Question:
Does anyone know how to get rid of these things?!?!

Ever since I turned 18 and started gaining all my weight, i started growing these "skin tabs", i have clusters of them under my arms, and some on my body, like one on my neck, or by my belly button and a couple on my inner thighs, anyone know what these are and how to get rid of them?    — Jennifer Q. (posted on January 2, 2003)


January 1, 2003
I have those thing and I hate them. The only way that I have found to get rid of them was to go to the doctor and have them "clipped" off. not really painful, however some have come back. Hope this helps!
   — Susan B.

January 1, 2003
They are called 'skin tags', according to my dermatologist. I have one on my belly that has shrunk on its own, but one on my back has not. The only way I know of to get rid of them is to have them cut off. I've had a couple removed that way. It was done by the dermatologist and wasn't painful at all. The ones I had removed were in very awkward places, one behind my knee that I kept knicking when I shaved my legs, etc.
   — garw

January 1, 2003
Yeah your PCP can probably do this for you right in the office. I had one on my kneck that bugged me. I cut it off myself. DONT do it yourself see a doc. Hey when your MO how many WANT to see their doc? NOT ME! Hear more bad news... Thats why I did it.
   — bob-haller

January 1, 2003
FYI. Skin tags are more common in overweight persons. No one knows why, but they are.
   — barbara A.

January 1, 2003
Yeah I had one cut off too (in docs office) ... should have had a few more done though. (I only had the painful one done though). As Bob said DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF... I've tried too, so I know. Bad news. Let the professionals do it. ;)
   — Danmark

January 1, 2003
Not that it's a big deal, but I've never had one. However, my sister has. Her doctor told her that if they weren't too big, but big enough, she could just tie a string around them and that the would eventually just fall off. Of course this isn't great advice for the ones you can't reach. Apparently, this doctor said she has done it to herself and it works fine. This doctor has also had wls. Just something to consider maybe.
   — Natalie M.

January 1, 2003
Sorry..."thread" probably would have been a better word than "string".
   — Natalie M.

January 2, 2003
String or thread will work. You have to tie it around the base of the tag and tighten it a little each day so that it is not painful. The thread cuts off the blood supply to the tag and soon it falls off. Make sure to cleanse the area thouroughly afterwards and apply some antibiotic ointment to keep it from getting infected.
   — lorn_23

January 2, 2003
I had 2 matching ones - one at the edge of each breast, almost under the armpit, and they were enormous. (The skin tags, I mean.) I had a doc take them off. I think she cut them off, and then cauterized the places. (They bled kind of a lot.) The rest of mine are small and don't really bug me. I bet the string thing works though, because I had a skin tag to which the bottom edge of my bra cut off the circulation, and eventually the skin tag turned black. THAT'S when I noticed it, for the first time, and I was terrified! I thought it was a melanoma. I'm a medical social worker, so I grab a nurse the second I get to work and drag her into the bathroom - Look!! Look!! "That's a dead skin tag," she says, and she snips it off with her bandage scissors. Oh. Well if I'm not dying, I guess I'll go to my desk.
   — Kim A.

January 2, 2003
My Dr has removed a few for me. He has told me that if I'm comfortable doing it use the thread (floss) method or sissors/nail clipper and have a steptic pencil ready. The skin tag has 1 blood vessel (small) up the center that will bleed.
   — Helen C.

January 2, 2003
I had one on my neck and was at an aesthetician's getting a facial. He had this "zapper" thing that got rid of little spider veins on my cheek and around my nose, and he also said it worked on skin tags so I asked him to remove mine and it worked. Sort of like a needle that made a static-electricity sound and burnt it off. Worked for me, didn't bleed or really even scab.
   — cddgo

January 3, 2003
i had a lot of skin tags too. i went to my dermatologist. he puts this cream on called "emla cream", you wait 60-90 minutes, it TOTALLY numbs the area and he cut those babies right off. it did NOT hurt one little bit, and i am a big baby when it comes to pain. when the emla cream wears off, it might sting a little, but nothing to horrible. ask your dermatologist about emla cream. me and my daughter used it when we got our ears pierced and felt NOTHING! -judi
   — [Deactivated Member]

January 3, 2003
Has your sleep apnea been diagnosed & treated? Seems to go together with skin tags. I had BAZILLIONS of them. I preferred the freeze method. The scissor one creeped me out, though it was faster.
   — vitalady




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