Your skin is the first thing that protects you from opportunistic pathogens and is also the first thing that people see when they look at you. The reason why your skin is in bad shape at times is that it has to endure so much in your day-to-day life. From braving the elements to battling internal problems that cause you sleepless nights, stress, and exhaustion, your skin may change in color and blemishes and other skin growths may occur that signals something is amiss in your body. Ordinary blemishes come and go and are usually more common among teens and younger children but skin tags are prominent among the elderly. Pregnant women and the obese are also prone to growing tags than their peers.
If you have gotten tired of it and want to flaunt a youthful and flawless appearance, do something about your skin tag the way you see fit. If you are clueless, consult a dermatologist so you can be properly assessed because while generally harmless, it is still possible for a skin growth to be cancerous. Once it is clear, you can opt for surgery or other safer skin tag removal alternatives to get rid of your problem once and for all. Surgery is not only painful but costly too but it gives immediate results. On the other hand, it will take longer for natural and store-bought remedies to take effect. You weigh the pros and cons before deciding.
While Google might offer you natural skin-tag remedies like tea-tree oil, apple cider vinegar or (yikes) dental floss, Lolis calls BS on such skin tag removal strategies.
“These are just a few of the claims I’ve seen, but I don’t believe any of these home remedies are effective,” Lolis says. “I’ve had patients come into my office with dental floss tied around them, and the skin tags can become more painful and infected.”
Just as you wouldn’t expect vinegar or tea tree oil to remove skin from your arm, such at-home remedies won’t work on skin tags — which are, essentially, just excess skin. The only true way to remove skin tags is to physically cut, burn or freeze them off, she explains — which you should definitely not try at home (unless you relish the prospect of infections and scarring).
(Via: http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/slideshows/way-remove-skin-tags-160308/page3)
You don’t even have to look far to find ideas because a simple Google search can give you lots of helpful suggestions. Some may require you to purchase something especially with more commercial solutions but the rest can be found in your own pantry or kitchen. They have different mechanisms of action but generally does the same thing, which is to cut off the hanging pouch of skin off your epidermis. Be warned, though, that scarring may be a possibility especially if you use remedies that cause the growth to burn off as they are often made of aggressive chemicals or ingredients. Some of these tags are so tiny there may be no reason for you to meddle with it after all and just wait for it to fall off on its own.
While they do not have to be removed, you may choose to see a doctor who can eliminate the excess skin by cryotherapy (freezing them off), electrodesssication (burning them off) or surgical excision (cutting them off). “All of the methods are very easy and quick to perform,” says Carroll. But don’t try any of those methods at home.
Skin tags can contain a lot of blood so cutting them off on your own can lead to complications. Dermatologists like Carroll use numbing cream and sterile instruments to make the procedure as safe and comfortable as possible. It will also reduce your chances of scarring. “You may get a decrease or increase of colour pigmentation but for the most part they heal with perceptible scarring,” says Carroll.
(Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/08/29/skin-tags_n_11664114.html)
Even if you get ideas of removing skin tags on your own by nipping them clean with scissors or a dental floss, remember that these tags have a rich supply of blood and you may end up bleeding if you don’t do it properly. Of course, nobody really expects you to do it right since not all of you are doctors or trained medical professionals but never ever forget that it is still your body you are dealing with and anything you do can have negative consequences. Be open-minded about your options in having it removed like this, but don’t do anything you are not comfortable in doing. If you are in no rush and don’t mind having it dangling off of you a little longer, applying essential oils may actually do you more good than rushing it off by cutting it on your own. Aside from oils, you have other alternatives to consider, so think about it first before doing anything rash on your body.
