The first time I heard about HPV (Human papillomavirus), I’m pretty sure it was during a flash of a Gardisal commercial where a fresh faced young women talked about a vaccine to help prevent it.

My first thought? What is HPV? My second thought, if there’s no signs of symptoms, how do I know I don’t have it?

In school, Sex-Ed visuals of puffy soars, warts, and growths scared me so much I barely wanted to touch a penis (though, I still did) but THAT was the connotation I had of sexually transmitted diseases. I figured it there was ever a burning sensation, I should seriously get my stuff checked, otherwise smooth sailing.

Being the smart woman I am, I “maned up” and got tests, visited my lovely gyno-lady and thankfully that all came out super clean, but here’s the thing;

With diseases like HPV, there are no signs of the virus–only rarely are there types of warts. And the scariest part about it, there are 30-40 types of the disease and the most commonly transmitted HPV types may lead to HPV-induced cancer. Cervical cancer being one of them. Hi, terrifying. Read More »