My Partner Has Genital Warts. Will I Get Them?

Understand the Risk and Ways to Prevent Infection

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If your partner has genital warts, you may be wondering if you will get them. Genital warts are a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by human papilloma virus (HPV).

Anyone who has sex can get HPV. However, many people with HPV never have symptoms. You can get genital warts by having sexual contact with someone who has the virus—even if they have no symptoms.

To set your mind at ease and allow you to enjoy a healthy sex life, it's a good idea to learn about the impact of HPV and ways you can prevent infection.

This article discusses the symptoms and causes of genital warts, as well as HPV risk, prevention, and testing.

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Genital Warts Symptoms

Genital warts are abnormal growths that look like a bump or group of bumps in the genital area. They may appear light and pearly, skin-colored, dark purple, gray, or brown. These bumps can be small or large, raised or flat, or shaped like a cauliflower.

Sometimes genital warts can:

  • Itch
  • Burn
  • Bleed
  • Cause pain

In females, warts can appear on the:

  • Vulva (external female genitals)
  • Vagina
  • Cervix
  • Groin

In males, warts can appear on the:

  • Penis
  • Scrotum
  • Thigh
  • Groin

Warts can also occur in the mouth or throat (after having oral sex with an infected person) or around the anus (after anal sex with someone who has HPV).

Do Genital Warts Stay With You for Life?

Whether or not you get genital warts (and for how long) depends largely on how well your immune system can fight HPV. Most people who get HPV don't develop any symptoms. Further, many people are able to clear the infection within a couple of years.

However, those with a weakened immune system are more likely to develop genital warts. If the body is unable to get rid of HPV, symptoms can recur and become chronic.

Genital Warts Causes

Genital warts are caused by a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV). There are many HPV strains, however, types 6 and 11 are most commonly linked to genital warts.

HPV infection is spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact. While nearly everyone who is sexually active will get HPV at some point in their lives, most people will not develop genital warts. In about 90% of cases, HPV goes away on its own without causing any health issues. Further, those who are vaccinated against HPV are at lower risk of getting genital warts than those who are not.

It can take several weeks or even years after having sexual contact with someone with HPV for genital warts to show up. Because of that, it can sometimes be difficult to know when you got the HPV infection that caused them.

Factors that can increase your risk of developing genital warts include:

  • Vaginal sex without a condom
  • Anal sex
  • Oral sex
  • Genital-to-genital contact
  • Multiple sexual partners
  • A weakened immune system
  • Smoking

What Are the Chances of Giving My Partner Genital Warts?

It's possible to pass genital warts to a partner through sexual contact. However, most people who get HPV (the virus that causes genital warts) don't develop any symptoms.

That said, there are a number of factors that can affect each person's risk of getting or spreading HPV. Keep in mind that:

  • HPV can go undetected for weeks to years later after being contracted from a partner, which means you can give it to someone else during that time without knowing it.
  • You can spread HPV even when warts or other symptoms aren't present.
  • Persons who are vaccinated against HPV are at lower risk of getting genital warts than those who are not.

Overall, you can reduce your chances of passing on the infection by:

  • Treating or removing any visible warts
  • Using condoms or dental dams during sex

HPV Risk

HPV is a widespread STI. Around 43 million Americans have HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A 2017 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported that the rate of HPV infection in the United States was as follows.

There are both low-risk and high-risk HPV strains. Genital warts are caused by low-risk strains. High-risk strains, which include HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, are commonly associated with the following types of cancer:

Most HPV infections do not cause cancer. However, if a high-risk HPV infection continues for many years, it can lead to cell changes that increase your risk of developing cancer.

How Can I Prevent Getting Genital Warts?

While you can't completely protect yourself against HPV, there are things you can do to reduce your risk. Chief among these is vaccination.

HPV Vaccine

The CDC recommends routine HPV vaccination for all sexes starting at 11 or 12 years old. In addition, it recommends vaccination for everyone through age 26 who is not adequately vaccinated.

The CDC does not recommend routine vaccination for people over age 26 because most people have already been exposed to HPV by this age. Therefore, the vaccine provides less benefit. However, certain people ages 27 to 45 may choose vaccination based on their circumstances and in consultation with their doctors.

If you are entering a new relationship with a partner who has HPV, vaccination remains the primary means of protection against possible transmission of the infection. However, it cannot treat an existing infection. Vaccination works best before exposure to HPV.

Safer Sex Practices

The other way to reduce your risk is to practice safer sex consistently. Safer sex practices include using barrier protection for sexual activity. Barriers include:

  • Dental dams: Dental dams can provide added protection if you are practicing oral sex on a vagina (cunnilingus) or anus (anilingus).
  • External and internal condoms: For penetrative sex or oral-penile sex (fellatio), you should use an internal or external condom, as appropriate.

Can a Married Person Get HPV?

People who are in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship are not likely to get a new HPV infection. However, having sex with a new partner is a risk factor for getting a new HPV infection. To reduce your chances of getting HPV, only have sex with someone who is only having sex with you.

It is important to remember that HPV spreads through skin-to-skin contact. Therefore, even if you use external or internal condoms, it is possible to acquire HPV if non-covered skin comes into contact with a lesion (including lesions you may not see).

If genital warts or lesions are present, it is best to avoid sex until they resolve. If you are not entirely sure if the condition has cleared, contact your healthcare provider and take extra precautions if you do have sex, such as the use of gloves or finger cots for masturbation, fingering, or fisting.

How to Talk to Your Partner About Having Genital Warts

Telling someone you have genital warts can be difficult and embarrassing. However, remember that genital warts are common and they don’t cause serious health problems. If you want to talk to your partner about your condition, the following tips may help:

  • Pick a time to talk when you won’t be distracted or interrupted.
  • Start the conversation with a calm and positive attitude.
  • Have a two-way conversation. Don’t be shy about asking if your partner has ever been tested or had an STI before.
  • Let them know there are ways to prevent passing genital warts during sex.

How to Get tested for HPV

There aren't any specific tests available to check for low-risk HPV strains that cause genital warts. In many cases, genital warts can be diagnosed based on a clinical exam.

That said, HPV testing is used to detect high-risk strains that can cause cancer. However, getting a positive HPV diagnosis doesn't necessarily suggest anything other than the need to monitor for cancer or precancer. Even then, the benefits of testing apply most to people with a cervix.

Cervical Pap Test

For those with a cervix, an HPV genetic test can detect the virus in a cervical smear. It can be performed alongside a Pap test. It is recommended in people ages 30 and over.

However, it is generally not used for those in their 20s. That's because most infections in this age group will go away independently.

The only HPV test the CDC recommends as routine is a cervical test, which may be done alongside a Pap smear.

Anal Pap Test

Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved tests to detect HPV in people with a cervix. However, doctors sometimes perform an anal Pap test in people considered to be at higher risk of anal cancer. These include gay and bisexual men and men who have tested positive for HIV.

Oral Tests

The oral test's usefulness is uncertain at best. That's because testing positive does not indicate HPV persistence. Persistence is the problem—HPV often has to remain present for decades to lead to oral cancer. Therefore, oral HPV testing isn't done. The best way to diagnose an oral HPV infection is through a visual exam by a doctor or dentist.

If your HPV test is positive, you can't necessarily determine how or when you contracted it. That's because symptoms (if they occur at all) can appear months or even years after infection. In fact, according to the CDC, it is presumed that nearly every sexually active unvaccinated person will acquire HPV at some point during their life. So, given the high infection rate, there is often little way of knowing when the exposure occurred.

Summary

HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that infects nearly every unvaccinated sexually active person at some point in their lives. HPV infection can cause genital warts in some people.

If your partner has HPV or genital warts, it's possible for them to pass it on to you, especially if you have unprotected sex. However, you can limit your chance of infection by getting the HPV vaccine and practicing safer sex with barriers.

15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Genital HPV infection - basic fact sheet.

  2. American Academy of Dermatology. Genital warts: Signs and symptoms.

  3. American Academy of Dermatology. Genital warts: who gets and causes.

  4. Planned Parenthood. What are the symptoms of genital warts?

  5. National Cancer Institute. HPV and cancer.

  6. Planned Parenthood. How can I prevent getting or spreading genital warts?

  7. American Academy of Dermatology. Genital warts: tips for managing.

  8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Genital HPV infection fact sheet.

  9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basic information about HPV and cancer.

  10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HPV vaccination recommendations.

  11. Planned Parenthood. How can I make sure I don’t get or spread HPV?

  12. National Cancer Institute. HPV and Pap Testing.

  13. American Cancer Society. HPV and HPV testing.

  14. American Cancer Society. Cancer facts for gay and bisexual men.

  15. The Oral Cancer Foundation. HPV oral cancer facts

Additional Reading
Elizabeth Boskey, PhD

By Elizabeth Boskey, PhD
Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, MPH, CHES, is a social worker, adjunct lecturer, and expert writer in the field of sexually transmitted diseases.