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What’s the best treatment for the different types of genital warts?
There are different kinds of genital warts, including external, internal, clustered, or those which appear in a sensitive area. In this guide, we’ll explore the best treatment options available for each type.
Medically reviewed by
Alexandra Cristina Cowell, Writer & Clinical Content Reviewer
| Type of wart | Area | Best treatment | Expected treatment time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft and small | External | Warticon | 3 days to 4 weeks |
| Clustered | External | Aldara | 4-16 weeks |
| Warts inside the vagina, rectum, urethra | Internal | Treatment often by a specialist at a clinic | Can vary depending on affected area |
Treatment for external genital warts
One of the most effective treatments for external genital warts is podophyllotoxin, the active ingredient in Warticon, as it targets and destroys wart cells in the affected area where the warts appear. Warticon is a cream or solution that you apply twice a day over three consecutive days.
External genital warts are the most common type of genital warts. These usually appear around the vagina or penis, the perineum (the area between your anus and genitals), or on the skin around your anus.
They can occur on their own, as single warts, but often show up in groups that can look like a cauliflower. External genital warts can vary in appearance, and may be red, white, skin-coloured, or appear darker in tone than the surrounding skin. They often cause pain or discomfort during sex, and might cause urinary issues, such as pain, blood in your urine, or feeling like you need to stop and start.
Warticon generally works best for genital warts that are soft and small, and won’t generally be recommended if your warts are affecting a large area of your body. A review of 60 controlled trials studying the effectiveness of different genital wart treatments found that 0.5% podophyllotoxin solution (the same dose as Warticon solution) showed a 92.6% probability of complete clearance. The results of these combined studies also found that using podophyllotoxin is one of the most cost-effective ways of treating genital warts.
Treatment for clustered genital warts
Genital warts often appear in clusters, which can make the area harder to treat. Clustered genital warts might respond to treatment with Warticon, but a better option might be Aldara, which stimulates an immune response to destroy affected cells.
Aldara contains an active ingredient called imiquimod, an immune modulator, which can help your body’s immune system fight off infections. It’s a cream that you apply three times over the course of a week.
You usually leave Aldara on your skin for 6-10 hours, and then wash it off with a mild soap and water.
Although it’s prescribed as a one-week course of treatment, this can be repeated until your genital warts clear. You won’t be advised to use it for any longer than 16 weeks, but in many cases this will be enough time to resolve the outbreak.
For men, genital warts usually clear after around 12 weeks, and for women it usually takes around eight weeks. In one 16 week study, imiquimod was shown to completely clear genital warts in 30-57% of people when applied three times a week. Because it doesn’t eliminate the HPV virus, success rates can depend on how your immune system responds to imiquimod, which in part is why its effectiveness can vary.
Treatments for genital warts in highly sensitive areas
If you have genital warts on areas that feel particularly sensitive or where the skin is very thin, you might need to talk to a clinician about ways you can avoid causing further pain and inflammation while treating them.
You should avoid all sexual contact while you’re treating genital warts, as they’re highly contagious. And even though using barrier methods like condoms might reduce your risk of spreading the infection, friction from condom use can irritate genital warts.
Your clinician might also want to discuss your at-home care routine, and advise using mild soaps around any areas affected by genital warts, to avoid further aggravation.
Treatments for internal genital warts
Sometimes genital warts can grow in the vagina, cervix, rectum, or urethra.
If you experience these kinds of genital warts, you typically won’t be able to treat them with prescription-strength creams or solutions.
You’ll usually be sent by your GP to a specialised sexual or dermatology clinic, who can decide the best course of action.
Chemical applications, surgery, laser therapy or cryotherapy, which involves freezing the warts, are all options to help clear internal genital warts, and need to be performed by a trained professional in a clinical setting. In a study that compared cryotherapy with CO2 laser therapy, the laser treatment was found to be twice as effective, and clear 95% of lesions in 80 patients. So despite internal genital warts being hard to treat with prescription-strength medications, there are effective treatment options available.
How to get the best treatment for genital warts
Our clinicians can help you find effective, suitable treatments for your genital warts. During your initial consultation, you’ll be asked some questions about your symptoms, and which areas of your body are affected before making a treatment recommendation.
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NHS (2026).
Human papillomavirus (HPV).
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NHS (2025).
Genital warts.
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Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology (2012).
Genital Warts: A Comprehensive Review.
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National Institute for Care and Health Research (2016).
A commonly used surface treatment is the most suitable first-line treatment for genital warts.
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Perry, C.M. and Lamb, H.M. (1999).
Topical Imiquimod. Drugs, 58(2), pp.375–390.
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Azizjalali, M., GH Ghaffarpour and Mousavifard, B. (2012).
CO2 Laser therapy versus cryotherapy in treatment of genital warts; a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Iranian Journal of Microbiology, 4(4), p.187.
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