Oral warts; Oral treatment and methods of HPV transmission

Symptoms of genital warts in the mouth

Oral warts are usually not associated with specific symptoms. This means that infected people are not aware of the virus in their body and do not do anything to eliminate it; As a result, if the person’s body has a low immune system, the infection spreads in his body. Also, in some people, genital warts appear in the mouth and throat. In these cases, it is possible that a person will get oral cancer. The growth of cancer cells in the throat can also lead to cancer of the pharynx, tonsils, and tongue. Cancer cells grow due to the long-term survival of HPV virus cells. If a person has any of these cancers, he will experience the following symptoms:

• Hoarseness
• Persistent sore throat
• Coughing up blood
• Difficulty swallowing
• Persistent earache
• Unreasonable weight loss
• Enlarged lymph nodes
• Formation of lumps on the cheeks
• The growth of raised lumps on the neck

If you experience any of these symptoms and suspect that you have oral HPV, see a doctor immediately.

The cause of oral warts

Usually, people are caught by this virus for two reasons. As mentioned earlier, some people get this virus through sexual intercourse, and others may absorb HPV cells due to a small scratch in their mouth during deep kissing. Research on how HPV is transmitted through the mouth is still ongoing.

Oral HPV risk factors

The dangerous cases of oral warts and HPV in the mouth include the following:

Multiple sexual partners

Having sex with multiple people will increase the risk of contracting this virus. Having more than 20 sexual partners during the period of sexual activity increases a person’s percentage of oral and dental HPV infection significantly.

Oral sex

According to medical research, increased oral sex activity increases the risk of contracting this virus.

Smoking

According to statistics, it is known that smoking contributes to the promotion of HPV. Swallowing cigarette smoke makes the oral mucosa vulnerable, and this is one of the risk factors for developing oral cancer.

Drinking alcohol

Excessive drinking of alcohol increases the risk of HPV infection in men.

Being male

Statistics have shown that men are more at risk of contracting HPV and oral warts than women.

Age

Age is one of the risk factors for oral and dental cancer. Because it may take years for a person to get cancer.

Diagnosis

Although a specific test for detecting oral HPV has not yet been registered, a dentist or doctor can detect it physically by using a checkup and sampling or a biopsy. It is also recommended to get an HPV test every once in a while for sexually active men and women.

Prevention

Most medical organizations do not recommend the use of drugs to prevent HPV and oral warts. Rather, they consider the best way to prevent it to be the right lifestyle. In the following, we will review the prevention tips:

• Preventing sexually transmitted diseases by having a safe relationship through the use of condoms.
• Limit sexual partners.
• Talk to your partner without embarrassment and find out when he was last tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
• If you are also sexually active, you should test frequently.
• If you decide to get into a relationship with someone, do not have oral sex until you are sure of them.
• Use a dental dam or condom during oral sex.
• During regular dental checkups, ask your doctor to thoroughly check the inside of your mouth to determine if there is anything abnormal.
• Be sure to get the HPV vaccine before having any relationship.

How can you prevent HPV by injecting the vaccine?

Like other vaccinations that protect against viral infections, the HPV and Gardasil vaccines stimulate the body to produce antibodies that will fight the HPV virus in the future. Antibodies in the body attach to the virus and prevent it from infecting cells. Current HPV vaccines are based on virus-like particles (VLPs), which are formed by the cell surface components of the HPV virus.

Removing and treating oral warts

HPV types and oral warts usually go away before causing any problems. If you develop oral warts due to HPV, by visiting your doctor immediately, he/she can remove and treat the warts.
Oral warts can be difficult to treat with topical treatments because some of these warts are not easily accessible and have developed inside the throat or pharynx. Your doctor may use one of the following methods to treat oral genital warts:

• Surgery to remove
• Cryotherapy, freezing or freezing of warts
• Injection of interferon alpha-2B (Intron A, Ruferon-A)

Also, laser therapy is one of the most common methods used to treat oral warts today. Because the biggest advantage of Co2 laser is to restore the natural skin texture to its original state.
Other advantages of laser include less pain, short treatment duration of less than one hour, recovery period of several days and no side effects.