# Skin tag removal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700 "2011-06-16T15:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/21 "2011-06-16T21:07:29Z")
I’ve tried unsuccessfully to remove them by cutting. It’s very painful and they came back. A doctor could do his quickly and near painlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/22 "2011-06-16T21:27:22Z")
I had one larger one taken off at the doctor (freezing - it was painless and off instantly). The smaller ones I just scratch off at home - just pick at them until they finally come off. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/23 "2011-06-16T21:40:32Z")
First, you pick at it for days, weeks or months. Then, while it’s completely irritated and slightly infected, you pour alcohol on it until it burns and won’t stop. Then you try to cut it off with a dull pen knife, going back and forth, breaking the skin more, and then putting more alcohol on it. If you have some table salt, soak the freshly broken skin tag with some salt, then toss a bottle of thumbtacks on the floor and roll around in them. Once your skin is fully riddled with holes, pour more alcohol over your body. Now try pulling the skin tag until only shear force begins to tear if from your skin. As it tears away, like a thread on a cheap suit, the skin will just unravel until you’re forced to snip it with a common household scissors. Pour alcohol and salt on the open wound. I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/24 "2011-06-17T00:32:15Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > First, you pick at it for days, weeks or months. Then, while it’s completely irritated and slightly infected, you pour alcohol on it until it burns and won’t stop. Then you try to cut it off with a dull pen knife, going back and forth, breaking the skin more, and then putting more alcohol on it. If you have some table salt, soak the freshly broken skin tag with some salt, then toss a bottle of thumbtacks on the floor and roll around in them. Once your skin is fully riddled with holes, pour more alcohol over your body. Now try pulling the skin tag until only shear force begins to tear if from your skin. As it tears away, like a thread on a cheap suit, the skin will just unravel until you’re forced to snip it with a common household scissors. Pour alcohol and salt on the open wound. > > I hate when that happens. Thanks for my one and only laugh today. Too funny. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/25 "2011-06-17T03:51:09Z")
I have what might be a skin tag, what might be just a big mole, on my neck in the front; I never considered having it removed because…well…I just figured it would be expensive/complicated. I’m not going to try removing THAT one myself, but I do have insurance, so…thanks for the question and the answers 🙂 I have a couple of hard-to-reach skintags that I’ll bring up at the docs as well, and maybe he can just do them all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/26 "2011-06-17T03:59:33Z")
My post from an earlier thread [Skin tags - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472557) > [@](#): > > I’ve had a number of tags over the years. > > As a kid, one on my upper eyelid, electrocauterized by the doctor. > > A few on my body, which yielded after a few days of pinching between fingernails and twisting. > > A couple of years ago, another on my upper eyelid. This one I tried tying off with a thread. It was painful for a few days, and I was afraid the eyelid might become infected, but the tag finally came off and the eyelid was fine. However, next time I’ll let the doctor do it, and I recommend others do the same. There’s one I forgot. It was between my big toe and the next toe. I was in high school and had access to silver nitrate, so I used a droplet on the tag (I do NOT recommend this). Even though the AgNO[sub]3[/sub] did burn the tag, it did not eliminate it. I’ve forgotten what did work. It may have repeated applications of Vitamin E, or it may have just disappeared spontaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/27 "2011-06-17T19:37:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This is easy. Tie dental floss or thread around the base of the skin tag tightly. It will turn black and fall off in a couple of days. The problem is it has to grow long enough to tie the floss around. They are often caused by skin irritation, so the collar line is a common place to have them show up. I find rough scrubbing of my collar line with a washcloth gets rid of them as they start to appear. But other ones would show up randomly on my torso, and I use the dental floss technique successfully. Seconded. This works perfectly for me. Joe ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/28 "2011-06-17T23:06:20Z")
I sliced one off of my neck using a Swiss army knife. Darn useful tool, those Swiss army knives! It serves as my keychain too. I don’t know that I would actually recommend this method to anyone else, but it’s nice to see that I’m not the only doper willing to engage in a little DIY home surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/29 "2011-06-17T23:26:44Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I have what might be a skin tag, what might be just a big mole, on my neck in the front; I never considered having it removed because…well…I just figured it would be expensive/complicated. > I’m not going to try removing THAT one myself, but I do have insurance, so…thanks for the question and the answers 🙂 I have a couple of hard-to-reach skintags that I’ll bring up at the docs as well, and maybe he can just do them all at the same time. If you can explain that your skin tags cause you discomfort (the ones that are always agitated by chaffing shirt collars or pants or when one body part rubs on another body part (thighs, groin area and armpits especially), or where you shave (face and neck area)), then it is viewed more as a medical issue rather than a cosmetic issue, and you would only be subject to the co-pay. Get as many tags/moles removed as you can handle in one visit and you’ll feel a whole lot better and it wouldn’t cost a huge amount of money. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/30 "2011-06-18T00:17:11Z")
When I was little, my pet parakeet bit a skin tag off. Hurt like crazy, but it didn’t come back–or get infected. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/31 "2011-06-18T00:58:40Z")
I have a lot of little ones but they aren’t troublesome. I had one really big one on my neck for years, always getting rubbed and irritated. So I tried tying a thread around the thing for a couple of days, and choking it to death. But I got impatient, got out the rubbing alcohol and nail clippers, bit the bullet, and nipped it off. Hurt briefly, bled like a son of a gun, but I was free of my little friend at long last. ---
**Author:** ![CoffinMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@CoffinMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoffinMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/32 "2011-06-18T01:00:27Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > First, you pick at it for days, weeks or months. Then, while it’s completely irritated and slightly infected, you pour alcohol on it until it burns and won’t stop. Then you try to cut it off with a dull pen knife, going back and forth, breaking the skin more, and then putting more alcohol on it. If you have some table salt, soak the freshly broken skin tag with some salt, then toss a bottle of thumbtacks on the floor and roll around in them. Once your skin is fully riddled with holes, pour more alcohol over your body. Now try pulling the skin tag until only shear force begins to tear if from your skin. As it tears away, like a thread on a cheap suit, the skin will just unravel until you’re forced to snip it with a common household scissors. Pour alcohol and salt on the open wound. > > I hate when that happens. Best home medical advice ever!! ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/33 "2011-06-18T01:56:29Z")
Thanks for all the responses! I almost fainted a few times, but I read all of them. I can’t believe people are cutting them off themselves–I tried to clip one off with nail clippers and almost passed out from the pain. And I didn’t know they had roots! Ack! I think I’ll go to a dermatologist and see what he/she says. I am sometimes self-conscious of them and think they gross people out, like they look at me and say “She’d be attractive except for those horrible skin tags on her neck! Eeewww…” ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/34 "2011-06-19T02:22:55Z")
There was a commercial put on daytime TV by some ambulance chasers, featuring a ‘victim’ talking about what a fantastic settlement he got from an accident. This guy had major skin tags, really gross. Dude! Use some of that money for a dermatologist! ---
**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:** [June 19, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/35 "2011-06-19T14:51:43Z")
I’ve had them from time to time. One’s I can’t reach have been removed by the doctor, usually by lidocaine and scissors. Others I’ve removed by squeezing the base tightly with broad tweezers for a few minutes. This crushes the blood supply and the tag dries up and falls off in a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/36 "2011-06-19T16:14:50Z")
I get these sometimes - mostly under my arms (in my case, they’re an indicator that I am overweight). I tied a really big one off with cotton thread, others I have removed either by just pinching/twisting them off with my fingernails, or by twisting them to damage their ‘stalk’ - after which, they atrophy and eventually fall off. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/37 "2011-06-19T17:08:04Z")
Now here’s my question, and the reason I haven’t taken care of them yet. I have a bunch on my eye lids. How the f- do they take care of those? I’m not cutting them off myself or allowing anyone else to do without a local, but I dunno if they will refuse to do so when it could get in my eyes. I also expect that the cryo method is not an option. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/38 "2011-06-19T18:53:28Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Now here’s my question, and the reason I haven’t taken care of them yet. > > I have a bunch on my eye lids. How the f- do they take care of those? I’m not cutting them off myself or allowing anyone else to do without a local, but I dunno if they will refuse to do so when it could get in my eyes. I also expect that the cryo method is not an option. They may not be skin tags. Even if they are you may want to see a doctor anyway. Skin tags or other growths on the eyelid can cause problems to the eye underneath form the localize pressure when your eyes are shut. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/39 "2011-06-19T19:54:39Z")
I have one that occasionally appears on my lower eyelid, right at the rim of the skin where it touches my eyeball. My GP, dermatologist and eye doc have all said to leave it alone and it will fall off. They don’t want to mess with it. It never did fall off. But twice now, I have snipped it off myself because it grew big enough to interfere with my blinking. I do not recommend this course of action, especially now that there are so many other treatments, but I was very, very frustrated. They were all afraid of damaging my eye. Both times, the thing bled like crazy. I was \*very \*careful to keep the wound clean as it healed. After 10 years, it has not come back. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700/40 "2011-06-24T04:35:08Z")
I have two Drs remove them at different times. First time with scalpel on neck and armpit. They returned about 3 yrs later. 2nd time was another doctor and he froze them off. 6 yrs later, they have not grown back. I have some pigment issues with the ones that were froze off, as in there is no pigment. But I am fair skinned so it doesn’t show up much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-tag-removal/585700.md?page=3)