Skin Tag on Ear

Hi C., my daughter was born with one also. She is now 25. I just told her about your question, and she says to leave it, it builds charactor. I was worried about it as well, but I didn't want to put her through that as a baby. I have left it up to her over the years. She chooses to leave it. Good Luck

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Is it something that has to be done right now? I would wait, if you could, until he is a little older. The other option is to get a second opinion. THere is no reason to put an almost 2 year old child under unless there is some major surgery they need to have. I, myself, have NEVER been put under, and when I was 3-4 years old, I had stitches sew around one of my eyes. NO putting me under for that one. And I am only 28. It wasn't really that long ago, and even now, if it is something that does not "life or death" require anesthesia, then don't do it. It's not good for their little bodies, anyway.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
-E. Mc.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.!

I was born with a skin tag on my ear! Long, long ago apparently when barbarick methods of removal were used...all the doctor did was tie some sort of sting around the tag, as close to my head as he could and basically cinched it off. The extra skin doesn't really have much feeling...I can take a photo of my ear where the skin tag was if you want to see what I am talking about - just let me know. I would probably get a second opinion before putting little under anethesia.
Good luck and have a great day.

I just heard a talk on NPR last week about a study that was done by the Mayo Clinic which showed a relationship between Children under 4 having a general anesthetic and the incidence of ADHD and other psychological disorders. The chances of disorders increased significantly with each exposure to anesthetic. The FDA has decided to work with them to conduct further studies. The current recommendation is to avoid having young children put under unless absolutely necessary and to postpone it as long as possible when necessary. You can go to NPR's web site to read the whole article.

D.

A skin tag is a rather simple procedure. Your MD should be able to remove it with a topical anesthetic of 4% lidocane or at the very most a local injection. This is really an easy procedure to perform and tolerate. Good luck!

I would clarify with the ENT, did they mean general anesthesia, or local? For removing a skin tag, I would bet it would be local anesthesia. As mentioned by the woman responder who also had one removed without anesthesia, it is a very simple and relatively painless process, so I can't imagine a doctor recommending general anesthesia for it. If for some reason the doctor does recommend general anesthesia, and has some valid reason for this, try suggesting that they use local anesthesia instead, and schedule the removal at a time where your baby normally has his bottle and nap. This way they can give him the local, and then give you time to settle him down with a bottle in your lap while they come in and snip it off quickly. I've had one removed from my arm without anesthesia, and litterally it is like ripping off a bandaid. A quick little sting, and then it's over. I'd be surprised if your doctor is really recommending that general anesthesia be used. Good luck!

My son had an undecended testicle and a hernia from being premature. He had surgery at age 3 which speacialists recommend between a year and 18 months. His pediatrician gave me the risks and they were higher for a baby being put under anesthesia, who is premature with asthma. I feared putting him under because the effects of the anesthesia which is heavy on the lungs. After surgery I was immediately called in because he was having breathing problems from the anethesia and I had to take him to emergency as the procedure was at an outpatient clinic. His lungs had pretty much collapsed and he needed breathing treatments and antibiotics. He stayed in the hospital overnight. He was resiliant and was running around two days later. If he does not have any health risks or asthma then the risks are pretty low. I don't want to scare you, I just want you to understand I have been there and yes it is scary but he will be okay. Even my son with immature lungs and asthma due to being a preemie made it out of surgery okay!

Hi C.,

Our daughter was born with a skin tag also. We heard a few things about how these are removed before we asked our pediatrician about it. She recommended we go to a plastic surgeon for a consultation. No one new how far into her skin the tag went so like I said it was recommended that we see a plastic surgeon. Also, a plastic surgeon was appropro in our case to ensure that there was little or no scarring. Our daughter was admitted to the hospital and put under anestesia for the surgery. We did it when she around 2 years old. We wanted to do it while she was young enough that she wouldn't remember it and old enough to be a little more robust. The surgery went great. When she came out of the anestesia she cried and thrashed around a bit (which is very normal for most kids), but once she calmed down we took her home, she took a nap, and woke up like she'd never been to the hospital at all. Today you can barely see where the tag was. We are happy that we did it. We didn't want her self conscous of it or having to deal with possible ridicule. Again, we are glad we did it. I hope this helps.

If the tag is loose they can do a quick freeze off which doesn't require anesthesia.

Are you sure your doc didn’t mean a local anesthetic? I had a skin tag on the top of my ear that my mother got rid of the old fashioned way (numbed it with ice and tied a thread around it real tight). It died and fell off in less than a week and my mom says I only fussed when she was holding the ice to my ear.

C.,
My daughter was also born with a skin tag on her ear. I wanted it removed immediately, but my husband and I were also afraid of putting her under. She is now 3 and we haven't done it yet. We decided that since it wasn't bothering her at all, we would wait until she wanted it removed and then we would do it. She has just started noticing it and asked about it, she calls it her earing. I predict she will probably not ask to have it removed until she is much older. Good luck!

S.

I don't understand why they couldn't remove it with a local anesthesia, but if it requires a general anesthesia, I would wait until he's older. No need to take that minimal risk, but risk nonetheless, for a skin tag.