Can i still have sex with my girlfriend when we both have HPV?

i know that my immune system will clear it up in a few years but once the warts are gone can we continue to have unprotected sex since she's on the pill and it will eventually leave both our bodies or will we continue to give it back and forth and it'll never go away?

You and your partner will not ping pong the virus back and forth. You both share your virus type...

It may take some time for your body to build its natural antibodies to the virus...but thus far we don't know that the virus leaves the body. We do know that HPV can reactivate years after initial infection.

Sex does create micro-trauma where the virus can enter tissue..your own virus can cause an auto-inculcation of the virus. Condoms don't prevent the transmission of the virus...however condoms do seem to help in the regression.


Should you stop having sex with your partner if she finds out?
There is no need to stop having sexual contact with your partner if she is tested for the virus and finds out she has HPV. The virus is commonly exchanged between sexual partners, and by the time HPV is detected, it most likely already has been shared between the two of you. And, once a particular type of the virus has been exchanged, there is little risk of a "ping-pong" effect 鈥?in which you and your partner keep re-infecting each other with the same type. (In other words, you don't need to worry about passing the same type of HPV back and forth.) However, if you become sexually involved with a different partner, you may pass any types of HPV that are "active" in your body to her, and vice versa.

Remember: HPV is not a sign that you or your partner has been unfaithful. HPV can be "silent" for many years before it is detected by a test. Your partner may have had the HPV virus for a long time, and there is no way to know when or from whom she got it.




What should you do if you have genital warts? Should you stop having sex?
There is a risk of spreading the HPV infection that caused the warts to your partner if you have direct genital contact while the warts are present. Using a condom may reduce that risk.




What can you do to protect yourself, and your partner?

Because HPV is so common, it is difficult to avoid it altogether. It is reasonable to expect that you will get HPV at some time during your life. Sexual contact with just one partner can be enough to get or spread the virus.

However, you can minimize any risks for you, and your partner, by:

Limiting your number of sexual partners, and choosing partners who do the same.
Wearing a condom when not in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship. [Condoms protect against most sexually transmitted infections, including HPV. However, they do not provide complete protection against HPV, since they do not cover all genital skin.]
Avoiding sexual contact with a new partner when genital warts are visible.
Encouraging your wife or girlfriend to be screened regularly with a Pap test and (if she is age 30 or older) an HPV test.
www.thehpvtest.com/men

HPV will never leave your body. When it is said that your immune system can clear it up, that is referring to the symptoms (warts) not the virus HPV.

So yes, even if you are showing no symptoms after a few years you *can* still pass the virus during sex. Condoms reduce the risk, not eliminate it. Even with condom use, there is still skin to skin contact that can pass the virus.

Since you are both infected, yes you will continue to just pass the virus back and forth.

No, you can't re-infect each other with the same strains of HPV. It's like the chicken pox. You get it once, and that's it.

You could get a new strain that would cause issues. Or this strain could reactivate and cause more warts. That is unlikely.

You should really ask your doctor about that, if you're both treating it I don't see why it would be a problem, but if one or neither of you are treating it then I'd think you'll just play ping pong with it indefinitely