If you’ve tested positive for HPV, the most important thing to know is that this is extremely common and, in the vast majority of cases, your immune system will clear the infection on its own. About 90% of new HPV infections resolve within two years without any treatment. What you need to do next depends on which type of HPV you have and whether it’s causing any cell changes or symptoms.
What Your Positive Test Actually Means
There are more than 200 types of HPV, but sexually transmitted strains fall into two categories: low-risk and high-risk. Low-risk types rarely cause cancer but can cause genital warts. High-risk types, and there are 12 of them, can potentially lead to cancer of the cervix, throat, anus, vagina, vulva, or penis. Two strains in particular, HPV 16 and HPV 18, are responsible for most HPV-related cancers.
A positive HPV test does not mean you have cancer or will get cancer. It means your body is carrying an active infection that your doctor will want to monitor. Most people with high-risk HPV never develop cancer, because their immune systems suppress or eliminate the virus before it causes lasting damage to cells.
Follow-Up Based on Your Results
Your next steps depend on the combination of your HPV test results, any Pap smear findings, and your screening history. If you tested positive for HPV but your Pap results were normal and you don’t carry HPV 16 or 18, you’ll typically be asked to repeat testing in one year. Many infections clear in that window, and a repeat test confirms whether the virus is still active.
HPV 16 and 18 carry the highest risk for serious cell changes and hidden precancers. If either of these strains shows up, your doctor will recommend a colposcopy (a closer examination of the cervix using a magnifying instrument and, usually, a small biopsy) even if your Pap results look normal. This isn’t a sign that something is wrong. It’s a precaution because these two strains are more likely to cause problems that need to be caught early.
If your Pap smear shows more significant abnormalities, your doctor may recommend treatment right away, sometimes without waiting for a biopsy first. This is more common when HPV 16 is present alongside high-grade cell changes, or when you haven’t been screened in a long time. The goal is always to remove abnormal cells before they have any chance of progressing.
If You Have Genital Warts
Genital warts are caused by low-risk HPV types, most often types 6 and 11. They aren’t dangerous, but most people want them treated for comfort and peace of mind. Several options work well.
Cryotherapy, where a doctor freezes the warts with liquid nitrogen, clears them in about 75% of cases and is often the first treatment offered. For larger or recurring warts, laser treatment clears over 90% of cases, though warts come back in up to 40% of people. Surgical removal has the highest initial success rate and the lowest recurrence rate. Your doctor can help you choose based on the size, location, and number of warts.
There are also prescription creams you can apply at home. Imiquimod cream, applied three times per week for up to 16 weeks, works by stimulating your immune system to fight the virus in that area. It’s a good option if you prefer treating warts on your own schedule. Even after successful treatment, warts can return because the underlying virus may still be present in surrounding skin. If they come back, retreatment with the same or a different method is straightforward.
When Precancerous Cells Need Treatment
If a biopsy reveals precancerous cell changes (often called CIN 2 or CIN 3), your doctor will recommend a procedure to remove the abnormal tissue. The most common is called a LEEP, where a thin heated wire loop removes a small section of the cervix. It’s done in a doctor’s office, takes about 10 to 20 minutes, and recovery is usually quick. For more complex cases, a slightly larger section may be removed surgically.
These procedures are highly effective at preventing cancer from developing. After treatment, you’ll need follow-up HPV testing at regular intervals for at least 25 years, typically every three years. This long monitoring window exists because the virus can sometimes reactivate, so continued screening ensures any new changes are caught early.
Helping Your Body Clear the Virus
There’s no antiviral medication that eliminates HPV from your body. Your immune system does that work. In a large study tracking new HPV infections, 66% cleared within 12 months and 90% cleared within 24 months. The younger and healthier you are, the more efficiently your body tends to handle the infection.
While there’s no proven way to speed up clearance, supporting your immune system generally helps. That means not smoking (smoking is strongly linked to persistent HPV infections and cervical cell changes), getting adequate sleep, managing stress, and eating a balanced diet. Smoking is one of the few modifiable risk factors that consistently shows up in HPV research, so quitting is one of the most concrete things you can do.
Vaccination Still Helps After a Positive Test
If you haven’t been vaccinated, getting the HPV vaccine is still worthwhile even after a positive test. The current vaccine (Gardasil 9) protects against nine HPV types, including the seven that cause most HPV-related cancers and the two that cause most genital warts. Since most people who test positive are only carrying one or two strains, the vaccine can still protect you against the others.
There’s another benefit worth knowing about: for people who’ve had precancerous cells treated, vaccination after treatment appears to help prevent abnormal cells from coming back. The vaccine is approved for adults up to age 45, so there’s a wide window to get it.
Talking to Partners
HPV spreads through vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and also through close skin-to-skin contact during sex. A person can transmit the virus even without any visible symptoms. Condoms reduce transmission but don’t eliminate it completely, since the virus can live on skin that a condom doesn’t cover.
There’s no approved HPV test for men, and no test exists to determine a person’s overall “HPV status.” This means your partner can’t simply get tested to find out if they have it. If you have visible genital warts, the CDC recommends avoiding sex until the warts have been treated and are gone. Beyond that, the practical reality is that HPV is so common that most sexually active people encounter it at some point. Being honest with partners is important, but an HPV diagnosis doesn’t require the same urgent notification as some other sexually transmitted infections.
Screening Going Forward
Current guidelines recommend that people with a cervix between ages 25 and 65 get a primary HPV test every five years. If that’s not available, co-testing (an HPV test plus a Pap smear) every five years or a Pap smear alone every three years are acceptable alternatives. These intervals apply to average-risk individuals. If you’ve had abnormal results or treatment for precancerous changes, your doctor will likely recommend more frequent monitoring tailored to your history.
HPV testing is not currently recommended for people under 25, because infections are so common in younger adults and almost always clear on their own. Screening before 25 leads to unnecessary procedures without improving outcomes.
HPV and Pregnancy
HPV does not typically complicate pregnancy or harm the baby. In a study of over 1,000 pregnant women, 40% tested positive for HPV, yet only 7% of their babies had any detectable HPV at birth. Every one of those infants cleared the infection before six months of age. Vertical transmission during pregnancy or delivery is uncommon, and when it does happen, it resolves on its own.
If you have genital warts during pregnancy, your doctor may choose to monitor rather than treat them, since warts sometimes grow faster due to hormonal changes and may shrink after delivery. Treatment for precancerous cell changes is generally postponed until after delivery unless there’s concern about invasive cancer. Having HPV does not change whether you can deliver vaginally.