If you’ve just been told you have HPV, the most important thing to know is that roughly 90% of HPV infections clear on their own within six to 18 months. Your immune system does the heavy lifting, and most women who test positive will never develop serious health problems from it. That said, what you should do next depends on which type of HPV you have and what your test results show.
What Your HPV Result Actually Means
There are over 100 strains of HPV, but they fall into two broad categories that matter for your health. Low-risk strains, mainly types 6 and 11, cause genital warts but do not lead to cancer. High-risk strains, particularly types 16 and 18, don’t cause visible warts but can trigger cell changes in the cervix that, if left unchecked over many years, may eventually become cancerous.
Most women learn they have HPV through routine cervical screening, either a Pap test that shows abnormal cells or an HPV test that detects high-risk strains directly. If your result came back as “HPV positive” without warts, you’re likely dealing with a high-risk strain. That sounds alarming, but it’s incredibly common and usually resolves without treatment. The key is staying on top of your follow-up screening so any persistent infection gets caught early.
Follow-Up Screening and What to Expect
Your next steps depend on the specifics of your results. If your Pap came back as ASC-US (a category that essentially means “mildly abnormal, unclear significance”), the standard approach is an HPV test to see whether a high-risk strain is present. If you’re already HPV-positive but your cell changes are mild, your doctor will typically recommend repeat testing in one year rather than immediate intervention. Most mild abnormalities resolve as the infection clears.
If your results show more significant changes, categorized as LSIL (low-grade) or HSIL (high-grade), your doctor will likely recommend a colposcopy. This is a closer look at your cervix using a magnifying instrument called a colposcope. You’ll lie on an exam table with your feet in stirrups, and a speculum will be inserted so your provider can see your cervix. The colposcope stays outside your body and works like a set of binoculars with a bright light, magnifying the tissue so abnormal areas become visible.
If anything looks concerning during the colposcopy, your provider will take a small biopsy, either a tiny circular punch of tissue or a gentle scraping of the cervical lining. The biopsy gets sent to a lab for closer analysis. Most women describe the biopsy as a brief pinch or cramp. Afterward, you may have light spotting or mild cramping for a day or two. Contact your provider if you experience heavy bleeding, severe pelvic pain, or signs of infection like fever or unusual discharge.
Treatment for Cell Changes vs. Warts
There’s no antiviral medication that kills HPV itself. Treatment targets what the virus causes, whether that’s abnormal cervical cells or visible warts.
For high-grade cervical cell changes, the goal is removing the abnormal tissue before it has any chance of progressing. This is typically done with a procedure that removes a small cone-shaped section of the cervix. These procedures are outpatient, take about 15 to 20 minutes, and recovery generally involves a few weeks of avoiding strenuous activity and sexual intercourse. The vast majority of women treated this way never develop cervical cancer.
For genital warts caused by low-risk strains, several options exist. Your doctor may apply a freezing treatment (cryotherapy) to destroy the wart tissue, or prescribe a topical cream that activates your immune system to fight the virus locally. Laser therapy and minor surgical removal are also used for larger or more stubborn warts. Warts can recur even after treatment because the underlying virus may still be present, but most people eventually clear the infection entirely.
What Helps Your Body Clear the Virus
Since your immune system is what ultimately eliminates HPV, supporting it matters. One of the clearest modifiable risk factors is smoking. A study tracking HPV clearance over two years found that current smokers were roughly half as likely to clear the infection compared to nonsmokers. The effect was dose-dependent: more cigarettes per day, more days of smoking per month, and more years of smoking all correlated with lower clearance rates. If you smoke and have HPV, quitting is one of the most concrete steps you can take.
Beyond smoking, the same general advice for immune health applies: consistent sleep, a nutrient-rich diet, regular physical activity, and managing chronic stress. None of these are magic bullets, but they support the immune response your body is already mounting against the virus.
Vaccination Still Has Value
If you’ve already been diagnosed with HPV, you might assume the vaccine is pointless. It’s not. The current vaccine protects against nine strains, including the two most dangerous high-risk types and the two most common wart-causing types. Infection with one strain does not reduce the vaccine’s effectiveness against the others, so getting vaccinated can still protect you from strains you haven’t encountered yet.
The CDC recommends HPV vaccination through age 26 for anyone who wasn’t adequately vaccinated earlier. For adults 27 to 45, the decision is more individualized, and worth discussing with your doctor based on your risk factors and sexual history.
Talking to Your Partner
HPV is so common that most sexually active people will have it at some point. Condoms reduce transmission but don’t eliminate it completely, since the virus can live on skin that condoms don’t cover. There’s no routine HPV test for men unless visible warts are present, which can make the conversation feel one-sided.
When it comes to what to disclose, there’s no universal consensus from medical authorities. The practical reality is that if you’re in a long-term relationship, your partner has very likely already been exposed. For new partners, sharing your status is a personal decision, but having straightforward facts helps: HPV is extremely common, most infections resolve, and it doesn’t mean either person did anything wrong. Framing it as routine health information rather than a crisis tends to lead to better conversations.
HPV and Pregnancy
An HPV diagnosis does not prevent you from having a healthy pregnancy. High-risk strains are monitored with the same screening approach as in non-pregnant women, though invasive procedures like cervical biopsies are generally postponed until after delivery when possible.
Low-risk strains that cause genital warts deserve extra attention during pregnancy. Hormonal changes can cause existing warts to grow larger or multiply, and in rare cases, very large warts can physically obstruct a vaginal delivery. There is also a small risk of transmitting types 6 and 11 to the baby during birth, which can cause a condition called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, where warts grow in the child’s airway. This is uncommon, but it’s something your OB should be aware of so they can plan accordingly.
If you’re planning a future pregnancy and have been told you need a procedure to remove abnormal cervical tissue, timing matters. Cervical procedures can slightly increase the risk of preterm labor in subsequent pregnancies, so your doctor may factor your family planning timeline into treatment decisions.
The Bigger Picture
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world, and the vast majority of cases resolve without ever causing harm. The small percentage of infections that persist are exactly what cervical screening is designed to catch, and catching them early is what makes cervical cancer one of the most preventable cancers. Staying current on your screening schedule, not smoking, and getting vaccinated if you’re still eligible are the three most impactful things you can do. The diagnosis can feel scary, but the tools for managing it are well established and effective.