Most men with HPV never know they have it. There is no routine, FDA-approved HPV test for men the way there is for women, and roughly 45% of American men between 18 and 59 carry at least one type of genital HPV at any given time. The virus usually causes no symptoms, clears on its own, and is never detected. That makes “telling if you have it” less about a single test and more about knowing what to look for, what screening options exist, and when the infection actually matters for your health.
Why There’s No Standard HPV Test for Men
Women can be screened for HPV through cervical swabs during a Pap test. No equivalent screening exists for men in routine clinical care. The virus infects skin and mucosal cells across a wide area (the shaft, scrotum, groin, anus, and throat), which makes a single reliable swab impractical. The vast majority of male HPV infections also resolve without ever causing disease, so mass screening hasn’t been shown to improve health outcomes enough to justify it.
What this means in practical terms: if you have no symptoms, there is currently no blood test, urine test, or swab your doctor can order to tell you whether you carry HPV. The infection is diagnosed in men only when it produces something visible or, in specific high-risk groups, through targeted anal screening.
What Genital Warts Look and Feel Like
The most obvious sign of HPV in men is genital warts. These are caused by low-risk HPV strains (mainly types 6 and 11) that rarely lead to cancer but are easily transmitted. Warts can appear as flat, raised, or stalk-like growths on the genital skin. They’re often described as having a cauliflower-like texture when clustered, though a single wart may just look like a small, skin-colored bump.
Common locations include the shaft of the penis, under the foreskin in uncircumcised men, the scrotum, the perineum (the skin between the scrotum and anus), and the perianal area. Warts can also develop inside the anal canal. They’re usually painless, though some men notice mild itching. Size varies from a pinhead to larger clusters several centimeters across.
Timing matters here. Warts typically appear one to six months after exposure, but the delay can be longer. Some men develop warts years after their last new sexual contact, which often causes confusion about when and from whom they contracted the virus. If left alone, genital warts may go away on their own, stay the same, or grow in size and number.
How Doctors Confirm a Diagnosis
When you visit a doctor with a suspicious bump, diagnosis usually starts with a visual exam. An experienced clinician can often identify genital warts on sight. If the growths are flat or hard to see, a doctor may apply a diluted vinegar (acetic acid) solution to the skin. HPV-infected areas turn white under this solution, making subtle lesions easier to spot.
In uncertain cases, or when the growth looks unusual, a small biopsy (removing a tiny piece of tissue) can confirm the diagnosis and rule out other conditions like molluscum contagiosum, skin tags, or, rarely, cancerous changes. But for the typical presentation of genital warts, the visual exam alone is usually enough.
Anal Cancer Screening for High-Risk Men
While routine HPV testing doesn’t exist for men, one targeted screening program does: anal cancer screening for men at elevated risk. In March 2024, the International Anal Neoplasia Society released consensus guidelines recommending screening for people most likely to develop HPV-related anal cancer.
The guidelines recommend that men who have sex with men and are living with HIV begin anal cancer screening at age 35. For men who have sex with men who are not HIV-positive, screening is recommended starting at age 45. This screening typically involves an anal Pap test (similar in concept to a cervical Pap), where cells are collected from the anal canal and examined for precancerous changes. If you fall into one of these groups, this is a conversation worth having with your doctor, because anal cancer caught early is far more treatable.
Silent HPV and Cancer Risk
The strains that cause visible warts are not the same ones that cause cancer. High-risk HPV types (particularly types 16 and 18) can persist silently for years and, in a small percentage of cases, lead to cancers of the penis, anus, or throat. About 25% of men carry at least one high-risk HPV strain. Most of them will clear the virus without consequence, but the ones who don’t face real, preventable risks.
HPV-related throat cancer (oropharyngeal cancer) has become increasingly common in men over the past two decades. Early signs can include a persistent sore throat, difficulty swallowing, ear pain on one side, a lump in the neck, or hoarseness that doesn’t resolve. These symptoms overlap with many benign conditions, which is why they’re easy to dismiss. Anal cancer from HPV tends to grow slowly and may cause bleeding, pain, itching, a noticeable lump near the anus, or changes in bowel habits. Penile cancer is rare but may appear as a persistent sore, discoloration, or thickening of the skin on the penis.
None of these cancers typically produce symptoms in their earliest stages, which is precisely why the targeted anal screening guidelines mentioned above exist for high-risk groups.
You Can Spread HPV Without Symptoms
HPV transmits through skin-to-skin contact, not through bodily fluids. A man can pass the virus to a partner even with no visible warts and no idea he’s infected. Condoms reduce transmission but don’t eliminate it, because HPV can live on skin that a condom doesn’t cover, like the scrotum, groin, and base of the penis.
Even after warts are treated and gone, the CDC notes that it’s unknown how long a person can still spread the virus. This is one reason HPV is so widespread: the majority of sexually active people will contract at least one strain during their lifetime, and most never realize it happened.
What You Can Actually Do
If you’re concerned about HPV, the most effective step is vaccination. The HPV vaccine protects against the strains responsible for most genital warts and HPV-related cancers. It’s recommended through age 26 for anyone not adequately vaccinated earlier, and it’s available through age 45 with a three-dose series given over six months. The vaccine works best before exposure to the virus, but it still offers benefit to people who’ve already been sexually active, since most people haven’t encountered all the strains the vaccine covers.
Beyond vaccination, periodic self-exams are worth doing. Check the shaft, head, and base of the penis, the scrotum, the groin folds, and the perianal area for any new bumps, growths, sores, or discoloration. Use a mirror for areas you can’t see directly. Most bumps will turn out to be harmless (hair follicles, skin tags, or fordyce spots are common look-alikes), but anything new, growing, or persistent is worth having a doctor examine.
If you have sex with men, ask your doctor about anal Pap screening based on the current age guidelines. If you notice any of the throat symptoms described above lasting more than two to three weeks, get evaluated. And if you or a partner are diagnosed with genital warts, know that treatment options exist to remove them, though they address the warts themselves, not the underlying virus, which your immune system handles over time.