Anal Wart Treatments & Cures

The oozing, bleeding, itching and burning cauliflower-like fleshy anal wart clusters can not only prove unsettling, but can severely affect one�s self-esteem too. Just have a peek at what these repugnant pieces of hanging flesh may actually look like at our pictures page. If you�ve them, you don�t need to renounce the world, know that there are some effective treatments that can help you get rid of this condition. But, don�t sleep over the treatment, as it can lead to many complications, including cancers.

Treating HPV to cure anal warts

The bad news is there�s no treatment currently available to treat HPV. Once you get it, it remains with you throughout life! If you�re wondering why get the treatment at all, it�s simply to reduce the risk of transmitting it to your partner who�s never been exposed to the types of HPV you might be carrying.

There are several treatment options available for removing anal warts, but since the condition varies from person to person, no particular treatment is best suited for all. It�s for this reason your physician will consider the size, location and number of warts, changes in the warts, your preference, cost of treatment, convenience, adverse effects and their own experience with the treatments, when suggesting the treatment. The treatment can be both invasive and non-invasive. In some you�d need to get it done at a clinic or doctor’s office, in others, simple prescription creams applied to the affected area at home would do.

Treatments at doctor�s clinic

The following treatments can be undertaken in the doctor’s clinic:

a. Surgical removal: The age-old therapy, in which the warts are simply cut off and thrown. The good part about this procedure is you can get rid of warts by just visiting the physician once!

b. Electrocautery: You can consider it an improvement on surgical removal of the warts. In this, instead of being chopped off, the warts are burned off by means of an electrical current.

c. Podophyllin resin: This has been an effective chemical treatment of the past, but is no more widely used today. The warts are removed with the help of this chemical compound. It�s inexpensive, but may require frequent visits to the physician, which may increase the overall cost of treatment (1).

d. Trichloracetic acid or TCA: This chemical compound is applied to the surface of the wart. Regular application generally gets rid of the warts. It�s most effective when treating few small, moist lesions (1).

e. Cryotherapy: In this procedure, the warts are removed by freezing them over with liquid nitrogen. Cryotherapy is recommended for patients with small to moderate numbers of warts (1).

f. Laser treatment: Carbon dioxide laser treatment is best for extensive anal warts and genital warts (1). In this the light intensity of laser is used to destroy warts. This procedure has proved immensely effective for those not responding well to other treatments.

Treatments at home

Your physician may recommend the following are the home treatments:

a. Immunal: Immunal, composed of oils and herbs, has been used for centuries in alleviating unwanted anal warts. Its regular application not only eliminates the infection that causes these warts, but also gives relief from digestive disorders and fatigue.

b. Imiquimod cream (Aldara): Safe, effective and easy to use, Aldara boosts the immune system to fight HPV. It can be self-applied to the affected area.

c. Podofilox cream or gel (Condylox): This inexpensive, easy to use and safe self-application treatment destroys the tissue of the external warts. It takes about 4 weeks for the treatment to be effective.

Although, these treatments are effective, in most cases a single treatment will not cure anal warts, since the virus may remain present and cause new anal warts. So, follow-up visits up to 6 months are recommended. (2)

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