Tell me about Skin Tags

[Zhaylin]

Almost 10 years ago, I went to the doctor about a "mole" that showed up in my bikini area. The Dr. said it was just a skin tag and to not worry about it. I asked him if I could pull or cut it off because it was unsightly and unattractive. He chuckled and said it might bleed a lot, but I should be fine. So I did and a year later, I had 3 more and the original one had grown in size. Almost a couple years after that I saw another doctor who told me the same thing. And just last year I saw a doctor for my "yearly" (after not going for 8). I asked her about them and received the same answer. They're just skin tags... no one really knows what causes them but they seem to appear in areas that receive a lot of friction, they are not contagious and cannot spread etc etc. So it was just a coincidence that after I removed a tiny nusance (sp) it grew and "seemed" to have multiplied? I hardly think so. Now, I have two inside my belly button and they annoy the dickens out of me and I am >.< [that close] to removing them. In the opinions of the geniuses here, do you agree with the doctors and rule my problem as coincidental? Or do you have first hand experience (or knowledge) that seems to indicate otherwise?

[ClouD]

Can't you just get laser treatment or something for 'moles'? I thought surgical removal causes scars. I don't even know what they mean by 'skin tag' though. It's concentrated pigmentation, I don't see how friction would cause that... [Sorry for not being too helpful ]

[Man of Steel]

I know just what you mean—I have a skin tag above my left eyelid. It's kind of annoying sometimes.

[Bearsy]

I have a few small one on my neck. I usually forget that they're there. But sometimes they can be annoying. I've never cared enough to look into getting it removed. Skin tags - Wikipedia

[Zhaylin]

That's okay, ClouD. A skin tag is sort of an overgrowth of skin. It looks a lot like a small wart or thin mole. My hubby told me NOT to remove it myself because the belly button is famous for being a breeding ground of germs and such and an infection would be very likely. I don't want to go to the doctor to have them removed because it seems overkill and costs a lot of money. MoS, I had one on my eyelid at one time. But I often have dry eyes and I rub my eyes a lot and I rubbed it right off one day lol. Thankfully, that one never returned! My 16 year old get them on his neck a lot. It definitely seems to be a hereditary thing.

[grasshoppa]

My step dad has them under his arm...I always wondered what the hell they were.

[ninja9578]

They are usually removed with cryosurgery, which you can safely (and cheaply) do yourself. Pulling something off you your body is never a good idea, for it can get infected. There are lots of cryosurgery products out there, I used Dr Scholls and it works well. Cryosurgery does not create an open wound, so there is no chance of infection.

[LifeStandsStill]

Oh so that's what all those tiny things on my neck are? It's hard for me to wear regular t shirts, cause the shirt ALWAYS gets caught around them(there are like 4 right on my collar bone), and its super painful, so I have to wear semi low cut tops all the time. I have 7 on my neck, and they're all pretty tiny, but i have a slightly bigger one on my shoulder. I used to hate them, and felt ugly having them, but over the years I just don't really care anymore, and forget they are even there most of the time.

[Amethyst Star]

My mom has them and I think my sister has found one or two on her neck (I don't remember if she did or not). As far as I know, there's nothing you can do to get rid of them permanently, so you can remove them or not. Like with warts, you kind of just have to live with them. Perhaps your husband could remove them? If you make sure to keep the area clean after removing them, I don't forsee a problem. Ninja's idea about "cryosurgery" products sounds like a good idea as well.

[Man of Steel]

Cryosurgery basically freezes them off with liquid notrogen or something, right? At leasr in the doctor's office, not sure about the consumer products.

[Zhaylin]

To give more details than I would ever like lol, the most bothersome one is at the inside edge of the crotch of my underwear. It's the largest one I have and it's extremely annoying. I wear bikini cut. Trust me when I say you do NOT want to freeze one off from that area!! I did and it was incredibly painful... and to make matters worse, it had no effect on it. I froze a couple off in other areas. They were smaller and it worked well with little pain. I've also used the liquid that you "paint" onto the affected area. That works too... but not for my most bothersome one. And I'm not sure how well either freezing or liquid would work inside my belly button lol. They don't annoy me physically except for when I clean the area. It just grosses me out to have stuff hiding in there

[Hercuflea]

tell them to freeze them off thats what they did to me with my molluscum

[Zhaylin]

About an hour ago I recalled an old wives remmedy (sp) for removing warts. Perhaps it will work for me... I found some canvas thread, cut of a bit, made a slip knot then tied it around the tag as much as I could tolerate. For warts, it's supposed to cut off the blood flow and makes them fall off. Hopefully it will work for large skin tags too. If not, that piece of string may be with me for a very long time lol. There's no way to loosen and remove it

[lagunagirl]

maybe go to a different doctor? I got a skin tag that was just beneath my eye removed just cause it wasn't all that attractive, and it was no problem. They just numbed it and cut it off, but if cutting it off is what you did and it made the problem worse, you should probably see someone else and explain the situation.

[Amethyst Star]

Not to gross anyone out, but I had a different way of removing warts. It involved nail clippers, some rubbing alcohol, usually a kleenex to staunch the bleeding, and a few bandaids. The worst part was having to make sure I cut deep enough to take out the root, but it worked, at least on my hands. The plantar warts on my feet eventually went away on their own, actually. Well, if you have a decent pain threshhold, you could try cutting them off yourself. As far as your more "sensitive" tag, making sure to use clean "clippers" and keeping clean gauze after removal would be the most important part.

[Zhaylin]

As a self-injurer, you'd think I would be able to handle the pain. But I can't cut them off. I've tried and it hurts too much lol. When I cut myself, I do it in a controlled and slow manner and I can handle it no problem. But with the tags, I try to slowly "saw" them off and it's just too unbearable. I also take off bandages slowly I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to rip or cut anything off quickly because there's no stopping or changing your mind at the last moment