Having a wart in your genitals can be very embarrassing, enough to make you hesitate to consult a doctor about it. But when you leave urethral warts untreated, they can cause an obstruction in your urethra and prevent your sperm from coming out of your penis when you ejaculate. Hence, you may become infertile.
Urethral warts can also cause penile intraepithelial neoplasia. This means that you may develop lesions on any part of your penile surface. These lesions can turn malignant and may become cancerous. Keep reading to learn more about urethral warts and how they are treated.
Overview
Urethral warts and genital warts are usual symptoms of a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Because HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, genital and urethral warts are easily spread and acquired through sexual contact. Any intimate skin to skin contact with a person infected with HPV can spread the disease.
When you have oral, vaginal, or anal sex with an infected person, you can get infected, too. However, in many cases, an HPV infection does not cause any observable symptoms. And it may take years before your symptoms appear, so you may not be able to easily determine when you got infected or who gave you the infection.
Of all the sexually transmitted infections, HPV is the most prevalent. In fact, more than 70 million Americans have it, although many of these won’t know that they’re infected due to the lack of symptoms.
There are many subtypes of HPV, and HPV6 is the one that usually causes urethral warts. Certain HPV types are actually associated with squamous cell carcinomas. This means that if you get infected with HPV, you may be at risk for mouth, throat, anal, or genital tract cancer.
HPV Subtypes
There are actually 150 known subtypes of human papillomavirus. Those that are associated with condylomata acuminata include subtypes 6, 11, and 54. Condylomata acuminata is another term for anogenital warts.
On the other hand, HPV subtypes that are associated with genital malignancy include subtypes 16, 18, and 31. HPV subtypes 33, 35, 39, 45, and many other subtypes are also associated with cancer.
The type of urethral and genital warts that may grow may also vary in appearance and size. A condylomata that looks like a cauliflower can be quite large. Dome-shaped papular warts that are flesh-colored can grow up to 4 millimeters in diameter. You may also develop keratotic warts or flat-topped macular warts.
Complications Associated With Urethral Warts
When you’ve got a 4mm wart growing inside your urethra, it can be big enough to cause a urethral stricture. This means that your urethra will become narrow because the wart is causing an obstruction.
This can then lead to urinary and ejaculatory problems. For instance, you may find it extremely painful when you ejaculate or urinate. You may also experience dribbling while urinating. Since the passageway of your urine is blocked by the wart, your urine may not freely flow out of your penis.
The same is true for your semen. When there’s nothing blocking your urethra, your semen will just get expelled from your penis when you ejaculate. But when a urethral wart is blocking the way, you may experience a reduced ejaculate volume or you may experience dry ejaculations wherein nothing at all comes out of your penis.
Either way, the number of spermatozoa coming out of your penis will be greatly reduced. That means you’ll have a low sperm count and concentration, which will greatly lower your chances of impregnating your partner.
HPV subtype 16 may also cause bowenoid papulosis. This condition is manifested as papules or lesions on the genitals. They can form on your penis glans, on your foreskin, your penile shaft, or even on your anus.
The papules may either be violet or reddish brown in color, and they may last for weeks or even years. There have been cases wherein the lesions have become malignant.
Pharmacological Treatment of Genital Warts
There are several available medications for getting rid of genital warts. However, most of these are not approved for urethral warts. These medications are typically used on genital warts that are easily accessible such as those that formed on the penis glans or shaft.
Podophyllin resin is a compound that’s applied to warts using a cotton-tipped swab. It needs to be washed off after four hours. Podofilox comes either in gel or solution form. You don’t need to wash it off after applying it to the affected areas. However, you shouldn’t use this medication if the warts formed on your urethra, rectum, or perianal area.
Imiquimod is a topical cream that you can use if the warts formed on the surface of your penis. Just like podofilox, it shouldn’t be used for warts on the urethra, rectum, or perianal area. You need to wash it off after six to ten hours.
Bichloracetic acid or trichloracetic acid are also used to treat lesions. If you do use these medications, you need to carefully apply the medication to the affected area only. And it has to be thoroughly washed off after an hour or two. These solutions are usually used for moist lesions that are small in size.
Among the many available medications for genital warts, 5-fluorouracil is the one that can be used to treat urethral warts. It’s a cream, so you’ll need to work the cream down into your urethra. And you need to make sure the cream doesn’t get applied to your scrotal skin.
For urethral warts that don’t respond well to medication, laser therapy and surgical treatment are also options. Laser therapy can help remove recalcitrant urethral warts.
Improving Your Fertility
For men with fertility problems, all-natural male sex enhancement supplements can help enhance your fertility. This is a natural supplement that contains herbal ingredients that are known to have pro-fertility properties.
An effective male sex enhancement supplement contains maca, Tongkat Ali, and Tribulus terrestris. These natural ingredients are known to promote sperm production and increase sperm count and quality.
It also contains other herbal ingredients that can help improve your erectile function, raise your testosterone production, and restore your waning libido.
