The symptoms of an HPV infection depend on the type of HPV. Most types of HPV do not cause warts or lesions so people may not even know they have been infected. When symptoms do appear, the part of the body that is affected depends on the type of HPV. Some types of HPV tend to infect the hands and may cause common warts. Other types infect the feet and may cause plantar warts on the bottom of your feet. HPV types that infect the mouth or upper respiratory tract can cause warts or other lesions on your tongue, in your throat, and in your nose.

Some types of HPV infect the genitals and may cause genital warts. These appear as flat lesions, stem-like protrusions, or cauliflower-like growths and can occur anywhere in the anal or genital region of men or women. In women they usually appear on the vulva but may also occur near the anus, on the cervix, or in the vagina. In men they appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus. Genital warts usually do not cause pain or discomfort. The types of HPV that cause genital warts are low-risk and tend not to be associated with cancer. However, since anyone can be infected with multiple types of HPV, the presence of genital warts does not rule out the possibility of a co-infection with a high-risk type of HPV that is associated with increased cancer risk. 

Some HPV infections can cause pre-cancerous lesions that are either “low grade” or “high grade.” Low grade lesions tend to resolve without treatment but high grade lesions commonly advance to become cancer. HPV infections can lead to cancers of the genitals, anus, mouth, and upper respiratory tract but cervical cancer is by far the most likely to be caused by HPV. Most high-risk genital HPV infections of types do not cause cancer, but virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV infections.