These tiny, pliable, harmless skin bumps commonly appear after the age of forty. They tend to develop in areas of friction due to clothing rubbing against the skin on the neck area or skin-to-skin contact, like underarms, groin and thighs. Skin tags are referred to as acrochordon, benign skin growths, tumors, fibroma (molluscum, pendulum or soft), cutaneous tags and the list goes on. Certain conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome may increase one’s risk of developing skin tags.

The good news is that these are easily removable. Sometimes, they fall off on their own while others can be frozen with liquid nitrogen, surgically removed with scissors, burned off by electrosurgery or tied off with thread, which is called ligation.

DIY Approaches to Removing Skin Tags

• Using an acidic solution like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar can dry them out.
• Ayurvedic medicine suggests regularly dousing the tags with tea tree oil. They believe that the oil acts as an antibacterial, home-version antibiotic and exfoliator, therefore dissolving the base of the tag.
• Snipping it off with surgical scissors or nail nippers is not advisable, in my opinion. Skin tags originate from the dermis. If you snip it yourself, it can be extremely painful if they’re connected to nerves.
• Tying a thin piece of floss around the tag and leaving it there indefinitely will cut off the blood supply. In this image you can see the strangulated tag which is collecting blood.  

It’s not advisable to remove skin tags in an unsterile environment as bleeding and infection may occur.  The doctor’s office can treat side effects of skin tag removal. 

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