Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has removed their own skin tags? I know this is a gross topic but I have quite a few on my shoulder and neck. I tried to get the dermatologist to do it but it doesn't look like my insurance will cover it because of it being cosmetic and talk about it being expensive!!!!!!!! I am tempted to get some cuticle scissors, alcohol and do it myself. Has anybody ever tried to do that or something similar?

Thanks

Sherri

I've had a couple removed from the dermatologist, but it is expensive. They said they might grow back, but mine did not.

They said I could do it myself with sharp cuticle scissors (get a new pair), alcohol, etc. Just snip close to the skin and you would get a drop of blood. Someone also told me you can use clean dental floss to sort of choke it off - just tie it really tight and keep pulling it tight til it comes off. Or leaved it tied on overnight, and it cuts off the blood supply to the tag and it dies naturally.

It is just skin.

Use a new, clean container of roll-on deoderant to stop the bleeding. Deoderant has a chemical in it that stops bleeding. Just keep the scissors and deoderant just for removing skin tags, don't use them for other purposes or areas to keep them sterile.

I tried doing it myself, but didn't have the courage to inflict pain on myself! But, it seems doable. Mine were also by my neck, and it was very hard to reach.

Maybe you could have a friend do it for you? It can't be as bad as having your ears pierced!

Good luck.
WriterMom

Sherri,

Thank you for bringing up this subject!

Writermom,

Thank you for the advice! I have thought about doing this myself, but I'm too chicken. I bet my oldest son would love to do "surgery" on his mom! Ya think I should trust him? Maybe I'll get my youngest son to do it since he has much more to lose if he slips, but he's just as chicken as I am. Oh well, I'll find a way of getting it done.

I've been cut more than once when I trusted someone near me with a pair of scissors though.

Surely once you cut off the blood supply and deaden the skin it won't hurt..............will it?

I really am chicken aren't I? My Lord!!

I have a few in my arm pits. My hubby once cut one off for me and it did hurt, but not for long. I'd like to get the rest of them off also. Just haven't mustered up the courage yet....

My son was born with one next to his ear. The doc said if there was cartiledge in it, it would need an operation, otherwise the doctors prefer to tie them off with a tight thread and they fall off. This method sounds like it would be less prone to infection than snipping. Oucho!

OMG, you guys aren't kidding, are you? I'd be sooooo careful performing surgery on myself. The potential for infection...yikes. I went to a dermatologist once and they used this spray-stuff...it froze the tag and it fell off a few days later. I think you can make one appointment and do them all at once.

I have quite a few of these things...some teeny, some larger. My mom had a friend cut several off her and she said there were no problems. Supposedly if you stretch it away from the skin and it's clear at the spot it connects, it means it's not attached to a blood vessel and won't bleed. My grandma says to tie a string around it and it will eventually drop off. I was absent-mindedly fiddling with one on my neck the other day. It kinda pinched so I quit fooling with it. Well, apparently I did something right, because in a couple of days it dried up and I pulled it off with just a slight sting, like being poked with a pin. I have a couple though that are pretty large. Don't know if I'd want to handle them on my own. At least I would try the thread not the scissors.

Hmmm..I wonder if that stuff you can get at the store that freezes off warts would work? Not really any different from what the doc would do. Oh and as for an appointment....Mom said that the doctor wanted like $60 for the first 10 and $10 for every one after. That's OK if you have only a couple, but if you have lots that could run into some money.

Web: yeah, I'm wondering about that stuff they sell at the drugstore, too. Couldn't hurt to try, though, huh?

Thank you for the great ideas, ladies. I am going to try the thread thing first and see if that works. I wish the derm didn't charge so much!! $120.00 is a lot for me right now

I'd be very careful with that stuff. One time I tried to freeze a wart off of my son's finger with that stuff and as careful as I was, I still ended up getting some of the surrounding tissue and it is VERY painful!! I think I will go the other route myself. The neck is a lot more sensitive than the fingers. OUCH!!! He ended up having to get it done by a dermotologist anyway.

does anyone know how this happens?I think i woke up one day,and saw a bunch of them on my neck?not pretty.do you think floss would it rather than thread?.Any ideas about using something over the counter?could be be some form of skin cancer?Does it have anything to do with meno?

I have read that women with polycystic ovary disease get them, I wonder if women in meno do?? Good question. I have gotten several and they were taken off at the doctor. You can always say that they were bleeding or something was coming out of them then it is usually covered. Ask first. Most HMO's will not cover it but PPO's usually do no matter what.

Okay, I clicked on this thread out of curiosity and I must say...you ladies have officially gotten my gag reflex going with HOW-TO instructions on skin tag removal.

I have a few I would like to whack off!!

LOL, me too. They are everywhere.

I have used castor oil on them before and they eventually fell off. I have only had a couple though and they were small.

My husband has a great big one on his back. Maybe I should whack his off first to see how it works.Lol.

His skin tag, I mean!

I must say you just made me laugh. I laugh at the silliest things sometimes. Anyway, I had a small one on the side of my fact and my doctor's nurse practioner cut it off with scissors. It did hurt a bit but not too bad. Needless to say this doctor's office love to whack things off of people's bodies, namely moles. I have had 5 moles removed in a matter of months at their office. Oh well, a couple of those moles were kinda big so am glad they took them off and they turned out to be harmless though from pathology.

I meant to say I had one removed from the side of my "FACE" not fact. Darn, I am so lazy to review what I type on here and I always make terrible typos and I never learn.