How is a male tested for HPV?
My wife was diagnosed with Human Papilloma Virus prior to marriage. She was sexually active for five years and had seven partners prior to us meeting and had unprotected sex with her partners. She was my first and only sexual partner. She had been tested and given a clear bill of health. Until, an abnormal papsmear two years into our relationship. We learned of this together and worked through it. Now we are getting a divorce and I want to make sure I am healthy and do not want to spread the virus. How is a male tested?
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Currently, there is no test designed or approved to find HPV in men. The only approved HPV test on the market is for women, for use as part of cervical cancer screening. There is no general test for men or women to check one’s overall “HPV status.” But HPV usually goes away on its own, without causing health problems. So an HPV infection that is found today will most likely not be there a year or two from now.
REMEMBER: HPV is very common in men and women. Most men with HPV will never develop health problems from it. Finding out if you have HPV is not as important as finding out if you have the diseases that it can cause. Scientists are still studying how best to screen for penile and anal cancers in men who may be at highest risk for those diseases (see below).
Is there a test to find genital warts?
Most of the time, you can see genital warts. Some doctors may use a vinegar solution to help find flat warts—but this test can sometimes wrongly identify normal skin as a wart.
Is there a test to screen for HPV-related cancers in men?
Screening tests can find early signs of disease in people who are not yet sick. Screening tests for penile or anal cancer are not widely recommended.
Some experts recommend yearly anal Pap tests for gay, bisexual, and HIV-positive men, since anal cancer is more common in these groups. This test can find abnormal cells in the anus that could turn into cancer over time. If abnormal cells are found, they can be removed. CDC does not recommend anal Pap tests because there is not enough research to show that removing abnormal anal cells actually prevents anal cancer from developing in the future. More studies are needed to understand if anal Pap tests and treatment of abnormal cells prevent anal cancer in men.
You can check for any abnormalities on your penis, scrotum, or around the anus. See your doctor if you find warts, blisters, sores, ulcers, white patches, or other abnormal areas on your penis—even if they do not hurt.
Great question. Unfortunately, I don’t believe there is a test for HPV in males.
Now that you are back in the dating soon (or will be), your best bet is still to use a condom. There only 2 non-life threatening conditions that you can get with a condom (nothing’s perfect, I mean reduced risk here): herpes and HPV. Unfortunately, you can have it (more common in men than women) and not know you have it. They don’t test for herpes when you get "a full std panel" so many people don’t know that they have it. As for HPV, its more inocuous and if you get a wart, have it frozen off. Then you’ll know if you have it or not. I’ve never heard of a diagnostic test for men.
Thanks for caring though!! That puts you one step ahead of many!~
In Canada….males are not tested.
It is just treated when the warts show up.
There is a certain blood test however, that will detect HPV.
Your pretty much going to have to wait and see if you get the warts, then you can receive treatment.
It depends on what strain she has. However, if she has it, then you have it. Period. HPV does not affect men unless it is the type that causes warts. You’d know if you had that one.
Now, there is a blood test, but there is nothing you can do about it. Go talk to your doctor.
Unless things have changed, a couple of years ago, there was no test for males, so if you get in a relationship, you are just going to have to be upfront and honest.