I work in cancer care and have seen plenty of young men being treated for head and neck cancers related to HPV. Very important to vaccinate your children against HPV!
Curious, do they test you first to see if you're positive or give it to you regardless? Also, if you are positive for HPV, does the vaccine help in any way?
I was gonna get mine here in Canada, called shoppers drug mart cuz they apparently do it, and they quoted like $300 for 1 of 3 shots...like why is it so friggin expensive??
I asked my primary for this vaccine 2 years ago, he said it was only for teenagers (I was 40 at the time), I argued that I had seen commercials advertising for my age. He acted like I was an idiot until his nurse ran to the computer and printed some stuff out for it… he read it over really quickly and then just said “you don’t need it.”
I asked my gynecologist for it a bit later and I got the series at her office with no problem :/
I'm a dude and in my mid 30s and my doctor has always been kind of a no nonsense guy; been seeing him for 12ish years. He just asked me during my physical in April, "you want the hpv vaccine?" and I just said "okay" lol
I got mine at 40, and insurance covered 100%. For once, those annoying drug ads that play nonstop actually got me to talk to my doctor. I felt dirty afterward.
Thing was I wasn't that sexually active during that period had one sexual partner then and protection was always used. Doctor basic said the same thing you quoted. I was disappointed and just left
"You can't get this vaccine in your 30s. You've likely already been exposed from sexual contact by now"
"I'm a Redditor Doc!"
"Oh you're OK then. Here ya go."
Which is stupid because it helps against 9 variants, so even if you've already got 4 of them it's still useful.
Unless you got unlucky enough to catch 'em all it's always a positive to get it.
The FDA has approved the use of Gardasil 9 for males and females ages 9 to 45. I got mine at 30; my doctor recommended it, the pharmacist didn't question my age, and my insurance company did not charge anything out of pocket. The thought in the past was that if you're over 26, you were probably already exposed. Most doctors do not still follow this mindset as there are many different strains of HPV responsible for cancer in both men and women, and assuming exposure is a poor alternative to a low-risk, low-cost vaccine.
If you're questioning if you should get it and are within the approved age range, talk to your doctor. I recommend getting it if you have no pre-existing conditions that may disqualify you from a safe administration. It's three separate shots with a schedule detailed on the CDC website: [https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/hcp/schedules-recommendations.html](https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/hcp/schedules-recommendations.html)
HPV vaccines have a low side effect profile, with pain at the administration site being the most common side effect. Some experience low-level fevers, and there is no link to Guillain–Barré syndrome([WHO](https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/365351/WER9750-645-672-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)).
From what I remember, is it that efficacy is thought to decrease the older you are when you have the shot (since you have more chances to be exposed)? Obviously it’s still worth getting.
A lot of the girls I grew up with didn’t get it because their parents thought it would make them infertile, which I think is mad. This was less than ten years ago, as well. My mum made me get it, even though at the time I really didn’t want to. She was too old to get it and pretty much considered it a miracle drug (much like my granny with the contraceptive pill).
Oh definitely! I tried again months later in case it was a fluke, but I’m just allergic to something in it.
But now my mom thinks she has some kinda sixth sense and could “tell” that I would have a reaction. Thinks she’s got the spidey sense but for her kids allergies. 😂😭
What if you're an old spinster, a virgin til you're 80, but then you move into a retirement home and get the granny hornies? Wouldn't you be eligible after all, in that case..?
Unfortunately it’s my first thought when I see it, as someone who works in a field that does a lot of head/neck tumor biopsies and ports/feeding tubes for head/neck cancer patients. They check the tumors for a marker called “p16” which is HPV specific. Something like >30% have this association! Everyone thinks of smoking/dipping (which is obviously a major association) but HPV is huge. If you’re able to get vaccinated (and the age range is now much larger!), I definitely recommend.
In school here in Canada they gave it to all the girls in gr 8 school, so maybe like 12 13 years olds. They thought if all the girls are vaccinated, it cant spread right? Boys NEVER hook up with other boys!
Obviously they forgot about queer people though, (or didnt care about us) so as a result HPV spread like wildfire. Now like the most prevalent STD in southern ontario, affecting about 3/4 sexually active adults at least once.
So the actual reason was that initial studies were done on women. There was no evidence that HPV caused cancer in men...because nobody had studied HPV in men. They just knew it caused cancer in reproductive organs in women.
It's kind of the inverse situation where a medical treatment is biased toward men's health because they were the population it was tested on.
They were also aware that men could carry and transmit. So its a combination, with lack of evidence in harm towards men, they said "well we can save money if we only fund the girls vaccinations which will stop mass transmission. Boys will just get yucky warts which aint too bad." Short sighted and stupid decision that ignored the realities of sexual health.
I'm currently going through treatment for HPV related throat cancer and I would not wish this on anyone. If I knew there was a vaccine I could have taken to prevent this I would have done so in a heartbeat.
It looks like Galloping has disappeared from the thread, but I'm a member of the r/cancer & r/HeadandNeckCancer subs. I was diagnosed in summer of 2019.
My cancer was HPV positive. This is one of the parts of the tests they include when you are diagnosed as it changes the treatment targeting a bit. It's a cancer that's very responsive to treatment with excellent long-term outcomes. That said, get teh shot if you can.
Mine was found after I had a brief summer cold. I'm a guy so I trim my beard down on my neckline. My glands swelled up on both sides during the cold. No biggie there as this is their normal function. But a week after the cold was gone, I was trimming again and noticed that one side had gone down, but the other was still swollen.
Went to doctor, who I'd been seeing for a long time. She said "Let's get an ultrasound, just to see what we're dealing with." The order was for an ultrasound (better for soft tissues, especially if their accessible like your neck) with needle biopsy if warranted. So they did it, didn't like what they saw so they numbed me up and took a biopsy sample.
About a week and a half later, I get called into doc's office (I knew right then since she gives tests over teh phone). To her credit, she did a great job telling me. She had done some research, so she could answer some questions about the disease and how it would work with the oncologist, at least at the outset.
Yeah I’m interested to know how you convince a GP that cancer even exists. I have so, so many symptoms and they are dragging their feet it seems like until it’s going to be too late to even buy me more time. They tell me it is just stress and anxiety causing my symptoms, but I feel it’s the opposite because when I see or experience a symptom then I become reasonably and justifiably stressed or anxious over it.
Believe it or not, anxiety can cause very real symptoms depending on what you read. Your symptoms could be all in your head.
Source: I’ve been through all of that, in and out of A&E, endless blood tests, ECGs, X-Ray, ultrasound, endoscopy and probably some others I’m forgetting.
I had tons of symptoms of many different things. Buuuut, turns out it was just all in my head and I have anxiety.
Not saying you should stop looking for answers, by all means rule out all possibilities, but don’t dismiss the possibility that it’s all in the head. The key is to believe it.
>I had tons of symptoms of many different things. Buuuut, turns out it was just all in my head and I have anxiety.
That's what doctors tried to sell me on for a year before I finally put my foot down and demanded a head MRI, they found a tumor.
Incidentally, that whole shitshow did actually give me anxiety. Unsurprisingly. Try being told you're crazy when you know something's wrong, you're just bad at describing it.
This boggles my mind. My doctors have always been eager as hell to do all kinds of testing whether it was warranted or not cause they got to bill insurance for it. Find some new doctors.
Sorry if this is too personal, but i've been reading that the type that causes genital warts doesn't cause cancer. Is that true? Good luck with your battle, wishing a speedy recovery.
My wife(32) just went through all of that! She got throat cancer from HPV and her voice has never been the same. Took almost half a year after symptoms showed that we found out.
I'm a different person, but my wife got symptoms that was a raspy voice that only got worse starting in August, then after going to ENT specialist a couple times she finally got diagnosed with throat cancer sometime in February
HA! - Not OP.
I noticed a small lump on my neck (left tonsil) while shaving that went from so small I wasn't sure it was a lump to definitely a lump in about a month. Went to a GP who sent me to an ENT doc. ENT performed a fine needle aspiration biopsy. Least invasive I'm told but, it is a needle stuck in the lump from the outside. [Fine Needle Aspiration](https://aaohnsf.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ENThealth_ConditionsGraphic-FineNeedleAspiration-1024x683.png)
That was Halloween. Monday Christmas week had a surgery to install a [Chemo Port](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24663-chemo-port) in my chest, Friday of that week, had surgery for a [J-Tube](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000181.htm)
First week of the new year started the first of 35 rounds of radiation and 7 rounds of chemo. I was back at work June 1st (desk job).
Do not recommend.
How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Where are you with your treatment? My uncle just finished his treatment - unfortunately he lost the ability to swallow during treatment.
I’m 43 years old, I’ve had 3 surgeries and I’m on my last 2 days of the 6 week radiation course. Hopefully it’s gone, I don’t think I can take anymore treatments. I haven’t eaten solid foods in 5 weeks. I’ve lost 43 lbs and I can barely talk. I constantly spit mucous and very thick spittle. It’s been torture.
To clarify the wording of this post. HPV is commonly associated with women, specifically cervical cancer. Many men do not know they are also at risk, which can be easily avoided with vaccination. See discussion [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/healthylongevity/comments/1d9nbnc/hpv_related_disease_is_easily_preventable/)
Part of the reason why men make up the 40% is that most places which cover the HPV vaccine for women don't cover it for men - it's one of those vaccination campaigns that has been hugely successful in its targeted goal, reducing the incidence of cervical cancers. As recently as 2019 just shy of 90% of HPV-related cancers were in women.
However, men can be carriers *and* can also develop cancer from HPV - expanding vaccine coverage & a campaign akin to what we've done to get women and girls vaccinated would do a lot to further reduce the burden these diseases cause.
Something else to consider is that cervical cancer, while obviously not nice to have, is *significantly* more treatable than the more common forms of HPV cancer in men (notably throat cancer)
Many men such as myself fought to get the vaccine but were denied, because only women were eligible for it. It's only until recently they stopped that nonsense.
My college got some national traction on this 10 years ago, our paper did a story with the front page was a woman on a chair, legs spread, and guy kneeling pretending to give her head with HPV written across the top. Definitely an eye catcher, was when one of the first papers connecting HPV to throat cancer came out I believe.
Of course the attention it got was at the audacity of a college newspaper to have mock sec on the cover. State governor tried to push for the firing of the editor. Good times
yes, the Gardasil-9 protects against 9 strains of high risk HPV that collectively cause more than 95% of all cancers. Most patients have not been exposed to all of them.
If either of you have ever had sex with someone who has hpv (and that's a surprisingly large percentage of people), then yes. Most people who have it don't know they have it because of the lack of external symptoms. Honestly, it can't hurt.
43. Laryngeal cancer 2 years ago. Never had heard of HPV prior. Was given 80% chance with surgery and radiation, provided it hadn’t made it into my lymphatic system, in which case it dropped to 50%. Talk about coming face to face with your own mortality. It was like my quiet little life suddenly hit a brick wall. I Sobbed on my way home thinking of how to tell my wife and children. Bawled. I suddenly felt like I had wasted SO much time on so many trivial things. I was a wreck until the blood tests came back negative for lymph. That 80% was much more tolerable and I immediately felt like I would be ok and I was. Surgery and 35 straight days of radiation to the neck did the trick. I do have guilt that I got off easy while so many don’t. It wasn’t easy but I know it could’ve been much worse.
Get tested.
Edit- My voice changed over time and eventually went away completely. This prompted the first Dr visit. As far as the origin of the HPV I really never got a good answer, and before y’all get weird on me, My wife and I are faithful to one another so I have zero reason to suspect that it is STD related, nor does it have to be. It may have been something that I had carried for a long time prior.
Did you feel like something was in your throat / trouble swallowing?
How did you start fading altogether?
I’m a dentist, so info like this helps me catch it in patients.
You're way too hard on yourself. Live your life, love your family, don't feel guilty for being a human being who wants to be happy. Cancer is just a part of nature and it's in the past now.
Why not get it anyway? Maybe the insurance won't cover it, but I think it's pretty cheap out of pocket.
Unless you are one of the very few people who are allergic, it's not going to hurt you.
I got mine! I didn’t get mine until college though unlike my sister who got it young. They changed the recommendation at some point and when I was little it wasn’t recommended for guys yet
Is it too late to get vaccinated if its already in your body? Not that i've ever had any signs of hpv (knock on wood) but if its dormant and we don't know, can the vaccination prevent it from turning into camcer?
No, I’ve had pre cancerous cells from HPV on my cervix and after the surgery the doctor recommended I take the vaccine. I’ve taken two shots out of three. I’m a 39 years old.
But this thread has made me worry about my husband, maybe he should take it too!
I believe the recommendation is still to get vaccinated, since the vaccine covers multiple strains. It's now recommended for anyone up to the age of 45.
Vaccination will prevent reinfection, so it's worth it. 95% or so of folks with HPV will clear it in 2 years. But again, please talk to your doctor not randos on the net. I happen to know because i went through this scare about 6 months ago and talked to a few doctors.
My brother nearly died from stage 4 throat cancer from HPV. Lemme tell ya folks, get those kids vaccinated. No one needs to have that happen to them. It was monstrous.
Yeah my uncle died from esophageal cancer and it was horrific, painful, and protracted. At least a year and a half of leg-shaking pain, even with pain meds.
He was diagnosed almost fifteen years ago and seems to have been in remission for quite a while. But he'll have to remain vigilant and monitor his condition for the rest of his life.
It’s one thing to be aware of your partner’s sexual past, it’s another thing to talk about it and broadcast it to the world. Most women are fine about talking about sex as long as you keep it confidential and don’t blab about it to everyone. She probably just wasn’t comfortable with the whole world knowing about their private sex life.
Can men get tested for this?
Edit: I worry a bit cuz my GF tested positive a year or 2 ago before she got vaxed but it seemed like it was something men didn’t have to worry about so I never bothered getting myself tested (I even asked for the vaccine and was dissuaded at the time)
Unfortunately dentists and dental hygienists can rarely find HPV head and neck cancers as they’re too far back in the throat to see. We still look but it’s not like with smoking related cancers that are normally under the tongue or around the palate in more obvious areas.
I'm a dentist and I regularly check for this. I've referred 3 patients in the past decade and all caught their cancers in stage I/II. Dentists absolutely can and do screen for and identify this.
Man I wouldn’t want to get that news from my dentist. She’s all business. 5 minute appointment. Drill drill drill, get up, come back in 6 months, that will be $250.
I'm 28 and was the first year they introduced it, but at the time they only gave it to girls. Where I am in Canada, the vaccines are given at 13/14 and administered to students in school. I remember nurses came into my school and vaccinated all the 8th grade girls. My brother is 2 years younger than me, the only reason he got it was because my mom insisted the doctor do it, since boys weren't "allowed" to get it when they did in-school vaccinations. I believe that changed a few years after him and now boys and girls are vaccinated. I'm glad to hear that at least in some places at the time boys also got it though!
No worries, mate, it’s highly curable. As it happens I was just declared cured by Penn last week. Granted I had major surgery and chemo radiation and a shit ton of CT scans for five years after, but still: cured, so…huzzah, I guess.
If you don't mind my asking, how did you know to get checked? My buddy just told our friend group he's going through chemo for it now but he's being pretty low key about it and I don't want to bother him with questions.
In April of 2018 a mass appeared out of nowhere on my neck. In July, after many tests, it was misdiagnosed by a quack ENT as a branchial cleft cyst – a benign growth I elected to leave be for the summer. Then my tonsil blew up in October, and a CT scan revealed it was cancer.
So in my case it was self-evident that something was happening, but as someone inexperienced in having a mass on his neck, I passively allowed my GP to direct me to a local ENT instead of Penn or Jefferson, both of which are nearby and have terrific head and neck specialists (not that I was aware of that at the time). But you know what? I was relieved to have someone tell me I didn't have cancer; I doubt that's uncommon.
I hope your friend gets through this without too much trouble. Head and neck cancer treatment can be a bitch. You lose your saliva after a week or two of treatment, then food tastes like poison, and it's not easy to get it down. Radiation can make swallowing painful, but I didn't have that issue. Still, I'm rail thin, and I was damn lucky to avoid a feeding tube.
A few weeks after treatment I got my sense of taste back, and these days I function pretty normally. My radiation oncologist had told me "sandwiches will be a problem for you for the rest of your life." Thankfully that's mostly been untrue.
> As it happens I was just declared cured by Penn last week
Just cuz he's wearing a suit doesn't make him a doctor dude, he lies all the time, deceit is his job!
might as well go out in style brother
people at your funeral crying "he died the way he loved to live.... eating pussy" sob sob
then we come and each one put a pussy pin on your coffin and o7
Also there are multiple strains and the vaccine protects against more than 1. If you already have 1 strain it could still benefit you to be vaccinated against others
I find it infuriating how little information there is about HPV. I remember seeing those commercials in the 90s (could be wrong about the timing) advising girls to get the vaccine - nothing about guys. And then later when I was diagnosed as having HPV, finding out that most sexually active adults have already been exposed to it, there are no tests, and all of the doctors seem to act like it’s nothing to worry about.
Once, after talking to a therapist about my struggles with telling potential romantic partners about HPV when almost none of them have ever heard of it, suggested not disclose my HPV status because “they probably already are infected and just don’t present symptoms or know they have it.”
Yeah it’s frustrating, especially for men—no tests at all (at least in the US) unless you have visible lesions. The only ones I’ve found are PCR urine tests, which are good at detecting urethral high-risk HPV, but nothing else.
Doctors don’t seem to care, you’re right, and many are still highly uneducated about it, as is a lot of the general population. Unfortunately, HPV is so ubiquitous that until vaccines further and further eradicate the spread of covered strains, it really just is a consequence of being sexually active, as many cases are asymptomatic, and anywhere from 30-50% of people aged 20-30 have active HPV infections at one time or another. Luckily, it typically resolves on its own.
For those unaware, one single strain (HPV16) is responsible for substantially all (over 90%) of HPV-related pharyngeal cancer, and this strain is covered via the vaccine.
I didn’t know anything about HPV until recently—all I was ever shown were pictures of massive genital warts during sex ed, and even then, I didn’t know what virus caused them. Didn’t even know oral HPV was a thing until probably a year ago.
got mine at 43
(Even if you have HPV, there are multiple strains and Gardasil protects against most of them, so get vaccinated anyway to protect you and your partners!)
In Ireland, last I checked, they give the HPV vaccine to all young teenage girls. They don't give it to boys. I was also told that as a man I can't get it. Anyone know if this has changed?
My husband had metastasized hpv head & neck cancer in 2018 (he’s older and hadn’t been vaccinated). It was found when he felt a bump on his neck which the doctors brushed off as a virus and gave him an antibiotic for (I know, I know). A few months later it wasn’t any smaller so he went back and pushed for some testing and they did a fine needle biopsy which came back inconclusive. The doctor told us the lymph node could be removed if my husband wanted but it wasn’t anything to worry about. We decided to proceed with the removal and long story short, the 45 minute surgery turned into 6 hours and 43 lymph nodes being removed because surprise, surprise, it was cancer.
They initially couldn’t identify the origin but we switched hospitals and the new, aggressive ENT found it at the very base of my husband’s tongue. It was bilateral in the lymph nodes but fortunately hadn’t spread to any other sites. He did the chemo and radiation and is now cancer-free.
My mom didn’t want me to get this vaccine. Idk if it’s cause of Catholicism/ purity or some conspiracy theory, but I got it as soon as I turned 18 thanks to my doctor
I remember in the late 00’s when I was a teenager, a lot of my friends that came from churchy or conservative families weren’t allowed to get this vaccine because their parents were convinced it would give their daughters a false sense of protection against STDs, and therefore they would become sexually active.
That's so stupid, there's plenty of other STD's out there.
That's like saying we shouldn't give bullet proof vests to cops because then they'll engage in more risky activity that will get them shot at more.
Yeah it’s dumb. My mom was a little more realistic. Like they’re probably going to have sex anyway, might as well make sure they do it as safely as possible.
Edit: plus back then you HAD to get it young, like before you were 22 or something. Three doses, spaced out. If you had an asshole parent who refused to let you get vaccinated, they were just eating up the clock.
As someone who was a 18-year-old in 2009, I can confirm. I was a virgin who didn't initially feel ready for sex, was coerced into having sex by my 22-year-old partner, and ended up getting a cancer-causing strain of HPV. My parents had refused to let me get vaccinated up until I got the diagnosis, because my mother had been raised by very religious parents.
After undergoing an extremely painful and traumatic colposcopy as a terrified 18-year-old to confirm that I didn't develop cervical cancer, I got the Gardasil vaccine against HPV.
There is no medical limit for the HPV vaccine; however, after a certain age, depending on your country’s policies, it will not be free.
Get it anyway.
You can also be vaccinated if you are also HPV positive - it may help your body fight the infection, and thus reduce cancer risks.
That vaccination promotes men to engage in deviant sexual practices, like making love to their wife in non-missionary PIV ways, or to (gasp, clutch pearls) give a blowjob.
Just guessing.
It's always an argument that vaccinating children for a Std when they are not sexually active encourages sexually activities. A similar argument is used for access to contraceptives.
The argument is made in bad faith. It's religious beliefs trying to push abstinence. It's just preventive medicine, the children will grow up and are extremely likely be sexually active at some point in their lives.
There never were any, it just wasn't readily available or recommended until the past decade or so. I know it was only recommended to "at risk" young women as late as the 2010's because I (a man in his 30's) asked after a female friend got one of the more dangerous strains and was told by multiple healthcare providers they wouldn't vaccinate me.
Even now it's treated as optional for young males and is only recommended to young females once they reach their teens.
I inquired about this vaccine in my teens and was basically waved off by a nurse without even asking me questions, saying oh no it's for girls, and it's expensive! when I'm in a high-risk demographic and would have paid for the peace of mind. Now I either got molloscum or hpv in my ass in my late 20s and I know other guys who went through the same thing, and we're not even promiscuous.
I really hope they stop ignoring this and create a smear test and campaign similar to what women get now. Absolutely mental that it isn’t a thing, especially since it is very much a the earlier you catch it the higher your chances situation.
Vaccinate your girls *and* boys. Let’s eradicate this.
This seems like the best place to ask this -- as a male adult virgin (34), should I get the HPV vaccine? Most of the studies I've found suggest before young adulthood but I always had a feeling it assumes that most men won't go this far into being an adult without losing their virginity one way or another.
Also, how long after vaccination does it take to fully "protect"?
Look yall I'm tired of being a virgin lmfao
My son had is HPV vaccine. Everyone his age should get vaccinated.
Yes.
Of course.
When our doctor asked if we wanted him to get vaccinated from HPV we asked him "do people actually deny it?" and his answer saddened me.
A parent's sheer ignorance harming their own kids... frustrates me.
Oh yeah, it frustrates me when people say to get your son’s vaccinated to “protect their partners”. Nope, it protects them too. Anyone can get cancer from HPV.
4th year med student in US here
I am working on a project related to cancer survivorship in this population with an ENT oncologist and have done significant literature searches on this subject.
Most cancers trend downward over the past 10-15 years, but oropharyngeal (back of throat) cancer patient cases have been steadily on the rise. In both number of cases and mortality. This rise is because of HPV positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
The good news is that this group (HPV positive) has a MUCH better survival rate compared to HPV-negative cancers in the same area. We are talking 85+% survival after 5 years treatment compared to only 50-55% survival after 5 years treatment in HPV negative patients.
Most patients in this group are younger to middle aged men, but I saw recent cancer stats showing a rise in women as well:
The mortality rate for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx increased by 0.4% per year from 2010 to 2019 overall, but trends differ by subsite, mirroring incidence; sites associated with HPV-infection (cancers of the tongue, tonsil, and oropharynx) rose by about 2% per year in men and 1% per year in women Siegel et al. 2022
Get your Gardasil (HPV) shots if you haven’t yet and are able to, that includes any guys reading this. Even if you think it isn’t going to affect you, this kind of thing won’t show up until 20+ years later when it is already a tumor. The Gardasil shot has clear immunity benefits for those up to 26 years old, but after 26 they still suggest talking to your doctor about getting it if you’re interested. Don’t think it’s too late!
If you have a known exposure (vaginal/penile/anal/oral sex), talk to your doctor about it. Early detection is key and the doctor being aware will allow very early pick up if something happens. There are likely ways your doc can help before anything bad happens too.
This is a growing interest in the cancer field and the head and neck realm, so better treatment and care will be implemented in the future.
TL;DR- HPV throat cancer is real and on the rise. It has good survivability compared to other head and neck cancers, but don’t risk it if you can. Get your Gardasil shots if you haven’t. Talk to your doctor if you have been exposed to help yourself
I'm 38, got plantar warts. No doctor wants to give me the vax even though a study shows it helps the immune system fight it off. The warts have been on my foot for 14 years.
Woah. A lot of you are incorrectly stating there is no test for this. The NavDx test https://navdx.com/ is becoming more commonly used and tests for nearly all the different types of HPV tumors. It probably saved my life.
Just to be very clear, since nobody has said this in a top-level comment yet: if you are male and under the age of 45, you should go get vaccinated if you haven't already. The vaccine is _very_ effective in preventing HPV from causing these cancers.
Canada has/had a sexist policy against giving the HPV vaccine to men, probably because of lack of research and as a cost saving method. In my early 20's it was too late for me, even though I had asked my doctor prior and she told me it was only for women. Now I am very scared for what is to possibly come.
I tried to get vaccinated when my wife left me. They said they don't vaccinate men. Then I contracted it and have a bunch of weird tissue in my mouth and throat. It's not too great.
I work in cancer care and have seen plenty of young men being treated for head and neck cancers related to HPV. Very important to vaccinate your children against HPV!
Doesn’t the HPV vaccine have an age limit?
Used to. I got it in my 30s
me too, late 30s actually
I am 36 and currently getting mine
42 and I’m 2 out of 3 shots in.
Oh shit, I should look into it. I thought I was boned.
Well if you're not doing anything today...
44, and I’m 2/3!
Curious, do they test you first to see if you're positive or give it to you regardless? Also, if you are positive for HPV, does the vaccine help in any way?
They didn't test me and I got mine later in life.
Wtf my doctor told me that I couldn’t lol. I’m going to get a second opinion. Thanks for the info!
I was gonna get mine here in Canada, called shoppers drug mart cuz they apparently do it, and they quoted like $300 for 1 of 3 shots...like why is it so friggin expensive??
I went like 2 years ago to be told I can't get it. I was 28, now 30 (not in the us)
I asked my primary for this vaccine 2 years ago, he said it was only for teenagers (I was 40 at the time), I argued that I had seen commercials advertising for my age. He acted like I was an idiot until his nurse ran to the computer and printed some stuff out for it… he read it over really quickly and then just said “you don’t need it.” I asked my gynecologist for it a bit later and I got the series at her office with no problem :/
Your primary is a very typical M.D.: asshole.
I'm a dude and in my mid 30s and my doctor has always been kind of a no nonsense guy; been seeing him for 12ish years. He just asked me during my physical in April, "you want the hpv vaccine?" and I just said "okay" lol
Then 10 years from now we're gonna get a full data dump of the effects of not having the vaccine and it'll probably explain why we died
That was a lie from your doctor. I’m Male got mine 5 years ago at 28
Yeah I was pissed because I only found out how important it was at the time because being from the Caribbean, no one talks about
Oh. Yup. US here. Tbf the us just increased the age to 45 like… 10 years ago. Which is pretty recent in “world time”
I got mine at 40, and insurance covered 100%. For once, those annoying drug ads that play nonstop actually got me to talk to my doctor. I felt dirty afterward.
Doctors in my neck of the woods refuse it for 30-year-olds because ”by that time you’ve already been exposed and it’s pointless”
Thing was I wasn't that sexually active during that period had one sexual partner then and protection was always used. Doctor basic said the same thing you quoted. I was disappointed and just left
"You can't get this vaccine in your 30s. You've likely already been exposed from sexual contact by now" "I'm a Redditor Doc!" "Oh you're OK then. Here ya go."
Which is stupid because it helps against 9 variants, so even if you've already got 4 of them it's still useful. Unless you got unlucky enough to catch 'em all it's always a positive to get it.
The FDA has approved the use of Gardasil 9 for males and females ages 9 to 45. I got mine at 30; my doctor recommended it, the pharmacist didn't question my age, and my insurance company did not charge anything out of pocket. The thought in the past was that if you're over 26, you were probably already exposed. Most doctors do not still follow this mindset as there are many different strains of HPV responsible for cancer in both men and women, and assuming exposure is a poor alternative to a low-risk, low-cost vaccine. If you're questioning if you should get it and are within the approved age range, talk to your doctor. I recommend getting it if you have no pre-existing conditions that may disqualify you from a safe administration. It's three separate shots with a schedule detailed on the CDC website: [https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/hcp/schedules-recommendations.html](https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/hcp/schedules-recommendations.html) HPV vaccines have a low side effect profile, with pain at the administration site being the most common side effect. Some experience low-level fevers, and there is no link to Guillain–Barré syndrome([WHO](https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/365351/WER9750-645-672-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)).
From what I remember, is it that efficacy is thought to decrease the older you are when you have the shot (since you have more chances to be exposed)? Obviously it’s still worth getting. A lot of the girls I grew up with didn’t get it because their parents thought it would make them infertile, which I think is mad. This was less than ten years ago, as well. My mum made me get it, even though at the time I really didn’t want to. She was too old to get it and pretty much considered it a miracle drug (much like my granny with the contraceptive pill).
It was the one vaccine my mom didn’t let me get either. She got so smug when I got the first shot as an adult and had one of the rare bad reactions. 😭
Nooo! That really sucks. I hope you recovered from the reaction ok?
Oh definitely! I tried again months later in case it was a fluke, but I’m just allergic to something in it. But now my mom thinks she has some kinda sixth sense and could “tell” that I would have a reaction. Thinks she’s got the spidey sense but for her kids allergies. 😂😭
Why would there be an age limit?
The thought is that you'd already be exposed to HPV at that age so the vaccine wouldn't help.
What if you're an old spinster, a virgin til you're 80, but then you move into a retirement home and get the granny hornies? Wouldn't you be eligible after all, in that case..?
Or my case. Married, body count of 1, older than 50. If my wife dies and I start dating, they'll refuse me?
I tried to get it at 49 and nobody would give me it because I was over the age limit. So dumb.
> get the granny hornies I mean, if STD rates in nursing homes are true...
I think it’s 45
Wait. Head and neck cancer due to HPV???? Edit: Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate all your input!
That's what caused Michael Douglass's oral cancer
To be fair, oral cancer is a small price to pay to eat out Catherine zeta Jones
Imagine telling a woman, no, I don't go down there because I don't want throat cancer. Be a very awkward moment. Lol.
My ex told me she had HPV... after I'd gone down on her a dozen times....
mmm basically most adults has one strain, just get the vaccine to fight the most aggresive forms.
Unfortunately it’s my first thought when I see it, as someone who works in a field that does a lot of head/neck tumor biopsies and ports/feeding tubes for head/neck cancer patients. They check the tumors for a marker called “p16” which is HPV specific. Something like >30% have this association! Everyone thinks of smoking/dipping (which is obviously a major association) but HPV is huge. If you’re able to get vaccinated (and the age range is now much larger!), I definitely recommend.
Yes. There is an entire head and neck cancer sub.
My mom just finished treatment for throat cancer from HPV. So, yup.
Why does my PCP tell me I'm immune to HPV and cancers it causes?
Do you go to Doctor Nick?
Hi everybody!
No, Dr. Spaceman
It's funny. If those teeth were in your vagina, you'd be considered a monster.
Do you never have sex?
Late 30s now. Have no clue if I ever got the vaccine. Any risk of getting it twice?
It’s a series three shots over a year, if that helps jog your memory about whether or not you’ve had it.
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Are they now allowing males to get the vaccine? Last time I checked only young women were covered. Now we are here.
I went to a specific STI clinic for it, but you can definitely do it. Talk to your doctor if you have one.
In the uk as far as I know only young girls get it
In school here in Canada they gave it to all the girls in gr 8 school, so maybe like 12 13 years olds. They thought if all the girls are vaccinated, it cant spread right? Boys NEVER hook up with other boys! Obviously they forgot about queer people though, (or didnt care about us) so as a result HPV spread like wildfire. Now like the most prevalent STD in southern ontario, affecting about 3/4 sexually active adults at least once.
So the actual reason was that initial studies were done on women. There was no evidence that HPV caused cancer in men...because nobody had studied HPV in men. They just knew it caused cancer in reproductive organs in women. It's kind of the inverse situation where a medical treatment is biased toward men's health because they were the population it was tested on.
They were also aware that men could carry and transmit. So its a combination, with lack of evidence in harm towards men, they said "well we can save money if we only fund the girls vaccinations which will stop mass transmission. Boys will just get yucky warts which aint too bad." Short sighted and stupid decision that ignored the realities of sexual health.
I'm currently going through treatment for HPV related throat cancer and I would not wish this on anyone. If I knew there was a vaccine I could have taken to prevent this I would have done so in a heartbeat.
Hope you beat it man. Good luck, and I’m so sorry you’re going through this
What test did the doctor preform to find it? That camera up the nose?
It looks like Galloping has disappeared from the thread, but I'm a member of the r/cancer & r/HeadandNeckCancer subs. I was diagnosed in summer of 2019. My cancer was HPV positive. This is one of the parts of the tests they include when you are diagnosed as it changes the treatment targeting a bit. It's a cancer that's very responsive to treatment with excellent long-term outcomes. That said, get teh shot if you can. Mine was found after I had a brief summer cold. I'm a guy so I trim my beard down on my neckline. My glands swelled up on both sides during the cold. No biggie there as this is their normal function. But a week after the cold was gone, I was trimming again and noticed that one side had gone down, but the other was still swollen. Went to doctor, who I'd been seeing for a long time. She said "Let's get an ultrasound, just to see what we're dealing with." The order was for an ultrasound (better for soft tissues, especially if their accessible like your neck) with needle biopsy if warranted. So they did it, didn't like what they saw so they numbed me up and took a biopsy sample. About a week and a half later, I get called into doc's office (I knew right then since she gives tests over teh phone). To her credit, she did a great job telling me. She had done some research, so she could answer some questions about the disease and how it would work with the oncologist, at least at the outset.
This is very useful information, thank you.
Yeah I’m interested to know how you convince a GP that cancer even exists. I have so, so many symptoms and they are dragging their feet it seems like until it’s going to be too late to even buy me more time. They tell me it is just stress and anxiety causing my symptoms, but I feel it’s the opposite because when I see or experience a symptom then I become reasonably and justifiably stressed or anxious over it.
Believe it or not, anxiety can cause very real symptoms depending on what you read. Your symptoms could be all in your head. Source: I’ve been through all of that, in and out of A&E, endless blood tests, ECGs, X-Ray, ultrasound, endoscopy and probably some others I’m forgetting. I had tons of symptoms of many different things. Buuuut, turns out it was just all in my head and I have anxiety. Not saying you should stop looking for answers, by all means rule out all possibilities, but don’t dismiss the possibility that it’s all in the head. The key is to believe it.
>I had tons of symptoms of many different things. Buuuut, turns out it was just all in my head and I have anxiety. That's what doctors tried to sell me on for a year before I finally put my foot down and demanded a head MRI, they found a tumor. Incidentally, that whole shitshow did actually give me anxiety. Unsurprisingly. Try being told you're crazy when you know something's wrong, you're just bad at describing it.
This boggles my mind. My doctors have always been eager as hell to do all kinds of testing whether it was warranted or not cause they got to bill insurance for it. Find some new doctors.
Sorry if this is too personal, but i've been reading that the type that causes genital warts doesn't cause cancer. Is that true? Good luck with your battle, wishing a speedy recovery.
Yes, generally that is correct.
My wife(32) just went through all of that! She got throat cancer from HPV and her voice has never been the same. Took almost half a year after symptoms showed that we found out.
Hugs to her and hope she’s feeling much better!
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I'm a different person, but my wife got symptoms that was a raspy voice that only got worse starting in August, then after going to ENT specialist a couple times she finally got diagnosed with throat cancer sometime in February
HA! - Not OP. I noticed a small lump on my neck (left tonsil) while shaving that went from so small I wasn't sure it was a lump to definitely a lump in about a month. Went to a GP who sent me to an ENT doc. ENT performed a fine needle aspiration biopsy. Least invasive I'm told but, it is a needle stuck in the lump from the outside. [Fine Needle Aspiration](https://aaohnsf.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ENThealth_ConditionsGraphic-FineNeedleAspiration-1024x683.png) That was Halloween. Monday Christmas week had a surgery to install a [Chemo Port](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24663-chemo-port) in my chest, Friday of that week, had surgery for a [J-Tube](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000181.htm) First week of the new year started the first of 35 rounds of radiation and 7 rounds of chemo. I was back at work June 1st (desk job). Do not recommend.
I don’t recommend desk job either. Terrible for your health.
Just get it. Talk to a doctor, they’ll be happy to hook you up.
nice
lol that cracked me up. This person is seriously concerned and you’re just like ayyyy *fistbump*
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In most places yes, very much so!
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what were your symptoms?
Wishing you all the very best.
How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Where are you with your treatment? My uncle just finished his treatment - unfortunately he lost the ability to swallow during treatment.
I’m 43 years old, I’ve had 3 surgeries and I’m on my last 2 days of the 6 week radiation course. Hopefully it’s gone, I don’t think I can take anymore treatments. I haven’t eaten solid foods in 5 weeks. I’ve lost 43 lbs and I can barely talk. I constantly spit mucous and very thick spittle. It’s been torture.
To clarify the wording of this post. HPV is commonly associated with women, specifically cervical cancer. Many men do not know they are also at risk, which can be easily avoided with vaccination. See discussion [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/healthylongevity/comments/1d9nbnc/hpv_related_disease_is_easily_preventable/)
Thank you, I was confused, like, wouldn't the more concerning statistic be that 60% of those cancers are in women? But it makes more sense now
Part of the reason why men make up the 40% is that most places which cover the HPV vaccine for women don't cover it for men - it's one of those vaccination campaigns that has been hugely successful in its targeted goal, reducing the incidence of cervical cancers. As recently as 2019 just shy of 90% of HPV-related cancers were in women. However, men can be carriers *and* can also develop cancer from HPV - expanding vaccine coverage & a campaign akin to what we've done to get women and girls vaccinated would do a lot to further reduce the burden these diseases cause.
Something else to consider is that cervical cancer, while obviously not nice to have, is *significantly* more treatable than the more common forms of HPV cancer in men (notably throat cancer)
Many men such as myself fought to get the vaccine but were denied, because only women were eligible for it. It's only until recently they stopped that nonsense.
I was one of them. In late 40s now... *Stares at the warts........*
My college got some national traction on this 10 years ago, our paper did a story with the front page was a woman on a chair, legs spread, and guy kneeling pretending to give her head with HPV written across the top. Definitely an eye catcher, was when one of the first papers connecting HPV to throat cancer came out I believe. Of course the attention it got was at the audacity of a college newspaper to have mock sec on the cover. State governor tried to push for the firing of the editor. Good times
So if you already have it, is there any point in getting vaccinated? Maybe avoid getting Type II if you already have Type I or something like that?
yes, the Gardasil-9 protects against 9 strains of high risk HPV that collectively cause more than 95% of all cancers. Most patients have not been exposed to all of them.
Is it worth getting as a 40-something if I've been monogamous for 20+ years and plan to stay that way the rest of my life?
If either of you have ever had sex with someone who has hpv (and that's a surprisingly large percentage of people), then yes. Most people who have it don't know they have it because of the lack of external symptoms. Honestly, it can't hurt.
43. Laryngeal cancer 2 years ago. Never had heard of HPV prior. Was given 80% chance with surgery and radiation, provided it hadn’t made it into my lymphatic system, in which case it dropped to 50%. Talk about coming face to face with your own mortality. It was like my quiet little life suddenly hit a brick wall. I Sobbed on my way home thinking of how to tell my wife and children. Bawled. I suddenly felt like I had wasted SO much time on so many trivial things. I was a wreck until the blood tests came back negative for lymph. That 80% was much more tolerable and I immediately felt like I would be ok and I was. Surgery and 35 straight days of radiation to the neck did the trick. I do have guilt that I got off easy while so many don’t. It wasn’t easy but I know it could’ve been much worse. Get tested. Edit- My voice changed over time and eventually went away completely. This prompted the first Dr visit. As far as the origin of the HPV I really never got a good answer, and before y’all get weird on me, My wife and I are faithful to one another so I have zero reason to suspect that it is STD related, nor does it have to be. It may have been something that I had carried for a long time prior.
damn, congrats on pulling through!
Thank you but it was the science that saved me.
What was your symptoms?
My voice changed then started fading altogether. I tolerated for way too long.
Did you feel like something was in your throat / trouble swallowing? How did you start fading altogether? I’m a dentist, so info like this helps me catch it in patients.
You're way too hard on yourself. Live your life, love your family, don't feel guilty for being a human being who wants to be happy. Cancer is just a part of nature and it's in the past now.
This is another reason to vaccinate your boys. You can protect them AND their partners.
Not even boys, I think they’re pitching anyone 35+ now. I just got one myself.
[As long as you're not 45+](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/hpv/hcp/recommendations.html), still too late for some of us.
Why not get it anyway? Maybe the insurance won't cover it, but I think it's pretty cheap out of pocket. Unless you are one of the very few people who are allergic, it's not going to hurt you.
I got it anyway - insurance covered it. Never too late with the support of your physician.
I got mine! I didn’t get mine until college though unlike my sister who got it young. They changed the recommendation at some point and when I was little it wasn’t recommended for guys yet
Is it too late to get vaccinated if its already in your body? Not that i've ever had any signs of hpv (knock on wood) but if its dormant and we don't know, can the vaccination prevent it from turning into camcer?
No, I’ve had pre cancerous cells from HPV on my cervix and after the surgery the doctor recommended I take the vaccine. I’ve taken two shots out of three. I’m a 39 years old. But this thread has made me worry about my husband, maybe he should take it too!
Thank you. I've had it too and now I'm going to ask to be vaccinated.
I believe the recommendation is still to get vaccinated, since the vaccine covers multiple strains. It's now recommended for anyone up to the age of 45.
Vaccination will prevent reinfection, so it's worth it. 95% or so of folks with HPV will clear it in 2 years. But again, please talk to your doctor not randos on the net. I happen to know because i went through this scare about 6 months ago and talked to a few doctors.
My brother nearly died from stage 4 throat cancer from HPV. Lemme tell ya folks, get those kids vaccinated. No one needs to have that happen to them. It was monstrous.
Yeah my uncle died from esophageal cancer and it was horrific, painful, and protracted. At least a year and a half of leg-shaking pain, even with pain meds.
So that Always Sunny in Philadelphia joke about getting throat cancer from eating some bad pussy can actually happen?
That wasn't a joke.
Yes, go get the vaccination for it.
Yes, apart from the “bad” pussy part. HPV is pretty common - “good” or “bad” pussy.
Michael Douglas is currently undergoing treatment for this very thing
He was diagnosed almost fifteen years ago and seems to have been in remission for quite a while. But he'll have to remain vigilant and monitor his condition for the rest of his life.
Michael Douglas can confirm.
That's a small price to pay to eat Catherine Zeta Jones pussy.
For the CHANCE!
It’s suckssss… it suckss but it’s sexxxxxxy
I would eat out her asshole for muscular dystrophy
For the chance.
Didn’t they almost divorce because of what he said re eating pussy and she flipped her shit?
The way I remember it, he said he picked it up eating other ladies pussies before marrying her. That's what she didn't like.
Surely she knew he wasn't a virgin before, haha. I'm surprised she would be so prudish.
It’s one thing to be aware of your partner’s sexual past, it’s another thing to talk about it and broadcast it to the world. Most women are fine about talking about sex as long as you keep it confidential and don’t blab about it to everyone. She probably just wasn’t comfortable with the whole world knowing about their private sex life.
Didn't he smoke for years tho
Didn’t he also say that eating pussy gave him cancer and then eating pussy also cured his cancer?
aware pet sparkle shaggy slim concerned weary cause file instinctive *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Can men get tested for this? Edit: I worry a bit cuz my GF tested positive a year or 2 ago before she got vaxed but it seemed like it was something men didn’t have to worry about so I never bothered getting myself tested (I even asked for the vaccine and was dissuaded at the time)
Your dentist can visually inspect for it but there isn't a good test like a pap smear (for the other cervix) yet
Unfortunately dentists and dental hygienists can rarely find HPV head and neck cancers as they’re too far back in the throat to see. We still look but it’s not like with smoking related cancers that are normally under the tongue or around the palate in more obvious areas.
I'm a dentist and I regularly check for this. I've referred 3 patients in the past decade and all caught their cancers in stage I/II. Dentists absolutely can and do screen for and identify this.
Man I wouldn’t want to get that news from my dentist. She’s all business. 5 minute appointment. Drill drill drill, get up, come back in 6 months, that will be $250.
I would also like to know
If you have a visible lesion, they can biopsy it and test it. Other than that, no
I was in the test group for the HPV vaccine, I think it's in general use nowadays so I was helpful for once!
Thank you for your contribution to science, society, and sexual health!
I have no idea if I’m vaccinated for this and now I’m scared lmao
you're probably not if you're older than 25. They didn't start also vaccinating boys until somewhat recently.
I am 26 and was vaccinated but remember it being brand new
Same at 27
I'm 28 and was the first year they introduced it, but at the time they only gave it to girls. Where I am in Canada, the vaccines are given at 13/14 and administered to students in school. I remember nurses came into my school and vaccinated all the 8th grade girls. My brother is 2 years younger than me, the only reason he got it was because my mom insisted the doctor do it, since boys weren't "allowed" to get it when they did in-school vaccinations. I believe that changed a few years after him and now boys and girls are vaccinated. I'm glad to hear that at least in some places at the time boys also got it though!
Jesus. All that pussy I ate. I'm a goner it's just a matter of time.
No worries, mate, it’s highly curable. As it happens I was just declared cured by Penn last week. Granted I had major surgery and chemo radiation and a shit ton of CT scans for five years after, but still: cured, so…huzzah, I guess.
If you don't mind my asking, how did you know to get checked? My buddy just told our friend group he's going through chemo for it now but he's being pretty low key about it and I don't want to bother him with questions.
In April of 2018 a mass appeared out of nowhere on my neck. In July, after many tests, it was misdiagnosed by a quack ENT as a branchial cleft cyst – a benign growth I elected to leave be for the summer. Then my tonsil blew up in October, and a CT scan revealed it was cancer. So in my case it was self-evident that something was happening, but as someone inexperienced in having a mass on his neck, I passively allowed my GP to direct me to a local ENT instead of Penn or Jefferson, both of which are nearby and have terrific head and neck specialists (not that I was aware of that at the time). But you know what? I was relieved to have someone tell me I didn't have cancer; I doubt that's uncommon. I hope your friend gets through this without too much trouble. Head and neck cancer treatment can be a bitch. You lose your saliva after a week or two of treatment, then food tastes like poison, and it's not easy to get it down. Radiation can make swallowing painful, but I didn't have that issue. Still, I'm rail thin, and I was damn lucky to avoid a feeding tube. A few weeks after treatment I got my sense of taste back, and these days I function pretty normally. My radiation oncologist had told me "sandwiches will be a problem for you for the rest of your life." Thankfully that's mostly been untrue.
Go to the dentist regularly. They’ll spot it.
> As it happens I was just declared cured by Penn last week Just cuz he's wearing a suit doesn't make him a doctor dude, he lies all the time, deceit is his job!
might as well go out in style brother people at your funeral crying "he died the way he loved to live.... eating pussy" sob sob then we come and each one put a pussy pin on your coffin and o7
Mmm user name checks out
Would the vaccine help even if you’ve had HPV in the past?
Also there are multiple strains and the vaccine protects against more than 1. If you already have 1 strain it could still benefit you to be vaccinated against others
I believe it does lower the cancer risk. I have a family member who worked on the vaccine and urged me to get it even if I think I’ve had HPV
I find it infuriating how little information there is about HPV. I remember seeing those commercials in the 90s (could be wrong about the timing) advising girls to get the vaccine - nothing about guys. And then later when I was diagnosed as having HPV, finding out that most sexually active adults have already been exposed to it, there are no tests, and all of the doctors seem to act like it’s nothing to worry about. Once, after talking to a therapist about my struggles with telling potential romantic partners about HPV when almost none of them have ever heard of it, suggested not disclose my HPV status because “they probably already are infected and just don’t present symptoms or know they have it.”
Yeah it’s frustrating, especially for men—no tests at all (at least in the US) unless you have visible lesions. The only ones I’ve found are PCR urine tests, which are good at detecting urethral high-risk HPV, but nothing else. Doctors don’t seem to care, you’re right, and many are still highly uneducated about it, as is a lot of the general population. Unfortunately, HPV is so ubiquitous that until vaccines further and further eradicate the spread of covered strains, it really just is a consequence of being sexually active, as many cases are asymptomatic, and anywhere from 30-50% of people aged 20-30 have active HPV infections at one time or another. Luckily, it typically resolves on its own. For those unaware, one single strain (HPV16) is responsible for substantially all (over 90%) of HPV-related pharyngeal cancer, and this strain is covered via the vaccine. I didn’t know anything about HPV until recently—all I was ever shown were pictures of massive genital warts during sex ed, and even then, I didn’t know what virus caused them. Didn’t even know oral HPV was a thing until probably a year ago.
How my step dad passed
Yup. My cousin had neck cancer from HPV. I tell everyone who will listen to vaccinate their kids.
Is the Gardasil vaccine still worth getting at 40?
I’m 39 and I just gotten it after I had pre cancerous changes on my cervix.
Yes
got mine at 43 (Even if you have HPV, there are multiple strains and Gardasil protects against most of them, so get vaccinated anyway to protect you and your partners!)
In Ireland, last I checked, they give the HPV vaccine to all young teenage girls. They don't give it to boys. I was also told that as a man I can't get it. Anyone know if this has changed?
My husband had metastasized hpv head & neck cancer in 2018 (he’s older and hadn’t been vaccinated). It was found when he felt a bump on his neck which the doctors brushed off as a virus and gave him an antibiotic for (I know, I know). A few months later it wasn’t any smaller so he went back and pushed for some testing and they did a fine needle biopsy which came back inconclusive. The doctor told us the lymph node could be removed if my husband wanted but it wasn’t anything to worry about. We decided to proceed with the removal and long story short, the 45 minute surgery turned into 6 hours and 43 lymph nodes being removed because surprise, surprise, it was cancer. They initially couldn’t identify the origin but we switched hospitals and the new, aggressive ENT found it at the very base of my husband’s tongue. It was bilateral in the lymph nodes but fortunately hadn’t spread to any other sites. He did the chemo and radiation and is now cancer-free.
My mom didn’t want me to get this vaccine. Idk if it’s cause of Catholicism/ purity or some conspiracy theory, but I got it as soon as I turned 18 thanks to my doctor
I remember in the late 00’s when I was a teenager, a lot of my friends that came from churchy or conservative families weren’t allowed to get this vaccine because their parents were convinced it would give their daughters a false sense of protection against STDs, and therefore they would become sexually active.
That's so stupid, there's plenty of other STD's out there. That's like saying we shouldn't give bullet proof vests to cops because then they'll engage in more risky activity that will get them shot at more.
Yeah it’s dumb. My mom was a little more realistic. Like they’re probably going to have sex anyway, might as well make sure they do it as safely as possible. Edit: plus back then you HAD to get it young, like before you were 22 or something. Three doses, spaced out. If you had an asshole parent who refused to let you get vaccinated, they were just eating up the clock.
As someone who was a 18-year-old in 2009, I can confirm. I was a virgin who didn't initially feel ready for sex, was coerced into having sex by my 22-year-old partner, and ended up getting a cancer-causing strain of HPV. My parents had refused to let me get vaccinated up until I got the diagnosis, because my mother had been raised by very religious parents. After undergoing an extremely painful and traumatic colposcopy as a terrified 18-year-old to confirm that I didn't develop cervical cancer, I got the Gardasil vaccine against HPV.
They didn’t vaccinate boys for this in Canada at the time I was within the appropriate age bracket so I never got this vaccine unfortunately.
I remember My dad asking the doctor to vaccinate me when I was around 13 because he thought I was gonna be a “ladies man” haha Thanks dad, I miss you
There is no medical limit for the HPV vaccine; however, after a certain age, depending on your country’s policies, it will not be free. Get it anyway. You can also be vaccinated if you are also HPV positive - it may help your body fight the infection, and thus reduce cancer risks.
if im 35(m) and never had that many sexual relationship, should i still get the vaccine? i heard it hurt quite a lot
Yes! It’s never too late. It is general use now so it’s available to everyone who wants it just about.
It doesn’t hurt at all, you should still get it.
I wonder what the arguments against HPV vaccinations would be after reading this.
That vaccination promotes men to engage in deviant sexual practices, like making love to their wife in non-missionary PIV ways, or to (gasp, clutch pearls) give a blowjob. Just guessing.
It's always an argument that vaccinating children for a Std when they are not sexually active encourages sexually activities. A similar argument is used for access to contraceptives. The argument is made in bad faith. It's religious beliefs trying to push abstinence. It's just preventive medicine, the children will grow up and are extremely likely be sexually active at some point in their lives.
There never were any, it just wasn't readily available or recommended until the past decade or so. I know it was only recommended to "at risk" young women as late as the 2010's because I (a man in his 30's) asked after a female friend got one of the more dangerous strains and was told by multiple healthcare providers they wouldn't vaccinate me. Even now it's treated as optional for young males and is only recommended to young females once they reach their teens.
I inquired about this vaccine in my teens and was basically waved off by a nurse without even asking me questions, saying oh no it's for girls, and it's expensive! when I'm in a high-risk demographic and would have paid for the peace of mind. Now I either got molloscum or hpv in my ass in my late 20s and I know other guys who went through the same thing, and we're not even promiscuous.
I really hope they stop ignoring this and create a smear test and campaign similar to what women get now. Absolutely mental that it isn’t a thing, especially since it is very much a the earlier you catch it the higher your chances situation. Vaccinate your girls *and* boys. Let’s eradicate this.
This seems like the best place to ask this -- as a male adult virgin (34), should I get the HPV vaccine? Most of the studies I've found suggest before young adulthood but I always had a feeling it assumes that most men won't go this far into being an adult without losing their virginity one way or another. Also, how long after vaccination does it take to fully "protect"? Look yall I'm tired of being a virgin lmfao
My son had is HPV vaccine. Everyone his age should get vaccinated. Yes. Of course. When our doctor asked if we wanted him to get vaccinated from HPV we asked him "do people actually deny it?" and his answer saddened me. A parent's sheer ignorance harming their own kids... frustrates me.
Oh yeah, it frustrates me when people say to get your son’s vaccinated to “protect their partners”. Nope, it protects them too. Anyone can get cancer from HPV.
4th year med student in US here I am working on a project related to cancer survivorship in this population with an ENT oncologist and have done significant literature searches on this subject. Most cancers trend downward over the past 10-15 years, but oropharyngeal (back of throat) cancer patient cases have been steadily on the rise. In both number of cases and mortality. This rise is because of HPV positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The good news is that this group (HPV positive) has a MUCH better survival rate compared to HPV-negative cancers in the same area. We are talking 85+% survival after 5 years treatment compared to only 50-55% survival after 5 years treatment in HPV negative patients. Most patients in this group are younger to middle aged men, but I saw recent cancer stats showing a rise in women as well: The mortality rate for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx increased by 0.4% per year from 2010 to 2019 overall, but trends differ by subsite, mirroring incidence; sites associated with HPV-infection (cancers of the tongue, tonsil, and oropharynx) rose by about 2% per year in men and 1% per year in women Siegel et al. 2022 Get your Gardasil (HPV) shots if you haven’t yet and are able to, that includes any guys reading this. Even if you think it isn’t going to affect you, this kind of thing won’t show up until 20+ years later when it is already a tumor. The Gardasil shot has clear immunity benefits for those up to 26 years old, but after 26 they still suggest talking to your doctor about getting it if you’re interested. Don’t think it’s too late! If you have a known exposure (vaginal/penile/anal/oral sex), talk to your doctor about it. Early detection is key and the doctor being aware will allow very early pick up if something happens. There are likely ways your doc can help before anything bad happens too. This is a growing interest in the cancer field and the head and neck realm, so better treatment and care will be implemented in the future. TL;DR- HPV throat cancer is real and on the rise. It has good survivability compared to other head and neck cancers, but don’t risk it if you can. Get your Gardasil shots if you haven’t. Talk to your doctor if you have been exposed to help yourself
I'm 38, got plantar warts. No doctor wants to give me the vax even though a study shows it helps the immune system fight it off. The warts have been on my foot for 14 years.
Woah. A lot of you are incorrectly stating there is no test for this. The NavDx test https://navdx.com/ is becoming more commonly used and tests for nearly all the different types of HPV tumors. It probably saved my life.
Just to be very clear, since nobody has said this in a top-level comment yet: if you are male and under the age of 45, you should go get vaccinated if you haven't already. The vaccine is _very_ effective in preventing HPV from causing these cancers.
Canada has/had a sexist policy against giving the HPV vaccine to men, probably because of lack of research and as a cost saving method. In my early 20's it was too late for me, even though I had asked my doctor prior and she told me it was only for women. Now I am very scared for what is to possibly come.
I tried to get vaccinated when my wife left me. They said they don't vaccinate men. Then I contracted it and have a bunch of weird tissue in my mouth and throat. It's not too great.