Treatment of a condyloma with laser

Genital warts are genital warts that are caused by the human papillomavirus ( HPV ). It is the most common sexually transmitted infection .

Several types of warts exist (acuminate, papular, or flat) and the skin lesions that can be found differ depending on the type.

In women, external warts can be found in the vestibule, labia and clitoris . In men, they are mainly found at the level of the sheath of the penis in circumcised patients and rather on the glans , the frenulum and the internal face of the foreskin in uncircumcised patients.

Even if the HPV virus responsible for condyloma is at low risk of malignancy, it is advisable to look for precancerous lesions after a diagnosis of condyloma .

Before treating you, the role of your dermatologist is to inform you about this STI: modes of contamination , incubation times, means of prevention, the concept of contagiousness as well as the link with cancer. This allows you to have all the information in hand and to approach your treatment with complete peace of mind.

We explain to you that the objective of the treatment is to destroy the visible lesion and not to eradicate the virus. The risk of recidivism is also communicated to you: indeed, the rate of recidivism is around 30%.

It should be known that among the various possible solutions in the treatment of condyloma , the therapeutic method to be used depends on several factors, in particular the location of the lesion, its type of lesion and the experience of your doctor.

Prior local anesthesia is required and the treatment is performed on an outpatient basis in our clinic, i.e. no hospitalization is required.

The Co2 laser beam will emit a high intensity light which will then be captured by the tissues and transformed into heat, resulting in a vaporization of the infected tissues: this is a controlled burn . Often 1-5 overlapping laser impacts are applied to each genital wart. This minimizes the pain felt on impact. The surrounding skin is not damaged because the laser beam directly targets the affected area.

The effectiveness and safety of this technique requires specific expertise from your doctor, who must control the power of the beam, the diameter of the beam and the exposure time required. This is decided based on the depth and extent of the lesions to be treated.

At Clinique Skin Marceau, our dermatologists regularly perform the treatment of external genital warts with the Co2 laser. Their experience allows them to determine the particularities of the technique according to the needs of each patient.

The healing of the treated area can take between 3 and 6 weeks and it should be noted that approximately 28% of patients may present a scar.

In order to promote optimal healing, it is essential to change your dressing daily, until the wound is completely healed . We will of course provide you with all the necessary instructions to follow following your treatment.

Dressings should not be removed without the prior consent of your doctor .

Finally, it is imperative not to scratch the scabs : this gesture may prolong the healing time and increase the risk of scarring.

The immediate effectiveness of the Co2 laser against external genital warts is its great advantage: most often, a single session of Co2 laser is enough to destroy the skin lesion. We schedule a second session together if necessary.

The success of the treatment is around 90% when the technique is carried out correctly, hence the importance of choosing your dermatologist.

Currently, there are no specific recommendations concerning what to do following treatment for condyloma. But due to the often multifocal nature of these lesions and the high rate of recurrence after treatment, we recommend setting up a surveillance protocol determined according to the importance of the initial lesions. The aim is to detect and destroy any possible recurrence at an early stage.

The cost of laser treatment depends on the number of genital warts :