Who has skin tags and what do you do about them?
I’ve got a couple. I mostly just ignore them. One on my neck started to get annoying so I sliced it off with a swiss army knife (not that I recommend DIY home surgery to others).
I get them occasionally and usually I just grab them between my thumb and fore-finger and just keep twisting in one direction until it pops off. (Although using tweezers works better since you don’t have to let go while you twist.)
There was a prior thread on this some time ago. A lot of people did self-surgery and home cures! I had a big one on my neck, rubbing against my collar, so I tied a thread around it, to choke it to death. Took a couple of days (also squeezed and pinched it). Got rid of that one, but in its place up sprouted a lot of little teeny ones! Those I leave alone, I will just have to live with some imperfections.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO, home of threads with medical and dermatological anecdotes and advice.
I usually ice mine up until numb, then go after them with nail clippers or a small pair of scissors.
In Canada, Schering Plough markets their Dr Scholl’s Freeze Away cryogenic spray for skin tag removal (and you can see ads for it on YouTube). Freeze the tag, and it falls off in a few days. Here in the US, Freeze Away is only approved for wart removal, but I’m tempted to try some next time I get one.
I sometimes get them under my arms - usually when I’m carrying a little too much weight - I ignore them if they’re small. Once, I tied off a large one with sewing thread and it shriveled and dropped off after a week; a couple of other times, I’ve just pinched and twisted them to injure the ‘stalk’, after which they tend to shrink and fall off.
I usually just ignore them. A couple of times I used my fingernails. Pinch the base of the tag between thumb and middle finger nails to crush the blood vessels. Over the next day or two, the tag withers and becomes scab-like; then it’s easy to pull off. It left a reddish mark that last quite a while, though (weeks, if memory serves), so I wouldn’t recommend it.
I went to dermatologist once to get rid of a ton of them. She said that they might have been caused by the Depo Provera I was on. The worst ones were around my breasts and rubbed raw from my bra.
Now that I no longer take the Depo, I don’t have as many. I had to do self-surgery on one that was by my eye, since the doc refused. (She wanted me to see a specialist - screw that!) It hurt a bit, and bled a lot, but it was gone! I used nail scissors.
Skin tags are not brought on my hormones or any medication, they are caused by mechanical friction of skin rubbing against skin, that is why they appear in areas where skin rubs against each other. They are benign and do not need to be removed. If they are causing irritation, you can freeze them off. The really big ones you can sometimes tie them off with dental floss. I do not recommend cutting with scissors as that makes a wound which could potentially become infected.
Have a few - ignore them except I had some big annoying ones that I removed.
My mom had them on her eyelids.
Brian
I try to get rid of them when they’re small. Just some brisk rubbing or scratching usually does it. If they start to grow, let them get big enough to tie off with thread or dental floss. Tie them off tight and they’ll die and fall off in a day or two. They can also be frozen off, removed with acid, some people claim duct tape will dissolve them. Slice them off if you feel like it.
I do, I cut them off past the root with scissors. Skin tags are absolutely hormonal and genetic. Mine have all been on my neck and face. I’ve never gotten a scar from chopping them off.
I had one on my chest, but I cut it off. It was kind of fun.
They are linked to elevated blood sugar and can absolutely be affected by hormones.
I used to go to a dermatologist, who used liquid nitrogen to freeze them.
But, after a while, I figured to heck with it, and now I just use scissors.
Apparently there are a lot of people on the board who are tougher than I am. Time to man up Bat!
Edit: Thanks for the replies.
I’ve had some from time to time. I use cuticle scissors to snip them off below the root. I pull the tag out from the skin, and snip it off a little below its normal “neck”. I’ve also done this on my husband, who will say “Look at this, what is it?” and then not want me to remove it. The rule is, if it’s a zit or blackhead or skin tag, if I see it, then I’m going to remove it.
My dad had quite a few, not just in areas where there was friction, but over his eyelids and such.
about 10 years ago, I had some on my neck, armpits, and groin area. got them cut off at the doctors.
then some came back about 5 years ago. Doctor froze them off.
None since then.
Zounds! I didn’t know they worked that way! I always just snip them off at “surface level.” Next time, I’ll try it your way; it makes perfect sense, as you describe it.