"Skin Tag on 11 Yr Old"

Two great ideas that actually work. (I have skin tags too, and these have worked for me.)

One: You can tie a piece of thread around the base of the skin tag, thus cutting off the blood supply. It will "die" and fall off. This works best for large skin tags.

Two: Clear Calamine Lotion. It is a drying/anti-itch agent. Apply the lotion three or four times a day to the skin tag. The drying agent will dry out the skin tag and it will fall off. This works best for small skin tags.

Good Luck! G.

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What my dad did when i had them was took a strand of hair and tied it around the tag tightly and within a week it fell off. It turned black first so i guess by tieing it just cut the blood supply and wala. No pain at all

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Hi Claudia, i had one on my neck and my doctor told me to either pinch it off or clip it off with nail clippers, i used nail clippers andit worked perfectly and never returned. J.

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Hi Claudia,
Ok I'll tell you what I did, although I'm sure any doctor you ask would tell you that it was the exact wrong thing to do. That said-I've had no problems.
I took a length of thread, looped it to make a loose knot and then put the loose knot around the skin tag. I pulled both ends of the thread tight, the knot closed around the tag and it popped off.
Eeewwwwwww! Gross I know. It stung a bit, but that was it. I dabbed it with some alcohol before and after.
NOTE-this was a small tag, very skinny base.

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My cousin routinely dips her nail scissors in rubbing alcohol and snips off her own skin tags. I've never been that brave, and the ones on my neck are really starting to bug me!

Your son is probably freaked out by the word "burn." He's worried about pain and scarring. Assure him that there will be very little of either. (And also assure him that it will never fall off on its own.)

A friend of mine just took one off of her chest by tying a piece of dental floss around it as tight as she could stand it and then cut the ends off fairly short so they didn't hang. She said it fell off in about 3 days.
Hope that helps!

I get them all the time, tell him when the doctor goes to freeze it off, it just feels like cold ice on the skin, it has a teeny tiny burn for about two secs is all, and it just falls off, very easy to do, Tell I promise with all my candy in the candy store, buy the time he counts to five its done, and only a tiny tiny burn is felted just like cold ice sitting in his hands Be brave you can do it

skin tags are usually no big deal to remove but they sure sound like a big deal when you start telling an 11 yo your going to burn it off :/ you can try taking him to a dermotoligist and see if you have any better luck there.. Sometimes they will numb it up first and depending on how big it is or if it is sticking out they can snip it off.. not that that sounds much better.. good luck :) Tiff

I once had a skin tag and I just clipped it off with toe nail clippers. It didnt hurt at all! Pinch it at the base of it and see if he can feel that. If not, clip it off.

Honestly, skin tags DO NOT hurt to be removed if done a certain way. Have your son see a dermatologist and have it lasered off. They put numbing cream on first (which wasn't necessary) and they just laser it off. I had one frozen (burned off) and it hurt so bad! I couldn't believe when I had the laser done, I couldn't even feel it. There will be a very tiny scab then that will off in a couple days. With the freezing method, it bothered me for days. I know how your son feels.

The "burning" is not a big deal - I've had it done on a couple of moles that were in areas that kept getting rubbed (along my bra line) and you really don't feel a thing - the worst thing about it is the smell. But if it freaks out your little one, I've heard that pulling out a long hair from your head and "tying" it around the base tag will cut off blood flow to it and it will fall off within a week or so. I had a friend do this a few years ago and he said it worked great - but I don't have any first hand experience with it and I don't know if there are any issues with doing it this way. Good luck! :)

I have had a few skin tags removed and the results are great. It heals fairly quickly. My esthetician did it. He will be so happy after! Yes they "burn" it off. But the brief discomfort will be worth it! Go for it!

My mom used to take a hair out of her head and tie it around the skin tag. And in a few days it would fall off. She had to retie a hair once it came loose.
I know it worked for her.
Good Luck
B.

I've had lots removed - it's usually fast and paianless. They can also 'freeze' them off or just snip w/ scissors but let the dermatologist do it!

My husband and I remove skin tags all the time, tie a piece of clear thread or dental floss around its base. The idea is to starve the tag of blood. The doctor gave us this remedy which works every ttime. Takes up to 2 days depending on its size.

i have had things bruned off before & it did not hurt. however...i have had skin tags & when i get them i cut them off with a very sharp pair of tiny scissors (that are clean with alcohol, a flame on the blades doesnt hurt either!) as close to the skin as possible. they bleed & it stings for a second but it is done & over with quickly & no wasting time with a doctor. i have a friend from belize & she told me her mom always tied a thread around the tag until it fell off. they are ugly little things!!!

I had a quite a few as did my husband and my sister in law took some hair from our heads and tied it around the base of the tag and they all fell off (and never came back)! It works but it does take a week or so.

Hi Claudia,
My son was born with a skin tag next to his ear/where it meets his face. We were referred to a pediatric dermotologist who reccommened removing it with a simple outpatient surgery which could be done in the office. We were planning to have it removed around 6 months but at 4 months it miraculously fell off by itself before we even got a second opinion. The theory is that he slept on that side of his face and the stalk was long that it would bend over and the circulation was cut off while sleeping. It swelled up turned purple then turned black & shrivled up like a hard raison and fell off in a few days w/a tiny bit of bleeding. Now it's just a small bump where the stalk was attached to. Pediatrician said in his 30 yrs of practice he'd never seen one "take care of itself". before. Anyway, we got lucky but I would check with a pediatric dermotologist and definitely get a second opionion. All the drs I talked to said to not cut it off at home although I know a girlfriend of mine does that (she gets them on her neck). good luck!
Jen

Tell him that it does not hurt much and have it done. I had it done myself and it really wasn't that big a deal. Tell him that burn is just another way of freezing it off, not burn with fire.

I also have skin tags and all I do is I get a pair of tweezers and I pull it with the tweezers and then I cut it off with sanitized scissors the ones the Drs. use to remove stitches with, but make sure you put alcohol on the area first.

This is a trick that has ALWAYS worked for my family in the past...

on a weekend, tie thread around the base of the tag until he says he can feel it. so go as tight as you can into a knott. it will fall off on it's own in about 3 days maybe less - I promise..

put alcohol on it as well to keep from getting infected.

this really works!

I don't know how big this skin tag is, but double check with your dr. or another dr. if they can snip if off for you. I had a very tiny one when I was nursing and it was so painful. The dr. said I'll be right back, I'm just going to get something to look at it more closely and then he snipped it off, but it was small. It hurt for a second and I was glad it was gone.

I had the same thing after having my babies, the tags were relatively small but still noticeable and bothersome. I too asked the doctor about them and was given the same response and couldn't go through with it. One day I just took a clean pair of sharp nail clippers and clipped a few off. It hurt less then a paper cut and only "hurt" to actually do it, once they deed was done there was a little bleeding but then it was all done and hasn't returned in 3 years. Just make sure the clippers are clean and sharp and to use neosporine afterword. Good luck!

Hi Claudia,

Please see another doctor. I too was an eleven year old with a hideous skin tag under my arm. I got teased by it relentlessly and I was a popular kid. My parents weren't too concerned since skin tags are very common in my family but I hated it. I finally had it, among others removed. The doctor gave me a local (shot, but it didn't hurt at all) and cut the thing right off. Now I can wear sleeveless shirts! I don't know of any home remedys but would love to know if someone else has one. Good luck to you.

I agree with your son, skin tags are ugly.I can tell you from exprience,(hope you have long hair) take a hair from your head & tie it around the tag as tightly as u can , it will fall out in a couple days. It works, honest. Good luck

I don't know if anyone's suggest this already, I had one on my areola for years, my Derm. at the time suggested burning too, and hell no was I going to have that sensitive part of my body burned!! I finally got sick of it and got it into my head to tie it off w/ some clear filiment thread (plastic thread). It pinches when you tie it off, but it dried up and fell off in a couple of weeks (I think I did this years ago). Totally painless! Much better than burning it off!!

I think it would be better to have it removed. I had one on my arm hen I was little and it kept getting "snagged" (lack of a better word) when I was playing and eventually tore off leaving me bleeding and a scar. The scar has since faded, but I still think it would have been better if it had been removed properly. You should explain to your son the process of removing it. It may sound scary but it will be over and done with and no more worries. Good luck!

Try taking him to a pediatric dermatologist...they can do a quick removal w/ a little device that cuts it right off very neatly...no "burning". I would recommend that you avoid scary terminology like "it will be cut off", that sounds terrible, "removal" works, let the doc handle the explanation. They could also numb the area 1st. Don't try to do it yourself, the risk of infection is too great. Good luck!

Hi Claudia, I, too, have been cursed with skin tags, although mine did not show up until a few years ago. I asked my dad about it (he has them as well) and said the "family tradition" is to wrap a piece of dental floss around it and pull, really hard. Well, it sounded painful but I tried it, and could not get the dental floss to stay on long enough (around it) for me to do that, so what I do is... twist and turn those puppies until they fall off. I stop twisting and turning when it becomes too much to handle, then try it again the next day. I don't make it bleed, so it takes a few weeks sometimes, but usually only about a week. I would say talk to your son the next time he complains about it, and try to gently encourage him to let the doctor perform the procedure. Ask him, when he complains, if it is REALLY that bad (he will probably say yes) and then explain that you will make an appointment with the doctor to perform a painfree removal. I've only heard they are pain free, so don't quote me. LOL

I have had many skin tags removed, different ways. Depending on how big it is, you can have them inject anesthetic, or have a numbing cream applied to the area to dull the pain, which is minimal when it is burned off. It is much more painful to cut it off. It will be so quick to burn it off, so encourage your son to do it.

Tie it with thread and it will either pop right off or it will die and fall off in a few days. I do it all the time and it doesnt really hurt. the little ones will come right off and the bigger ones will die off.

Maybe it would help if you had the doctor talk to him and expain exactly what he is going to do. Children that age often do better if they receive full and complete information on procedures before they are done. I believe they could possibly remove it by freezing it off which involves putting liquid nitrogen on it and letting it fall off in a few days.

I had one cut off my face a few months ago. I could barely feel it being cut off; although it did bleed a bit, and I needed to wear a bandaid for a day. My doctor gave me the option of cutting or burning. Good luck! N.

hmmm did the dr explain the burning it off? isnt it like removing a wart? im not totally sure... what my friend did with hers was tied fishing line around it to cut off the blood supply and it just fell off... i dont know if your son would do that because i dont know if it would show or not at school and i wouldnt want him to get teased or anything. good luck!

Did the doctor tell your child HOW he was going to burn off the skin tag? I too have had a skin tag and asked the doctor about removing it. It took just a few seconds and PAINLESS. They use DRY ICE or at least my doctor did. He applied dry ice for a few seconds, after a few days the dry ice causes it to shrink up and fall off. SIMPLE, EASY, PAINLESS.

Hi Claudia -

I'm not 100% sure one could do this at home --- strong caveat --- ask your son's doctor first, or check with a Dermatologist if you don't want to go back to the same Dr. about the same issue. I think skin tags can be taken care of by Ligation. If it's big enough, something could be tied around the base of it, cutting off blood suppy and it would just dry up and fall off. Granted, it would look weird, but perhaps a bandaid could be put over it?

Did the Dr. explain to your son what he meant by "burning it off?" That would be scary to an 11 year old. But if you've never seen it or had that done, I'll describe it -- it's just a simple, pretty much painless process of holding a cautery tip up to the skin tag. It would smell, but that's about the worst of it. Doesn't take long either.

I've also heard of a Dermatologist literally snipping them off with little scissors, but that was to a grown up and I don't think anyone would do that with a kid -- too vascular!

I sympathize with your son, and you. My daughter is growing something near one of her eyes that could be a new little mole, but it also could be a skin tag. She hates it too. I've been tempted to take some thread and tie it off, but it's actually tiny. I don't dare touch it until we get it checked. I guess my best advise is --- Go to a Dermatologist.

Good luck,
C.

Hi Claudia

My husbaand had a skin tag on his thigh and I had one under my arm which was bothersome when I wore a bra. Our doctor did the same thing for both of us. He looked at them, grabbed a pair of very very sharp scissors, cleaned the skin and then SNIP... there it went. He put a bandaid on it and voila! All done. You can try doing that. It didn't hurt AT ALL- honest.

L.

the string works as others have mentioned. use something clear if he's worried about how it looks. just make sure it is tied off at the *very base* of the tag and as tight as he can stand.

I think that you should have it tested to see if its cancer or if it is just a tag...take him soon. you can get those things from lots of sun and some are cancerous...tell me what happends. this is for your childs safety. please go and get it tested.

Sorry I don't have a home remedy, but my daughter had a birthmark on her neck that looked like a love bite. I had it lasered off around the same age as your son and the process was slow, but was not painful. The dermatologist normally has that area numbed with a cream to ensure that the patient doesn't feel anything. The problem lies in your child not wearing sunscreen and 4 years later the birthmark returns as it did with my daughter. Encourage your son to try the laser surgery (if that's what the dr. recommended). But if he's not ready now he may be at a later date. Good luck.

If you can tie a piece of dental floss around it really tightly, it will die off and come right off of him. It will take a week or two though!

Good luck!