HPV and Oral
I have had HPV for about 8 years. It has manifested itself as irregular pap smears, and as external warts. I have not had a remission since it was first discovered. My husband had some warts once, but had them removed and has shown no symptoms since.
I was reading the blog on HPV and throat cancer. Is it still safe to have oral sex? Would it be safer with condoms?
Oral sex is always safer with condoms. It is certainly possible to transfer a genital wart from you to a partner (or vice versa) through oral sex. If it makes you feel more comfortable, why not use the protection? The risk for throat cancer is fairly low (I'm not sure of the exact stat, but I know it is rare), but if you are concerned about it, using a condom is one surefire way to rid yourself of that concern. Try using flavored ones if the taste bothers you.
Even when a person has HPV, they are not always shedding. Trouble is, you never know when someone is shedding or not (that is the term for when the virus can be passed from one person to another) if they don't have warts. HPV also infects more than just mucosal tissue, so condoms do help against transmission, but he could be shedding from areas around his scrotum or anus - so contact with those areas (while he is shedding) could conceivably give you HPV. But if his warts were frozen or lasered off and he has no growths since then, he may no longer be shedding.
Short answer - condoms are safer, but it is difficult to tell what the actual risk is.