Hello everybody, I am a 33 yr old mother of 2 girls and a baby on the way. I became sexually active at 16 yrs of age and by the time I was 20 I contracted genital warts/HPV. In 1990 I had laser surgery on my cervix to burn off the infected tissue/warts inside of me. I had little red bumps outside of my vaginal opening and along the space between my vagina and anus. about 6 that I could see externally that turned white, no idea what was on the inside---(another difficulty for women). They turned white and fleshy but no bigger than the tip of a ball point pen. Once in a while they felt a lil itchy but usually no sypmtoms other than bothersome and looked badly. I only knew about the ones outside which I was given cream to get rid of. The laser got the ones internally and I took antibiotics afterwards. Had to wiat six weeks before having sex again. I spotted some blood (lightly) and then it turned brown and had a funny smell to it. The doc said it was the burnt warts/tissue that was coming off of my cervical area and my body was cleansing of it. After that I had no reocurrance and two children (one in 1996 and another in 1998)....then it came back internally in 2000. I found out from having a pap smear that came back abnormal both times and had all normal paps in between those two. Doc said birth control pilss can cause a flare up. In 2000 I also had the LEEP procedure done (which hurt like hell cuz they scrape your insides with an electrical kind of wire to cut away the infected area and they usually take more to be sure to get it all). Before they do this, they squirt vinegar inside to see if anything bubbles or turns white...easier to see with a colposcopy( internal vaginal exam with a special microscope...painless, the colposcopy that is). Once you have been diagnosed with the HPV (human papilloma virus) YOU WILL ALWAYS have it!!!! It may lie dormant for days, months or years, but it will always be there. Doc says it is as common as a cold and he sees more HPV or std's now than he does pregnant women. I was not a slut nor did I make a practice of having unprotected sex. You only need be exposed to it once and if you have had sex (or your partner has), then most likely you have been exposed already. If not, remember that you can't see this stuff (or most others) with the naked eye. *****"but he/she looks clean and smells clean"*** Most of the time there are no symptoms (very common esp for men). My friend had a bf that had only been with one person but she insisted he get checked out before they do anything cuz this was only her 2nd sexual partner and so he went. He was diagnosed with Chlamydia for which men seem to have little or no symptoms. Left untreated it can make you sterile. All he had to do was take an antibiotic and it went away. PHEWWW! As long as you are healthy and see the doc regularly then you should be ok for child bearing. Live in denial you may/could get cervical cancer Keep up with reg visits to the doc whether male or female. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but you must be knowledgeable before doing anything sexually speaking. Use condoms and even though we often love/trust our partners....they can have stuff (or we can) without any sypmtoms at all. One split second of excstasy can lead to a lifetime or pain or medical problems. Abstinence is our only sure fire protection besides knowledge. Not that this could stop many...but it may mean a condom or not. My friend got genital warts from a guys scrotum cuz they used a condom...flesh and some body fluids still often touch. I pray that with all the changes of pregnancy that this does not flare up again, if it does I'll be more prepared for treatment. It will make sex suck, as for hurting....that has to be from infection, rough sex or another healthy issue. You CAN pass infections back and forth between partners too (yeast or bladder and many others). Thanks for listening and letting me share. Healthy, prospersous NEW YEAR to all!!! ~~~~Val~~~~