Will genital warts keep returning?

My understanding is that the virus stays in your body so they can come back. But if successfully treated you will not infect anyone else. You should also be aware, that genital warts have been linked to cervical problems and so it is important that you get screened on a regular basis if you haven't before.

The chances are 50/50. Some people never have another outbreak, some keep having them. It all depends on your immune system. If it was just temporarily compromised, like it happens to women during pregnancy when their immune system has to take care of two people instead of one, then the warts will probably also just be a temporary problem. If it's more than that, then you might need more time to keep the warts from coming back and keep the virus dormant. People infect each other with strains of HPV (the virus that causes genital warts) whether they have symptoms, or not. Condoms, dental dams (HPV can cause oral cancer as well), not removing pubic hair and maintaining one's personal hygiene all lower the risk, but can't provide complete protection. When a woman becomes sexually active, she should start visiting a doctor regularly to have PAP smears taken which can detect possible changes on the cervix due to HPV infection, monitor them and make sure they don't progress into cancer.

Without treatment, external genital warts may remain unchanged, increase in size or number, or go away. Studies show that no one treatment is completely successful because there is no cure for genital warts. All treatments have advantages and disadvantages. The benefits and effectiveness of each treatment need to be compared with the side effects and cost.

Treatment of warts usually requires a series of applications rather than a single treatment.

Warts in moist areas usually respond better to treatments applied to the area, such as creams or acids.

Warts on dry skin may respond best to freezing (cryotherapy) or surgical removal.

Cryotherapy may be done when genital warts are visible and bothersome and are growing in a small area. Repeat treatments may be needed to remove all wart tissue.

The success of surgery is related to the number of warts. The success rate is higher and additional treatments are less likely to be required when surgery is performed on fewer and smaller warts. But surgery is less likely to be needed for a few small areas of warts. Surgery may require anesthesia.

Small areas of warts can be quickly treated with removal methods, such as cryotherapy or surgical excision.

Self-applied medicines may be used for larger areas of warts that need longer or repeated treatments.