Aldara 5% Cream

Aldara is a cream containing 5% imiquimod. Our service supplies it for warts on the outside of the genitals and around the anus, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). It comes in single-use sachets and is applied at home. It isn’t used inside the vagina, on the cervix, inside the urethra or inside the anus.

Aldara doesn’t kill wart cells directly. Imiquimod activates immune cells in the skin, which release signalling chemicals such as interferon that help the body recognise and clear HPV-infected tissue. Because it relies on your immune response, it works more slowly than treatments that destroy warts directly, and some redness or soreness is expected.

Warticon (podophyllotoxin) destroys wart tissue directly. It’s used twice a day for 3 days a week, for up to 4 weeks, and only on a small area. Aldara works through the immune system: it’s used 3 nights a week for up to 16 weeks and suits larger or scattered areas. UK guidance rates them as broadly similar; the prescriber will help you choose.

Three nights a week, with a night off between, just before bed. Wash and dry the area, rub a thin layer from a new sachet onto the warts until it disappears, then wash your hands. Leave it on for 6 to 10 hours without a dressing, and don’t shower or bathe in that time. Wash it off in the morning. Use each sachet once only.

Until the warts have gone, up to a maximum of 16 weeks. In the trials in Aldara’s product information, women’s warts typically cleared in about 8 weeks and men’s in about 12. If warts haven’t shrunk by about half after 8 weeks, a different treatment is usually tried.

Most people get some skin reaction where it’s applied: redness, itching, burning, flaking or shallow sores. These usually mean it’s working. Headache, tiredness, muscle aches and flu-like symptoms are less common. If the reaction becomes severe, with painful open sores or marked swelling, stop applying it and ask for advice. Treated skin can sometimes become lighter or darker.

Aldara triggers some of the same immune signals your body releases when fighting a virus, so a few people feel tired or achy, or get a mild temperature, after applying it. This usually settles within a day or two. Seek advice if symptoms are severe, last longer, or come with a high fever.

Yes. The cream can weaken latex condoms and diaphragms. Wash it off before any sexual contact, and don’t rely on these methods while the cream is on your skin. If contraception or protection from STIs matters during treatment, plan sex for after you’ve washed the cream off, and talk to the prescriber.

Not while the cream is on your skin. It can transfer to a partner and irritate their skin, and it weakens latex condoms. Once it’s washed off, sex is possible, but treated skin is often sore, and HPV can still be passed on. Many people find it easier to avoid sex until the warts have gone and the skin has healed.

Not through our online service. No self-applied wart treatment is licensed in pregnancy or breastfeeding, and UK guidance prefers clinic treatments such as freezing, or simply waiting, as warts often improve after the birth. Please see your GP, midwife or a sexual health clinic.

They can, as with any wart treatment, because the virus can stay in the skin after the visible warts have gone. Another course of Aldara, Warticon or clinic treatment usually works. Stopping smoking makes warts less likely to come back. If warts keep returning, see a sexual health clinic.

See a sexual health clinic or GP if a lump is bleeding, painful, ulcerated, dark or changing quickly; if warts are inside the body; if there’s no improvement after 8 weeks; if you develop a severe skin reaction or signs of infection; if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding; or if you have a weakened immune system. NHS sexual health clinics are free and confidential.