Generally skin tags are usual unharmed growth of skin cells in any area of body. Most of the adult population have these skin tags. Skin tags do not cause any medical complication while they might be bothersome in some way.
Generally a skin tag does not require any treatment and may fall down their self but sometimes they cause pain and discomfort to the individual. So a doctor recommends removal of skin by simple medical procedures.
Apart from the reason of pain, most of the people may wants to remove skin tag due to cosmetic reasons. They are specially removed if they present on the visible areas such as face.
Here we are going to mention some of the methods to remove skin tags at home suggested by a broad certified dermatologist Dr. Anshul Warman.
8 Home Remedies to Skin Tag Removal:
as mentioned earlier that skin tags can also be removed by medical procedures, some of the techniques are available for skin tag removal at home. Additionally they are more effective and safer than any medical surgery. For this purpose, there are many products are available in the market. In order to maintain safety first go for your doctor before the use of the skin tag removal product.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil is essential oil obtained from tea leaves and may helps to treat several skin conditions. Some anecdotal evidence says that tea tree oil helps to get rid of skin tags.
Some people use this oil in a particular manner by applying a few drops of tea tree oil to cotton ball and affix that cotton ball to the skin tag with the help of bandage. Repeating this process for 10 minutes, three times a day make skin tag to fall off.
At the time of applying oil you should be extra careful because tea tree oil causes irritation to the skin. Make sure to not use tea tree oil on the tags in the eye area.
Apple Cider Vinegar
A little bit research has been shown to know whether apple cider vinegar can remove skin tag or not.
An individual soaked a ball of cotton in the apple cider vinegar and fix this ball to the skin tag with the help of bandages and leave it for 10 minutes. Repeat this process 2-3 times a day for several day or weeks until skin tag fall off.
As apple cider vinegar is acidic in nature and causes chemical burn. So to protect these burns keep watching for any irritation and any sign of reaction. And keep away vinegar to the eye area and don’t use this to eye area.
Iodine
It is suggested in unscientific research that people can also used iodine as a home remedy to remove skin tag. However there is a little scientific evidence to this.
Any individual who is willing to use iodine should apply petroleum jelly or coconut oil the surrounding skin and should protect from any reaction of harmful effect. To apply iodine soak a q-tip to the iodine and spread the solution to the tag, cover the area with a bandage until iodine gets dry on its own.
Repeat this procedure twice a day until skin tags get away from the skin surface.
Garlic
Garlic has good anti-inflammatory property and it helps to manipulate skin appearance by reducing inflammation. So apply crushed garlic on skin tag and cover this area with the help of bandage overnight. Wash out the area with cold water, repeat this process till the falling down of skin tag.
Skin tag removal bands and patches
Skin tag removal bands are working on the principle of ligation which involves the isolation of any particular part of body by cutting the connection to a nutrition supplying cells. A skin tag removing band somehow works by cutting the blood supply to the foundation skin tag and in absence of blood supply skin tag cells dies hence skin tag get separated and falls away.
Skin tag removal patches contain medication to remove it. Removal patches placed on the skin tag and leaves for several days or sometimes several weeks. After that skin tag may fall away from the skin.
Due to the non approval by FDA, Dr. Mokaya says that “he is not a fan of over the counter skin removal devices specially removal patches. They are not regulated by the FDA many simply don’t work”
Skin tag removal creams
Plenty of skin tag removal creams are available in the market and these may be effective in some cases. These creams contain salicylic acid and tea tree oil and they are known to cause irritation on the skin hence Dr. Mokaya does not recommend them and suggests to avoid these kinds of removal creams.
However instructions says to clean the skin with an alcohol wipe and filling down the tag before applying removal cream so that cream gets fully absorbed.
As the labelling says skin tag should fall off from 2-3 weeks.
Freezing kits
Some health professionals use liquid nitrogen to freeze the tissue of skin tag. This process is called as cryotherapy as it involves temperatures of -320.8o F which is -195o C. benign lesions like skin tag need a temperature of -4o F to -5o F to fall away.
There is a recommendation from Dr. Mokaya for doing some research while you selecting Over-The-Counter kit for skin tag removal with lowest temperature when appropriately used.
When use freezing kit follows the given instructions properly and avoids the contact of spray to the surface of surrounding skin. Always apply petroleum jelly to skin around skin tag to protect the skin in advance.
Cutting or clipping
This method is quite painful and must need the approval of healthcare professionals. Cleanse the skin thoroughly to prevent infection and clip of the skin tag with sharp blade, nail clippers or scissors.
People having bleeding disorders and peoples who use blood thinners should avoid this. Do not try near eye area or genital area as it is quite dangerous and painful method.