Ask Me Help Desk - Worth paying £160 to get a HPV Test

Worth paying £160 to get a HPV Test

Hi there I hope you can help, I have been to the doctor this morning and he has confirmed that I have Genital Warts but I have been with one sexual partner for 10 years so find it hard to believe that it is HPV as I have the wart could it be anything else and do you think it is worth me paying £160 to have a swab test carried out to determine? I have been very stressed at work lately and wondered if this had anything to to with it as my immune system is low, Plaease help

Get the test... otherwise you are never going to know for certain.

But can it be anything other??

Unlikely... you can have HPV a very long time without any visible symptoms... some people never have them.

So it's a waste to spend the £160 to find out then when the chances are it is HPV should I just do the treatment instead and see how that works?

I'm someone that believes in knowing things for certain when possible... and that's not a HUGE amount of money to put that question to rest.

Not knowing for sure would bother me. But its your choice.

Your stress and diagnosis is more important than $160 so go ahead for the test. Best wishes.

I'm in the US, where testing is about 4 times less than that, around 75 US dollars. And there are free or sliding scale clinics. Ask around for a cheaper price.
You might be run down in many ways due to stress, so I hope you have had a standard blood panel and a thorough physical, including teeth, ears, eyes, and attention to how good your nutrition is.

Thanks for the comments I am really worried about this and am beginning to imagine all sorts of things like why I haven't been able to get over the cold for the past few months could it be worse than HPV? And even if it is HPV and the warts clear will I ever be able to have unprotected sex with my partner again, also if I touch my wart on my penis and then touch anyone else or anywhere else on my body could the warts spread to there? I just feel sick about this now:-(

Now stop it. There's nothing more self-destructive than needless worry. Dust off your Google search bar and start reading about each kind of the HPV and any and all STDs. (It's even possible to have the virus that we get around the mouth on the genitals instead, although rare.) Get some podofilox topical and apply it carefully to each wart.
Countless people get warts, although many have HPV with no visible sign, even for years, so that may explain why you are getting signs now.

You spread it by sexual contact of penis to vagina, anus, or mouth, not by touching.

Ok test results back today all negative for HPV so what could it be? Skin Tags? Huge weight off my mind but still surious to know what it is

Could be... skin tags tend to be softer... warts tend to be harder and rougher (at least from my own experience)... which describes them better?

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothy

Could be....skin tags tend to be softer...warts tend to be harder and rougher (at least from my own experience)....which describes them better?

Both soft but with a rough bit on one, but if the tests were negative then what could be the cause?

Quote:

Originally Posted by b2zero

both soft but with a rough bit on one, but if the tests were negative then what could be the cause??

Sounds like it... I have a couple skin tags... and have had a few warts that have come and eventually dissappaeard over my life... the warts were always pretty stiff and like a callous... where the skin tags are very unlike that... (doctor called them skin tags)

Not sure what your options are in the UK... or what it would cost there... but skin tags can be burned off with a laser for not a whole lot of money... if you only have a couple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothy

Sounds like it....I have a couple skin tags....and have had a few warts that have come and eventually dissappaeard over my life...the warts were always pretty stiff and like a callous....where the skin tags are very unlike that...(doctor called them skin tags)

Not sure what your options are int he UK...or what it would cost there...but skin tags can be burned off with a laser for not a whole lot of money...if you only have a couple.

Smoothy thanks for your comments, you said that you have had warts that have come and gone were they also not HPV related? I can get the warts burned off for around £40 so will get that done but I am curious to know why now inmy life would I start to get these, the internet only points to warts in the genital area being HPV related?

Quote:

Originally Posted by b2zero

Smoothy thanks for your comments, you said that you have had warts that have come and gone were they also not HPV related?? I can get the warts burned off for around £40 so will get that done but I am curious to know why now inmy life would I start to get these, the internet only points to warts in the genital area being HPV related??

From what I have learned on skin tags... its the luck of the draw... I had a wart or two someplace a big part of my life the oldest remember being when I was around 8 or 9 years of age... every few years one would go away and some time later another would pop up sometplace else... few years later it dissappeared to... haven't had any real warts in a number of years... but I did get a few skin tags the last few years... (I'm 51 now) never had a single skin tag before that.

40 pound sterling is a really good price each... I thiink I remember them telling me about $140 each. But that's Laser... not a hot knife type burning.

I haven't had it done yet because only my wife or someone at the beach would ever see them.