New to this group so apologies for this post being amateur.
I was diagnosed with HPV last year with high grade abnormal cells treated with LEEP.
A huge shock considering I had a totally clear smear just one year before.
My biopsy confirmed this and ive had one appointment since, with the consultant. I will have another next year where I hope all will continue to be well. Cervical cancer does unfortunately run in my family.
However, I have times where I struggle with this whole HPV diagnosis. While I totally understand its not some kind of dirty STI that ive got from doing anything wrong, im struggling to understand where it has come from as my husband and myself have been together since we were teenagers and as far as Im aware, have only ever been with each other sexually.
Obviously I can only be completely sure of my own sexual activity and ive never even kissed another man besides my husband.
So im really confused. Am I still able to catch it, regardless of us only being with each other or is the only way we can catch/spread it, is by one of us doing something we shouldnt, with someone that we shouldnt???
I absolutely HATE even thinking this. But everything ive read, talks about previous partners or previous sexual encounters and as far as im concerned, neither of us should have any previous.
If anyone could please help me to understand how it works, and if im worrying for nothing (or something), that would be great and so appreciated.
I wish I had asked at my consultants appointment but in all honesty, my anxiety was so high, it didnt occure to me right at that moment.
Thanks for reading.
Hi
I know your feeling as all of us have some so many questions about HPV.
You can only get hpv during sex,that includes anal and oral. If as you said you only been with your husband so then is definitely from him. You don’t know when you first got it, as the virus can be dormant in our body for years. It doesn’t mean your husband cheating on you as he could had hpv years ago before he met you.
Hope that helps x
You don’t just catch it during penetrative sex. It is skin-to-skin contact… However it is not definite that it cannot be caught from surfaces or medical equipment. I have read about the potential for it to be caught from shared wet towels, for example.
The nhs website states it can be transmitted through shared sex toys which isn’t direct skin-to-skin.
I was clear of hpv last year on my screening test. However I had warts and tested positive this year two months after I went to a colopscopy clinic. I think it is possible I caught it from there (I’m 41). I don’t think its impossibility that I caught high risk hpv from the equipment in a clinic that will be dealing with a lot of patients with high risk hpv.
Hi X and welcome
It does seem that it’s extremely easy to be infected with HPV. I wouldn’t be surprised if one could catch it from even what might be described as a ‘teenage exploratory hands everywhere’ type of encounter.
x
