Most men who have penis warts absolutely do not want to talk about the problem. It's unsightly, scary and more than a little embarrassing. Keeping the issue under wraps seems wise. But one man, who will be referred to as Andy, was willing to discuss his penis wart problem. He had a terrible case of bumps, but specific penis care steps resolved the issue for him. Here's what happened.

The Infection

"The whole problem began when I started seeing a new girlfriend," Andy says. "She told me that she had a problem with bumps down there, and I saw one or two when things got heated up, but I went ahead and had sex anyway. I figured I was healthy and it wouldn't matter."

"Boy, was I wrong," Andy says. "Within just a few weeks, I had lumps and bumps that were just as bad as hers, or worse. I felt so dumb that I hadn't protected myself better."

"When I found out that a sexually transmitted infection was causing these things, I was just beside myself with anger and worry," Andy says. "And I didn't want to do any of the treatments my doctor recommended. Burning them off? No thank you. I decided to just watch and wait, and see if they would go away."

Living with Warts

Andy took a very reasonable approach to his warts, as many cases of human papilloma virus (HPV) that cause penis bumps do go away with time. The immune system learns to recognize the virus as an invader, and when that happens, all the bumps a man might have can disappear. But it might take a long time for the virus to clear.

"Waiting was the worst thing in the world for me," Andy says. "I had split up with my girlfriend, so I didn't have a regular sex partner, but I didn't want to go out and find somebody new, either. I didn't want to give this to anyone else."

"Plus, the bumps were just gross," Andy says. "My whole dick looked like it had barnacles on it. Lumps and bumps were everywhere, and I couldn't stand it. Sometimes, it made me really depressed to even be naked."

"I checked in with my doctor regularly, and we both kept an eye on the warts," Andy says. "Every time I went in for an appointment, my doctor reminded me that I could get the things taken off. But I just wasn't ready to do that quite yet."

Treatment Options

If Andy had wanted to treat his warts, he could have used therapies that:

- Trigger the immune system to work faster

- Burn off the warts at skin level

- Cut out the warts at the root

- Freeze the warts off at skin level

But in a few weeks, his warts did go away.

"I would advise men like me to go see their doctors for help, even if they don't want to have treatments done," Andy says. "Apparently, some of these warts can cause cancer, so a doctor should really be in charge of things. I'm glad that didn't happen to me!"

Next Steps

Andy emerged healthy and happy, but he also learned a few important lessons.

"For starters, I listen to my partners a little better," Andy says. "If they tell me that they have bumps, we don't have sex. It's just that simple. And I always tell them about my history, just in case they don't want to have sex with me. I feel that being honest is extremely important."

Andy also uses a penis health cream (health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil) every day to keep his skin as soft and smooth as it can be. There's no virus protection in such a product, but it can help to boost overall member health in terms of skin condition, sensitivity and circulation.