# Heeey, that skin tag tie off really works! (TMI ensues) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947 "2014-11-30T11:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/1 "2014-11-30T11:05:44Z")
I had a real honker on my leg. Diameter of a dime and starting to get in the way and getting caught on stuff. Ew. I tied it off with floss and whattayaknow? It turned purple (days 1-3), then black (days 4-5), then became a tiny dime sized dehydrated pancake (days 6-7). A week later (day 8), it fell off! Sorry to any coworker who might have found a little black disk with floss tied to it on the floor tonight. I didn’t realize it was gone until I got home. :eek: :o 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/2 "2014-11-30T13:18:14Z")
Well! I suppose congratulations are in order! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/3 "2014-11-30T14:02:32Z")
I understand from animal husbandry magazines that the same technique works for castrations. Let us know how that works out for you. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/4 "2014-11-30T22:42:51Z")
No pics? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/5 "2014-11-30T22:44:45Z")
I sprouted a whole bunch of them while I was pregnant… something about cell proliferation of all types, I guess. I was able to get them all at the “pinching with fingernails” phase. Now I kind of wish I had nurtured one. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/6 "2014-12-01T00:34:19Z")
I had one about that size removed–with about 40 various sized others–and the dermatologist assistant (or whatever his title is) sent that one off to the lab “just in case.” Don’t know if he was serious about \ or just trying to do me a favor with the insurance. It was benign. Just a friendly word of (possible) warning. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/7 "2014-12-01T02:03:02Z")
whoever finds it might clone you. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/8 "2014-12-01T05:16:42Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I sprouted a whole bunch of them while I was pregnant… something about cell proliferation of all types, I guess. I was able to get them all at the “pinching with fingernails” phase. > > Now I kind of wish I had nurtured one. I was never pregnant, but I’ve gotten a bunch of them, mostly on my neck, in recent years. Most of them have receded by themselves; I don’t pull them off, because even the tiniest ones bleed profusely. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/9 "2014-12-01T14:06:00Z")
You can also get them off with liquid nitrogen (which my doctor used on mine). I suspect those aerosol “wart freezing” things would also do the trick. I notice that my skin tags seem to develop where the edges of my clothing are – I had a bunch of them around my neck where the neckline of my T-shirt was, as well as on my arms. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/10 "2014-12-02T06:06:09Z")
Good on you- if you are going to have a home entertainment unit skin event, get the floss REALLY tight 🙂 Freezing works pretty well; I usually snip skin tags and freeze seborrheic keratoses. those are the grayish or brown waxy things we call barnacles on the ship of life. Castration usually involves an Elastrator and a really thick very small elastic band. Works on sheep testicles and tails, bull calves (be sure to get both) and cats. For cats, a turkey cone and welding gloves are helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/11 "2014-12-02T06:17:08Z")
If it didn’t ooze, it didn’t count. Do it again and then tell us about it. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/12 "2014-12-02T07:12:55Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > If it didn’t ooze, it didn’t count. > > Do it again and then tell us about it. Haha, but it did, the first day! I spared some details. There was a second tie involved, after it swelled the first day and split a little and oozed some serum while becoming half purple. I had to put a band aid over it, concluding that the first tie wasn’t tight enough or it wouldn’t have become edematous. I still wonder if anyone found it. I was at the animal ER when it fell off, so it’s entirely possible it just got swept up with all the other craziness that lands on the floor hourly, with nary a glance. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/13 "2014-12-02T21:19:00Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Sorry to any coworker who might have found a little black disk with floss tied to it on the floor tonight. I didn’t realize it was gone until I got home. :eek: :o 😃 **SDT** cow-orker: “Hmm, don’t know what this thing is but it has a tiny leash. I think I’ll take it home and name it Larry”. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/14 "2014-12-03T15:07:20Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > I still wonder if anyone found it. I was at the animal ER when it fell off, so it’s entirely possible it just got swept up with all the other craziness that lands on the floor hourly, with nary a glance. I’m guessing a dog found it and ate the tasty morsel. Dried ooze and all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heeey-that-skin-tag-tie-off-really-works-tmi-ensues/705947/15 "2014-12-03T15:51:31Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I’m guessing a dog found it and ate the tasty morsel. Dried ooze and all. 😃 …and he’s coming for MORE! :eek: