It is recommended that you visit your local genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinic (sexual health clinic) if you think that you may have genital warts.
While your GP will be able to diagnose genital warts, the staff at the GUM clinic will have both the access and the training that is required to administer the various treatments for genital warts. You can find your nearest GUM clinic on the FPA website.
Genital warts can usually be easily diagnosed by examining them. At a check-up, the doctor or nurse will examine the warts. They may use a magnifying lens to do this.
Women will also have the inside of their vagina examined using a speculum, which is a specially designed instrument that incorporates a torch and a mirror.
Further testing
Further testing is usually only required if it is thought that there is a higher than average chance that genital warts have developed inside your anus (back passage) or urethra (the tube that is connected to the bladder, through which urine passes).
Further testing may be recommended if:
- you have recently had anal sex and you were the passive partner
- you have warts around your anus
- you have experienced bleeding from your anus or urethra
- your normal urine flow has become distorted
The inside of the anus can be examined with a special metal instrument called a proctoscope. A proctoscope is a small metal tube that incorporates a torch and a magnifying lens.
A similar tool called an endoscope (a thin, flexible tube with a camera at one end) may be used to examine the inside of your urethra.
