I have never had skin tags until I got pregnant and now I have them in the strangest spots. Under my arms and around my chest where my bra strap goes (around my rib cage). Doctor says they aren't anything to worry about of course, but didn't give me a way to get rid of them.
Anyone had any success with over the counter stuff or other home remedies?
I just wipe a pair of nail scissors and skin tag with rubbing alcohol, then snip it off, then apply a band aid if it still bleeds after applying a little pressure for a little while (band aid usually not needed).
It leaves no sign it was ever there.
My OB suggested I tie them off with dental floss. My husband did it for me. He tied it really tight and placed a bandaid over it. I think it took a couple of days before it fell off.
If you decide to do that, definitely keep a bandaid over it until it heals. It doesn't hurt much (just a little bit), but I wouldn't want anything rubbing against it while it heals.
If you look at my skin now, you can't tell there was ever a skin tag.
I had one behind my earlobe that DROVE ME CRAZY. It was long and thin enough to tie a piece of my hair around tightly. It fell off in a couple of days with no pain, no problem. I haven't tried any of the over-the-counter stuff, but if something works for the tags that you can't "strangle", I'd love to know about it. I just don't trust the "as seen on TV" medicines.
I developed a couple and I find them really gross. One was on my neck... YUCK!
I went to the dermatologist and had them removed. As B said, basically all they do is cut them off with super sharp sterilized tiny scissors. Even so... I was happy for her to do it instead of playing around with something extremely visible on my neck. They actually sent it to the lab to be biopsied, even though it is beyond rare for something like that to be cancerous.
I had about four of them clipped off in one office visit. And it was just my normal dermatology visit for mole checks. It took less than 30 seconds. So for me, it was worth it to go that route.
My husband had quite a few skin tags pop up over the years. The doctor told him that all they would do is to cut them off with scissors. He advised my husband that he could do it at home. We bought some cuticle scissors since they are small and cut well. We sterilized them. We wiped the area with rubbing alcohol, cut the skin tag, put more alcohol on the area and bandage if needed. We did that to all of his smaller skin tags. He had some larger ones that he did not want to mess with, so for those he did have the doctor remove them. If you do have the doctor remove them, make sure you understand what the cost is. Depending on the type of coverage you have, it could be costly - especially when you compare the cost of doing it yourself.
I seldom had skin tags when I was younger, just one here, one there, but now that I'm officially in my "golden years" I get more of them. And I know from watching my parents in their last years, they can become unsightly (on the face). As your doctor (and mine) tells you, they're nothing to worry about. If they really, really bother you, (location, etc.) you can remove them simply but with some discomfort, by cutting off the blood supply. Pinch between fingernails at the base, where they emerge from the skin surface. Or twist back and forth, if they're long enough to grip so you can do that. You have to repeat the action for a few days, a few times a day. When the blood supple is broken, the skin tag dries up and falls off. This is probably not recommended by any medically trained personnel, but it has worked for me.
