Planned Parenthood

Someone asked us:

I’m 24 cisfemale and have been monogomously with my 31yo cisfemale partner for 2 years. I recently tested positive for a high risk strain of hpv. No way to tell from who or when. Her results came back negative. Is it possible her body has fought it off, especially if she initially had it, so it’s been more time? Can I have more detailed information on how hpv spreads between two women? And how to be safer? We are highly sexually involved. PS We have a follow up with her physician to ask as well!

Lots of great questions about HPV (human papillomavirus) here! You bet I’m going to answer the heck out of them. But first I want to say that it sounds like you and your partner are both super on top of your health and you’re communicating openly about it, which is truly fabulous! Bravo!

The thing about HPV is that sometimes you can have it and not know it for a while, and sometimes it can come and go without you even knowing it was there. So there’s no way to know for sure who you got it from or when you got it. Getting tested is the only way to know for sure if you have high-risk HPV, so it’s awesome that you and your partner were both able to do that. Keeping up with your recommended HPV/Pap tests in the future will help you both stay healthy long term. Your doctor or nurse will let you both know how often you should get them.

HPV is passed through skin-to-skin contact, which happens in all different kinds of sex. Until you get the all clear from your doctor or nurse, it’s a good idea to avoid any direct genital-to-genital contact. Oral sex on the vulva of the person with HPV can put your partner at risk of oral HPV, but dental dams can lower the risk. If you use sex toys together, using condoms on them or washing them between uses can prevent spreading HPV.

The HPV vaccine prevents many of the strains of HPV that can lead to cancer. Even though you know you have high risk HPV, you can still talk with your doctor or nurse about whether or not the vaccine makes sense for you. It can help protect you from other high-risk types of HPV. And even though the vaccine is generally recommended for people younger than 26, your partner can still talk to her doctor or nurse about it, too.

Smoking can increase your risk of cancer if you have high risk HPV, so if you smoke, now’s a good time to quit.

It sounds like you and your partner are already taking steps to be safe. Keeping up with your check-ups and continuing the awesome open communication with your partner will totally get you both through this.

-Emily at Planned Parenthood