Once you have HPV you ALWAYS have HPV whether you're male or a female. HPV is a virus that stays in your body FOREVER so your boyfriend is very wrong! The HPV virus can become "inactive' but it is still present in your body and can flare up years and years later without you even knowing it has flared up. Your body's own healthy immune system can sometimes "clear" the virus but the HPV virus still remains in your body in the "inactive" state and if you have periods where your immunity is weakened, for whatever reason, the virus can once again become active - even 5 years, 10 year, 20 years later. You can go from inactive to active without knowing.

I had no symptoms at all; the way I found out I had HPV is during a yearly pap smear with a HPV test. The pap smear came back normal but the HPV test came back positive but I had no symptoms whatsoever, absolutely no symptoms at all. I still dont have symptoms and I have CIN2 precancerous cells on my cervix caused by HPV.

There are more than 100 different strains of HPV and about 13 of them are linked with cancer - for both women AND men! Women AND men can have active HPV and have NO SYMPTOMS which is why the virus is so commonly spread. The HPV vaccine only protects you against certain high risk strains of HPV ( either 2 strains, 4 strains, or 9 strains depending on which vaccine you had) My doctor told me she has patients that were exposed to HPV literally 20 years prior and currently have flare ups. Just because you had the HPV vaccine doesnt meant you still cant get other strains of HPV.

Your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend was very responsible in telling him that she had HPV BUT your boyfriend's lack of knowledge has now exposed you to HPV. Please educate your boyfriend with facts. HPV is spread through skin to skin contact, including oral sex and any intimate contact. You can get HPV from intimate contact of the groin area where there is skin to skin contact even if you dont have intercourse and even if you use a condom. Condoms dont give 100% protection from HPV because HPV lives in the skin cells so the entire groin area can have HPV virus and a condom only covers the penis. Your boyfriend apparently did not know these facts (or he did know these facts and he didnt want to risk you rejecting him so he didnt tell you)

Please educate your boyfriend and your friends that are women too. In my opinion it is morally wrong to have any intimate and sexual contact with someone without telling them BEFORE that you were exposed to the HPV virus. It is up to the other person to learn the facts and decide for themselves the level of risk they are comfortable in taking.

As for you - please go to the doctor immediately and get a pap smear and HPV test. EDUCATE YOURSELF and help your friends by educating them.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I could really use it. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal because he said it goes away. He feel dirty and guilty talking about it so I feel kinda bad for him. He was irresponsible not using protection and he shouldve told me was in contact with hpv. I think he is really not educated about it. He thinks it goes away forever. He told me he didn’t tell me cus he said if He wudve told me I wudve never spoke to him. I really do care for him and love him, but I don’t wanna have HPV. I have a papsmear next week. It was morally wrong for him to keep it from me. I’m the only girl he’s ever told. I understand he doesn’t like talking about it. He went to the doctor and the doc said there’s no test for males and that he shudnt worry so much because there is no medication for the hpv he has. I’m just stuck in mad that he didn’t tell me but I still do wanna be with him

Men can also get genital warts and cancer from HPV viruses so it IS a big deal to have HPV, even for men. Anyone that has been exposed to HPV should always tell any potential partner BEFORE any intimate physical contact since HPV is spread by skin to skin contact. The HPV virus can live in the skin cells of the groin area so condoms do not give 100% protection from HPV since condoms only cover the penis. The HPV virus can be on the skin that is not covered by a condom and infect the other person. You can get HPV without even having intercourse and HPV can be spread by oral sex.

Some genital warts are very tiny in size and cannot be easily seen, especially in areas of the groin covered by pubic hair. You can have tiny warts that you dont even know you have. Women can have warts in their vagina and labia that they cannot even see. You can have warts without seeing or feeling anything.

There is an increased risk of developing cancer with smoking and alcohol so people with HPV should not smoke or use alcohol. Men can get penis cancer, anus cancer, and oral cancer (throat cancer - back of the mouth near the base of the tongue) so men shouldn't have the attitude of - not my problem, because HPV is a problem for both men and women.

When you get a pap smear you have to specifically ask for an HPV test in addition to the pap smear. They are two separate tests. Also have the doctor check for tiny genital warts, they dont do that routinely. My pap smear was normal BUT my HPV test was positive. The body's own immune system can "clear" the virus BUT the HPV viruses remain in your body forever, you never get rid of it. It can remain active or it can be dormant and flare up at a later time when you're immune system is weakened.

If my boyfriend KNEW he had HPV and made the choice to not tell me BEFORE we had intimate contact I would also be extremely mad! I have spent nearly $2,000 on HPV related medical bills since this March, I have lost time from work having a colposcopy and I have to have a LEEP to cut out the pre-cancerous cells on my cervix - not to mention pain and emotional stress, so for him to say it's no big deal is OUTRAGEOUS and INACCURATE.

Your anger is completely justified. I hope you are able to wake him up to the reality. He is endanger the health and well-being of every woman he has intimate contact with and that is just unacceptable

Please remember to ask for HPV test specifically and have the doctor check for small genital warts - they wont do this typically during a pap smear so you have to remember to ask for that specifically. Tell them your current boyfriend was exposed to HPV and you are concerned.