# Gross on top of gross on top of gross (need I say TMI?)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 10, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370 "2005-11-10T07:27:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/1 "2005-11-10T07:27:42Z")

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So I noticed this [skin tag](http://www.martinpletscher.ch/bilder/kosmetik/skin%20tag.jpg)\* in my arm pit the other day (gross). Not sure how long it’s been there but it has to be relatively new. Today it started bothering me at work but I didn’t have the opportunity to examine it there. I get home, and it’s red and the irritation has progressed into outright (albeit minor) pain. I have a dinner to go to at a friend’s house so I don’t have the chance yet to do anything about it. I’ve cut tags off myself before and had doctors take off others, so I’m confident I can slice it off. The pain increases during the evening. When I get home I check the tag and it’s swollen, and there is a fairly angry-looking zit on it (gross on top of gross). I gotta get rid of this thing. I ice it up to numb it and grab my trusty exacto-knife-like thing that I got packaged with a beard trimmer a few years back and have never used. I gently hold the tag with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and cut at the base with the other. I’m having a little difficulty completing the cut, so I grip a little harder. The zit pops, blood and pus spurting quite a distance, and now protruding from the tag is a thick, stiff, bristle-like, completely unlike any other hair on my body, ingrown hair (gross on top of gross on top of gross). I get the rest of the tag off but the root of the hair is still implanted in the skin underneath where the tag was. So I pluck it with tweezers, and the plucking is harder and more painful than cutting off the chunk of my own flesh.

So, yeah, gross on top of gross on top of gross.

\*That’s not mine, just linked for informational purposes for those who enjoy the gross

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**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/2 "2005-11-10T14:05:20Z")

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Yeah, I had one of those taggy buggers on my armpit, too. Nail clippers, snip, gone. Didn’t hurt all that much but bled like a mofo. No treasures inside mine though.

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**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/3 "2005-11-10T14:23:37Z")

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Pardon my ignorance, but WTF is that? I’ve never seen or heard of one of those before?

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/4 "2005-11-10T17:12:45Z")

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> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#):
>
> Yeah, I had one of those taggy buggers on my armpit, too. Nail clippers, snip, gone. Didn’t hurt all that much but bled like a mofo. No treasures inside mine though.

Yeah, that’s how I do mine. The big clippers, toenail clippers, not fingernail. I pinch down in stages (cutting off the blood supply makes them go pretty numb) rather than going with the fast get-it-over-with snapdown though.

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**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/5 "2005-11-10T17:28:59Z")

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Gah! You people are insane! NAIL CLIPPERS!?!?!

Does remind me of a lovely armpit zit story, though. One day I noticed that I had a painful zit-like feeling in my armpit. When I examined the area, I found a white head with a perfect black circle around it. It looked very weird. So I popped the sucker, and after the pus all came out, a teeny tiny little piece of hair was sticking out. So I grabbed it and pulled…and pulled…and pulled! The black circle was an ingrown hair that looped back over itself, over and over. The hair was, I swear to god, almost two inches long. God that was gratifying. I love popping zits.

Wanna hear another one? Not too long ago I noticed a white spot under the skin in my armpit. I felt the area, and it was a lump. So I gave it a good squeeze, and out comes this white stuff, and it just kept coming. In the end I had about a candy-corn sized ball of goo. It looked and, oddly, smelled just like the deodorant I use. Very weird. And again, very satisfying.

Good times.

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/6 "2005-11-10T17:33:48Z")

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No, NO! Don’t listen to that little voice inside your head Kalhoun! You know…the one that tells you this is more than just TMI. This is TM Fucking I to the maximus. But _Nooooooooooooo!_ You have to pretend someone is just going to sort of skirt the issue and ask some vague question regarding something that may or may not be distasteful.

I deserve the dry heaves I’m experiencing right now. I fucking deserve them.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/7 "2005-11-10T18:03:31Z")

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And I thought the big cyst on my leg that I popped a couple days ago was bad with its grain-of-rice-sized core of solid stuff swimming in yellow pus.

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**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/8 "2005-11-10T18:09:25Z")

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Hands down, the Best Thread of the Day. Bravo! 😃

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**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/9 "2005-11-10T19:52:35Z")

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I don’t cut them off with clippers. Too much blood. I take a pair of flat ended tweezers and grab the base of the tag and give it a good squeeze and hold for a while. This crushes the blood vessels and the tag dries up and falls off in a few days. No pain and no blood.

Give it a try. 😃

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**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/10 "2005-11-10T20:15:19Z")

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Pictures?

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**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/11 "2005-11-10T20:28:27Z")

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I get skin tags - inherited from Dad, I think. Got one under my left arm, and another on my neck. I hate them!

I’ve been told to just tie a string tightly around them, and they’ll dry up & fall off, but I don’t have the nerve. (Also, it’d look very strange going around with string hanging off my neck.) I’d never never never never try to use nail clippers or any other sharp instrument on them! :eek: :eek: :eek:

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**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/12 "2005-11-10T20:28:30Z")

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Ya know, it never ceases to amaze me what dopers feel the need to share. It further never ceases to amaze that even when there’s a warning that this will be gross on top of gross on top of gross and TMI to boot, I’ll still just _have_ to see what it is. Like **Kalhoun** said, it ain’t like a doper is going to hold back any on discussing the minute details of the ensuing grossness and TMI. Still, I have to look. :eek:

**gotpasswords** I gotta agree. **Otto** easily out TMIed your cyst tale in the MMP.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/13 "2005-11-10T20:55:40Z")

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Awwwesome. I love a good ingrown hair/zit/boil/cyst thread.

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**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/14 "2005-11-10T21:04:59Z")

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There’s just something inately satisfying about popping oily things on your body and squeezing fluid out; I’ve never had a skin tag, but I have, as all do, oily bumps on my chest and back and legs and even ass. Not bad, like acne or something, just the oily bumps. It’s just so fun to find a swollen one on your leg or something and scratch the tip off it and then press a paper towel to it to drain it as much as possible, then scratch the head off again, then drain again, repeat. Just so good.

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**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/15 "2005-11-10T21:06:22Z")

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I’m also drawn like a moth to a flame when I read “TMI.”

Quite gross, Otto!

I have zillions of skin tags. I’ve had a doc cut some of them off, and I use clippers, too. They bug the hell out of me. I have them all around my neck and under my armpits and boobies. One time I got my husband to clip one. About grossed him out! He won’t do it again.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/16 "2005-11-10T21:07:00Z")

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> [@swampbear](#):
>
> Ya know, it never ceases to amaze me what dopers feel the need to share. It further never ceases to amaze that even when there’s a warning that this will be gross on top of gross on top of gross and TMI to boot, I’ll still just _have_ to see what it is.

What’s really impressive to me is that no matter how disgusting the original story is, someone will pop in (no pun intended) and top it within minutes.

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**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/17 "2005-11-10T21:21:18Z")

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**Otto** s story was not nearly TMI enough, but I hope and pray that I get a looped around ingrown hair zit one day. That black circle story ruled!

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gross-on-top-of-gross-on-top-of-gross-need-i-say-tmi/330370/18 "2005-11-10T22:25:48Z")

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> [@Ghanima](#):
>
> The black circle was an ingrown hair that looped back over itself, over and over.

I get these in my crotchal area.
