For 90 percent of women with HPV, the condition will clear up on its own within two years. Only a small number of women who have one of the HPV strains that cause cervical cancer will ever actually develop the disease.
HPV goes away on its own and doesn't cause health problems in many people. For most people who have a healthy immune system, HPV will clear itself within one to two years.
Research has found that it can take 10 to 20 years, or even longer, for HPV-infected cervical cells to develop into a cancerous tumor. Among women whose cervical cells are infected with high-risk HPV, several factors increase the chance that the infection will be long lasting and lead to precancerous cervical cells.
There's no treatment for HPV. Most HPV infections do not cause any problems and are cleared by your body within 2 years. Treatment is needed if HPV causes problems like genital warts or changes to cells in the cervix.
Usually, the body's immune system gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years. This is true of both oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types. By age 50, at least 4 out of every 5 women will have been infected with HPV at one point in their lives. HPV is also very common in men, and often has no symptoms.
– there's no evidence that HPV has triggers like herpes or asthma that cause flare ups, but many believe that a weakened immune system can lead to outbreaks being more likely. Genital warts are more likely to flare-up if your immune system is not able to effectively fight the HPV infection causing them to appear.
It might be affected by your immune system — some people's bodies find it easier to fight HPV than others. They also think some lifestyle habits, like smoking, can make it hard for your body to clear HPV. It is important to remember that cervical screening can help find high-risk HPV and cell changes early.
If you still have HPV after 3 years, you may need to have a colposcopy. You'll be asked to have a colposcopy. Information: HPV is a common virus and most people will get it at some point.
Although most people clear HPV within 2 years, the virus can stay in your body for many years – even decades – without causing any problems. That means you may never know you had it. In some people, HPV can show up on your cervical screening results or start to cause problems years later.
Those who said they were depressed or believed they had high levels of stress also still had an active HPV infection. HPV usually clears up on its own, but this study is really the first to indicate a link between stress and persistent HPV infection.
And, according to a 2013 study, you can develop HPV after age 50 when a virus that was dormant for years "reactivates" decades later.
If you're over 30, your body can still clear HPV, but it's less likely at this point. Your doctor may want to perform more testing, like a Pap (if you didn't get one with your HPV test) to see if you also have abnormal cervical cell changes in addition to a positive HPV test.
Why do my cell changes keep coming back? The most common reason for cell changes to come back would be your immune system not getting rid of high-risk HPV. We don't yet know why some people can clear HPV and others can't.
If I've had HPV once can I get it again? There are over a hundred different types, or strains, of HPV and around 13 of these are linked to cancer. So it's possible to have multiple infections and you might have different strains of HPV over the years that are picked up at cervical screening.
How did I get HPV? HPV is a sexually-acquired virus. Even if you were to have sex with a single partner in your life, using condoms every time, there is an 80% chance you will acquire HPV in your lifetime. HPV can be spread by contact between genital skin, so LGBQTI people can also get the virus.
Don't panic.
In most cases, your body is able to fight HPV on its own, and the virus will go away without causing any health problems in one or two years.
Options include freezing (cryosurgery), laser, surgical removal, loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) and cold knife conization.
Vitamins C and D, zinc, and Echinacea have evidence-based efficacy on the immune system.
HPV can also induce immune evasion of the infected cells, which enable the virus to be undetectable for long periods of time. The induction of immunotolerance of the host's immune system by the persistent infection of HPV is one of the most important mechanisms for cervical lesions.
The infection usually goes away by itself. But, if HPV does not go away, it can cause genital warts or certain kinds of cancer. Talk to your healthcare provider about anything new or unusual on your penis, scrotum, anus, mouth, or throat.
Magnesium ions enhance the transfer of human papillomavirus E2 protein from non-specific to specific binding sites.
With a tertile increase in the plasma folate or vitamin B12, there was a 50% (P=0.03) and 40% (P=0.07) increase in the odds of having a higher degree of HPV 16m, respectively.
In this study in women with human papillomavirus and abnormal results on a cervical pap smear, supplementation with zinc sulfate increased rates of human papilloma virus clearance and regression of abnormal cells to normal. This Study Summary was published on May 31 2022.