Anal warts are pretty unpleasant. This may be a self-apparent statement, but to anyone who has actually experienced these nodules, it’s also a screaming understatement.

Anal warts, or condyloma acuminata, can cause anything from itching to severe pain, and may also produce mucus discharge or a feeling of fullness in your backside. For sexual partners, this can be distracting at best, and prohibitively uncomfortable at worst. Anal warts are also a precursor to anal cancer, a very serious diagnosis at any age.

The best way to avoid anal warts is to get the HPV vaccine in your youth – for both boys and girls. Recently Buzzfeed made this particular vaccination program a cause celebre, publishing a GIF-laden listicle (their trademark) about the many, many benefits of the vaccine, including this statistic:

And this impact can be seen globally: a 2015 systematic review found that when countries had at least 50% female vaccination coverage, HPV infections were down 68% and genital warts were down 61% in teen girls aged 13–19 (when comparing the post-vaccination period to the pre-vaccination period).

Warts are pretty bad, and the pain they cause can be among the most intense that most young people will experience. For more information about avoiding and treating anal warts in Los Angeles, contact us here.