend to appear in mid-adulthood and their frequency increases with age. They are harmless and dont require treatment, but you can have them removed if they bother you.
Skin growths like seborrheic keratoses are sometimes also called epidermal tumors. That doesnt mean theyre cancer, though. Technically, moles and warts are also epidermal tumors. That just means they are clusters of extra cells on the epiderma, the outer layer of the skin. They arent considered a risk factor for skin cancer.
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How It Might Affect You
For some people, an ulcerating tumour is the most upsetting aspect of their cancer.
How the wound affects you will depend on where it is on your body. It can affect how you feel about yourself if its very visible, such as on your face.
A wound near a joint or armpit can affect how you move. It might also be painful or itchy.
A wound on or near the genitals or breasts might make you feel embarrassed. It can particularly be hard when a doctor or nurse is examining or treating you.
Ulcerating wounds can also smell unpleasant or leak. This can be very distressing.
A few people find having an ulcerating tumour so distressing that they deny it’s there. They feel the best way to deal with it is to ignore it. Sometimes people leave their wound so long that by the time they do see a doctor, it is more difficult to control.
But its possible to manage the symptoms of ulcerating wounds so that they are easier to live with.
See your doctor as soon as you notice any signs of an ulcerating tumour.
How Are They Treated

The main methods of treatment are:
- putting medicine on the warts
- surgically removing the warts
- freezing the warts with liquid nitrogen
- destroying the warts with a laser
- burning off the warts using a wire loop and electric current
- waiting to see if the warts go away on their own
You may need a local anesthetic to numb the area before some of these treatments.
If you have genital warts and plan to get pregnant, get treatment for the warts before you get pregnant. If you get genital warts while you are pregnant, it is rare for the HPV to affect the baby. However, warts tend to grow and you may get more of them during the pregnancy. Usually the warts are not treated until after you deliver your baby. A cesarean delivery will not have to be done to prevent spread to the baby. You may need to have a C-section, however, if your healthcare provider thinks the warts are so big that a vaginal delivery may cause too much bleeding. Rarely does the baby develop warts after the delivery.
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Is There An Over
Some over-the-counter topical treatments have shown promise for reducing seborrheic keratoses. Research is limited on these solutions. They take time and persistence to work and are not 100% effective. But they also have fewer side effects and little-to-no recovery time. They might be a practical option to try if you want to treat many growths at once. Options include:
- Tazarotene cream 0.1%.
- Alpha Hydroxy Acid products, including glycolic acid and salicylic acid peels.
- Vitamin D3 cream.
How You Feel About Yourself And Others
When you have an ulcerating tumour it might affect how you feel about yourself. Also, how you feel about being with other people.
You might feel that you have lost control over your body. This can, in turn, make you feel vulnerable.
Your outward appearance can play a big part in how you feel about social situations. You might be worried and embarrassed about other people noticing your wound. This could stop you wanting to go out or see people and can affect your quality of life.
Applying surgical dressings to your wound might help you to cope better. They can make wearing clothes more comfortable. By covering your wound it might also reduce any smell.
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How Can Hpv & Genital Warts Be Treated
In most cases, the HPV infection is self-limiting therefore no treatment is deemed necessary.
Unless an individual has issues with antibodies or a weak immune system in general, the body should be able to contain and eradicate the virus from the body in due time.If an individual has an impaired immune system or a weak immune response, a lingering infection or a co-infection with another sexually transmitted illness can occur.In cases of genital warts, the treatment options are largely dependent on the severity of the infection. The most common treatment options include creams and paint-on ointments. These induce a state of cell death so warts around the genital will eventually wither and fall off the skin.
Some patients may be offeredcryotherapywhere the wart is frozen then removed. The wart is frozen prior to that so that there will be no transmission of the wart after.Apart from the above surgical options for wart removal also exist. This is where a surgeon uses electrocautery or a scalpel and surgically excise warts. See: Genital Warts RemovalUnfortunately, the majority of genital wartsor other warts can recur very frequently and is rather common to have warts recur post removal. Sometimes, repeated treatments are required for complete remission, but patients should be aware of the recurrence rates in such an infection.
What Are The Symptoms
Genital warts are small, flesh-colored, grayish white or pinkish white growths. You may have many warts or just 1 wart. The warts usually appear as thin, flexible, solid bumps on the skin that look like small pieces of cauliflower. Some warts, however, are quite small and flat and may not be easily noticed.
You may have no other symptoms or you may also have:
- pain with intercourse
- increased vaginal discharge
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When To Visit A Doctor
If the following occur, a doctors opinion should be sought:
- a large number of growths grow in a short space of time
- the borders around the growths are irregular or blurred
- the growths are irritated by clothes and regularly bleed, removal may be an option
- growths or sores develop and do not heal
- if the growths are an unusual color for instance, purple, reddish-black, or blue
In most cases of seborrheic keratosis, no further treatment is necessary.
The doctor may recommend removing the growth if:
- it is hard to distinguish from skin cancer, or if the diagnosis is uncertain
- the patient does not like it, and wants it removed
- it causes problems, for example, itching or irritation with clothing or jewelry rubbing against it
If the dermatologist carries out a biopsy, they will normally remove the seborrheic keratosis at the same time.
There are several ways of removing seborrheic keratosis.
How Is Seborrheic Keratosis Treated
You should always have new skin growths clinically diagnosed to make sure they arent cancerous. Different kinds of skin growths can be hard to tell apart from each other. If your healthcare provider is in any doubt about your growth, they might want to remove it for biopsy.
If it is clearly a seborrheic keratosis, it wont require any treatment. But you might want to have it removed if it becomes itchy or irritated or you dont like the look of it. Your healthcare provider can remove it for you in the office using one of several common methods.
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How Long Will The Effects Last
Sometimes the warts may go away without treatment. They may, however, grow and form larger cauliflower-like clusters of warts.
Removal of the warts does not get rid of the virus, although the virus becomes dormant for varying lengths of times. Because you will still have the virus after treatment, other warts can grow. Recurrence can be treated using the same methods described above.
Certain types of HPV infection of the cervix can lead, in time, to cervical cancer in women. The HPV-6 and HPV-11 types of virus, which are the usual cause of genital warts, rarely lead to cancer and are called low-risk HPVs. High-risk types of HPVs cause growths that are usually flat and nearly invisible, as compared with the warts caused by types HPV-6 and HPV-11.
Hpv And Hpv Vaccination

Human Papilloma Virus is a group of virus that can cause:
- Vaginal Cancers
- Oropharyngeal Cancers
- Genital warts or Papillomas
HPV vaccinationis used to protect against HPV-related diseases and cancers.To complete the HPV vaccination, 3 doses of injections will be given. The recommended HPV vaccine schedules are:First dose: During your doctor visit.Second dose: 1 2 months after the first doseThird dose: 4-5 months after the second dose
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