Posted: 05/10/07 - 08:38 Post subject: HPV lifespan question
Hey, everybody. I'm getting a pap smear next week and I suspect I have HPV. I have, however, read varying facts about how long the virus stays in the body and I'm desperate for some clarity! Some places I've read have said that you have it for life, (and seeing as condoms don't necessarily prevent the spread of the virus I hate to think what impact this will have on my sex life!) One other place said it usually takes around 10 months for the virus to be cleared from the body.
What gives? And I'm interested to hear how some of you folk living with HPV have been handling yourselves since being diagnosed?
There are many strains of HPV, some cause those visible genital warts on vulva and anus, other just small warts on cervix and vaginal walls that are hardly visible with an eye.
HPV is a virus that stays in the body but it is said that our immune system could clear it in 3 to 5 years.
I was diagnosed with small warts on cervix and two years later I hadn't have any. Two different docs said I had them but were very small and two said I didn't have any two to four years later.
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