Tell me everything you know about genital warts.

[Zoo Loo Naturals]

Mom has genital warts outbreak, first time, 36 weeks pregnant, first baby, teenager, eating fairly well, having homebirth, pretty large area and spreading fast.

Tell me everything you know about about shrinking the warts, reducing the spread and your thoughts on natural birth here. Thanks!!

HPV keeps rearing it's ugly head for me to do more research.

[mwherbs]

so the outside warts are usually not the same ones that infect the cervix and cause weird paps- which is good to know
I don't know what will inhibit them for a pregnant gal- I know that there are topical treatments for non-pregnant women and I have also have assisted women with warts- they are not very flexible and can tear/shred
she could try topical vitamin A
and I will have to look but maybe rosemary gladstar has some herbal suggestions..

[Zoo Loo Naturals]

they are not very flexible and can tear/shred

Yeah, we are discussing that. It seems with this in mind that trying to reduce them before delivery would be helpful, but I'm not coming up with any ideas there. I think they will shrink after delivery, pregnancy makes the body do things that would otherwise lay dormant...

Do get back with me on what Rosemary says-I appreciate it.

[Charmie981]

When I was a student, we had this situation. The backup OB put her on anti-viral meds because the risk of a vaginal birth with active lesions is greater than the risk of the antivirals. In a case where time is of the essence, like this one, I would go with the proven treatments (ie drugs) rather than risk an alternative treatment that might (or might not) work. The antivirals still take like 3 weeks to work, so she'll need to get on them ASAP if you decide to go this route.

[mwherbs]

viral suppression is a good idea, but I did not know that it would work for warts-- I know it works for herpes.
If it does work great it will keep new ones from forming but what to do about the existing ones?

[Charmie981]

:duh Yep, it WAS herpes. *sigh* I'm an idiot.

Varney's says that most of the topicals are safe during pregnancy, but I have no idea how well those work.

SORRY!

[mwherbs]

for condyloma

one long time topical treatment is herbal in origin- but I don't think that it is safe in pregnancy- Podofilox -
the other treatments aldara (Imiquimod) also topical and counter-indicated in pregnancy and Interferon

----------
here is an abstract
Clin Dermatol. 2003 Sep-Oct;21(5):426-46.

Changing paradigms in dermatology: antivirals in dermatology.

Lin P, Torres G, Tyring SK.

Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago,
Illinois, USA.

Almost all of the approved antiviral drugs have become available during the past
two decades. Approximately one half of these agents are for the treatment of
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and comprise five classes. The
first three classes all act to inhibit reverse transcriptase: nucleoside
analogs; nonnucleoside analogs; and nucleotide analogs. The fourth class,
protease inhibitors, prevent viral packaging; the fifth class, fusion
inhibitors, prevent fusion between HIV and the target cell. Four nucleoside
analogs, acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir and penciclovir, are approved for
the therapy of herpes simplex and varicella zoster infections. Interferon alpha
is approved in the injectable form for condyloma acuminatum and Kaposi's
sarcoma, but the more efficient method of delivering this agent is via
interferon induction following topical use of imiquimod cream. Antiviral agents
are also approved for infections with cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B and C,
respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza viruses. Most of these antiviral
drugs are virastatic and not viracidal. Vaccines and public health measures are
much more effective and cost effective than antiviral drugs and must be promoted
accordingly in the defense against viral infections.

[Zoo Loo Naturals]

Thanks ladies.

I'm frustrated and just not findng much info on the subject.

[CookieMonsterMommy]

Most docs won't let the mother have a vaginal birth if she has warts present on the cervix or vagina/labia/perineum.

Can her OB "burn" them off with vinegar? The OB I worked for did this to several patients. it takes several treatments, but since it's basically just vinegar, it's safe for pregnant women.

Kelly

[notyourusual]

I've heard that betamannon is a great supplement for HPV. I don't know about actually shrinking the size of warts but have heard a lot of midwives talk about using it to help "reverse" Pap smears. It's hard to get info on it, but from what I've found it is a derivative of aloe vera that is usually removed in the typical processing/packaging of aloe vera so it has to be specifically ordered.

Interesting about "burning off" with vinegar. I've never heard of that before. I've heard of them doing it with liquid nitrogen before but never vinegar. Good to know!