Genital warts treatment
There are various types of treatments available for genital warts, but most people that experience them generally tend to start with topical treatments such as Condyline or Aldara. This type of genital warts treatment can often be done at home, unless otherwise advised by your doctor or sexual health clinic nurse.
For most people, topical treatments are enough to get rid of the warts without any further action, but some people find that their warts still persist. In these cases, you should stop using the topical solutions or creams and visit your GP to talk about other options such as freezing the warts, or undergoing surgery (including laser surgery) to remove them.
Topical treatments aren’t usually recommended for internal genital warts (such as inside the vagina or penis), in which case it’s important to visit your GP or nearest sexual health clinic.
Other genital warts treatments available from Doctor4U include:
Condyline
Condyline is a topical solution that comes with an applicator, making it easy to treat genital warts at home.
Condyline’s active ingredient is podophyllotoxin – a plant based antimitotic. It works by permeating the warts and stopping the affected cells from dividing and multiplying, halting the spread and growth of the warts and eventually killing them. Affected cells are replaced with healthy skin, and the warts ultimately disappear.
Unfortunately, Condyline can’t completely eradicate HPV from your body, meaning that there’s a chance that the warts could return at some point, but for most people, the body’s immune system rids itself of the virus over time anyway.
How to use Condyline
Condyline is an easy-to-use treatment that you can apply in the comfort of your own home. However, there are some precautions you should know about before applying the medicated solution to your skin.
If you have warts that cover an area larger than 4cm squared, you should visit your GP or nearest sexual health clinic first for advice, as you may need to have the solution applied for you, or apply it yourself under the supervision of a medical professional. You should also avoid the treatment if you’re pregnant or breast-feeding, and visit your GP to talk about alternative options.
Condyline should be used twice a day for 3 days, with applications being spread 12 hours apart, so make sure that your first application is at a reasonable time when you know you’ll be awake 12 hours later. The patient information leaflet recommends starting your treatment in the morning, usually after you’ve showered, as it’s important to apply Condyline to clean and dry skin.
You should apply the solution using the applicator that’s provided, as this minimises the risk of damaging healthy skin, as well as making the treatment easier to apply. It’s important to only treat the affected area, taking care not to apply it to broken or irritated skin, and avoiding unaffected areas and healthy skin as much as possible, as podophyllotoxin does have the potential to damage healthy skin cells. If you do accidentally apply it to healthy skin, or if you use too much solution, you should wash and dry the area immediately.
You shouldn’t use more than 50 “dips” per application, so if you find that you’re using more than this to cover all of the warts, you should visit your GP for advice as Condyline might not be the most suitable treatment for you.
Condyline should only ever be used on external warts, and should never be applied inside the vagina, anus, or penis, and should also not be used alongside other topical treatments for genital warts.
Condyline side effects
Condyline is generally a safe treatment that works for most people, but as it’s a prescription medicine, it does have the potential to cause side effects. Most of these side effects are localised to the areas where Condyline has been applied, and can cause symptoms such as:
- Inflamed foreskin
- Inflamed glans penis (head of the penis)
- Local vaginal irritation
- Mild irritation of wards including itching, burning, pain, redness, and skin ulceration
- Allergic reaction, which can cause severe or unexpected pain (rare)
Most people find that they’re able to cope with the side effects without any other medication, but if you find that you’re experiencing severe pain, or finding the side effects particularly difficult to deal with, you should wash and dry the area and stop using the treatment, as you may have had an adverse reaction to it.
If this does happen, you should contact your GP or nearest sexual health clinic or advice.
How long does Condyline take to work?
The time it takes for Condyline to work depends on the severity of the warts, and how resistant they are to treatment. Most people find that their warts have improved after the first treatment period (3 days), but others might take up to 4 weeks to notice a difference.
If your condition hasn’t improved after the first 3 days of treatment, you can start another course the following week (4 days after your last application). You can take up to 4 courses of Condyline before contacting your GP for advice if the condition hasn’t improved.
Can you buy Condyline over the counter?
As Condyline is a prescription medicine, it can’t be bought over the counter from pharmacies. However, if you don’t want to visit your GP for a face to face consultation, you can buy Condyline online from websites such as ours, where we ask you a set of questions about your condition before sending it to one of our GPs for review.
You don’t have to upload any images – all you need to do is answer the questions on the consultation form honestly and truthfully so that our doctors can make an informed decision about your treatment.
Buy Condyline
Other than seeing an NHS doctor, you can buy Condyline privately either from a face-to-face GP, or online.
At Doctor4U, no face-to-face consultation is needed. You simply fill out a consultation form online and choose Condyline as your treatment if you think it’s right for you.
Our service is completely discreet and confidential so that you can buy Condyline without anxiety or embarrassment. We even deliver to your door in plain packaging, so there’s no need to call in at a pharmacy to collect your medication.
