Skin Tag Removal With String And Other Methods: Ultimate How-To Guide

Everyone dreams to have soft, luxurious skin. While a healthy diet is one of the key components towards having smooth skin, anyone can develop skin tags. Almost half of us will get at least one skin tag during our life, with the number increasing for people who stay beyond 72 years of age, as they grow old their body immune system becomes poor and the body releases more fats in form of skin tags.

The removal of skin tags is regarded as Cosmetic surgery and is mainly recommended when they cause irritation or are a source of discomfort.

Skin tags are harmless and don’t usually cause pain or discomfort. However, someone may want to consider removing them if they are unsightly i.e when on the eyelids and affect your self-esteem, or if they snag on clothing or jewelry.

While skin tags can be removed by a doctor, there are approaches you can take yourself if you don’t want the trouble and expense of going to the doctor.

If you’ve always wanted to get rid of those unsightly skin tags on your neck or elsewhere but are too afraid to make that trip to the doctor’s, there’s still hope for you.

Who Gets Skin Tags?

Skin tags are a very common skin condition in both children and adults. Skin tags Skin tags are particularly common in older people and people suffering from diabetes.

Expectant women are also more likely to develop skin tags due to changes in their hormone levels during the pregnancy period.

What Exactly Are Skin Tags?

They are those little flaps or folds of skin commonly found on the face, neck, underarms, and around the breasts. They grow because of the constant friction of skin against skin, skin against clothing, or skin against jewelry. Fortunately, skin tags are harmless and painless. They are also usually benign.

Skin tags usually tend to grow where skin rubs against skin or clothing and more likely where there is light skin such parts of the body including the armpits, around the groin area. Skin tags can also grow on the eyelids or under the folds of the lower abdomen.

This could explain the reason why they also seem to affect overweight people or younger children who have superfluity folds of skin and skin flint on their bodies.

Skin Tags Can Grow Back

It’s important to note that while all of the below removal tips will help you to remove the pesky skin tag, they can and sometimes do grow back. While there is no magic formula to remove them once and for all, there are some basic steps you can take to prevent their return. See how to prevent skin tags for more detail.

One can choose to leave them untreated and still have a normal and healthy life. The only downside is that they look unsightly and can be quite annoying when shaving or applying make-up. If you want to remove them but are too scared to snip them off yourself, or if you want to save a couple of hundred dollars on doctor’s treatments, you can remove those unsightly skin tags with the following methods which you do at home.

Skin Tag Removal Using String

Perhaps the easiest and most tried and tested skin tag removal method which you can do at home is skin tag removal with string. It’s inexpensive and relatively painless, and skin tags are guaranteed to be gone in just a few days.

All you need is take a piece of strong string, like dental floss, and tie it around your skin tags. Tie it tightly enough so that it cuts off the blood circulation on the skin tags, but not too tight that it feels painful or uncomfortable. Remember that you don’t want to draw blood as the skin tag may become infected.

Make sure that the skin tag area is always clean. Sanitize it with a cotton ball soaked in isopropyl alcohol. Check the skin tag every day. It should get smaller, darker, and harder. These are signs that the skin tag is drying up and ready to fall off.

Is It Safe To Remove Skin Tags With String By Yourself?

Back in the old days, hair from a horse’s neck was used to remove skin tags. It’s tougher and more durable, and it was believed to be sharp enough to penetrate deeply and cut off the blood supply to the skin tags. Nowadays, you don’t need to find the next available horse and snatch a hair or two. You can easily use any strong cotton thread or dental floss and achieve the same results.

If you do decide to remove a skin tag on your own, utmost care should be taken, as with any kind of self-treatment procedure. No matter how easy or quick a procedure is, if you’re not careful, you still can have the risk of infection. There will be a little throbbing pain and discomfort. Your skin will also be a little sensitive to the touch. But overall, it’s safe and very effective. It stands alongside other natural remedies such as apple cider vinegar later in this article. Skin tags will dry up and just fall off after only a few days.

What Things Will You Need To Remove Skin Tags Safely With String?

• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Gauze
• Strong Thread / Dental Floss
• Antibacterial Ointment
• Bandage
• Scissors

A Few Reminders Before You Start Tying Off Those Skin Tags

1. Keep everything clean, from the cotton thread or dental floss, to the skin tag that you will be removing. If you must use a sterilizing solution, isopropyl alcohol, or surgical gloves, do it. It’s better to be too clean than risk suffering an infection.

2. Brace yourself for some pain and discomfort. Depending on your threshold for pain, you may find the level of discomfort to be little or a lot. You can always put some ice on it to relieve the pain, or you can just buy any over-the-counter pain medication.

How Do You Remove Skin Tags Using A String?

The first thing that you need to do is to sanitize the area around the skin tag. Clean it with some isopropyl alcohol using a cotton ball.

Next, look for the stalk. It’s the piece of skin that connects the skin tag to your skin. Wrap the string or the dental floss around it securely. Make sure that it’s tight enough so that it cuts off the blood circulation, but not too tight that it cuts the skin.

You can place a bandage or a gauze on the skin tag so that it doesn’t get irritated, or rub against your clothing too much. Check it every day to see if it’s getting smaller and not the other way around. Apply alcohol to disinfect it. After a few days, the skin tag will discolor, dry up, and just fall off naturally.

If you feel this approach is not for you, then we’ve got you covered with some other approaches listed below.

How to Remove Skin Tags Using Tea Tree Oil

The tea tree oil is an essential oil that is extracted from the leaves of the tea tree plant. It can be found in a lot of cosmetic and skincare products because of its amazing effects on the skin, and its healing properties for many types of skin conditions, including helping get rid of skin tags.

For thousands of years, tea tree oil has been used for removing skin tags. The Aborigines of Australia discovered Melaleuca alternifolia’s healing properties first. Tea tree oil, an antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial oil, also contains a drying agent that assists in the drying up and removing those unsightly skin tags.

How Do You Remove Skin Tags By Using Tea Tree Oil?

To use tea tree oil on your skin tag, just dip a cotton ball in water. Squeeze out the excess water, and then add 2 to 3 drops of tea tree oil. Apply it on the affected areas and do this thrice a day.

Fortunately, you can find tea tree oil at all natural health and food stores, and you can purchase it right over the counter there. Using this oil, you can remove those unsightly skin tags painlessly, as well as easily, right at your own private home.

You will need:

• Pure and natural tea tree oil
• A dropper (or a piece of straw if you don’t have one)
• Band-Aid
• Cotton ball
• Water

Tea Tree Oil is a Safe and All-Natural Skin Tag Remover!

The first step is to ensure that the area around the skin tag is clean. Wash it with mild soap and water, and then pat the skin dry.

Dip a cotton ball in water and squeeze the excess. It should be damp, but not soaking wet.

Be sure to put 2-3 drops of tea tree oil on the cotton ball using the dropper or straw. Place the cotton ball on the skin tag and secure the cotton ball with a band-aid.

Do this three times a day or right before you go to sleep. Let your skin absorb the oil as you sleep. In around 2-3 weeks, you will see noticeable results with this method. The skin tag will shrivel up and drop off!

The tea tree oil is completely harmless on the skin, but if you are sensitive to many things or if you suffer from allergies, it’s best to dilute the tea tree oil in water. If you already have dry skin, then tea tree oil will make it even drier, so it’s best to apply it on other parts of your body you don’t mind looking dry for a few weeks. Before trying any other skin tag removal method, one should first try tea tree oil. It’s 100% safe and effective, not to mention affordable and pain-free.

Because of tea tree oil’s naturally antibacterial and antiseptic properties, it’s also one of the most effective home remedies for skin tags. With the frequent application of it, you will notice your skin tags change in color. They will harden up, a sign that they are drying, and then eventually just fall off from your skin. It is definitely an effective and painless way to remove those unsightly bumps on your neck, your face, or your underarms.

Tea tree oil helps in drying up the skin tag in just a matter of days. If your skin is not sensitive to the oil, you can directly apply it on the skin tag for faster and more visible results.

Skin Tag Removal Using Apple Cider Vinegar

It’s one of the best home remedies for removing skin tags. Apple cider vinegar is available in most stores, and it’s very affordable. Its acidic properties are very effective in drying the tissues which cause skin tags to develop.

It’s also a natural cure that’s safe and gentle on the skin, so you don’t have to worry about skin irritation or allergies. What it does is destroy the skin tag by drying it and penetrate deep through the tissue to ensure that the skin tag does not grow back.

Just dip a cotton ball in some apple cider vinegar and apply it on the skin tags that you wish to remove. It’s recommended that you do this method at least twice a day until the skin tags disappear.

Skin Tag Removal Using A Freezing Kit

Another way to permanently remove skin tags is by using a freezing kit. If in the past only doctors can perform this procedure, now you can purchase skin tag freezing kits and remove the skin tags yourself right at home.

Freezing is more commonly known as cryotherapy, and it makes use of liquid nitrogen to effectively kill and freeze the skin tag growth on contact. Freezing kits usually contain the freezing substance inside a specially built canister with a nozzle, which you place directly on the skin tag. Freezing skin tags takes seconds, but results will only be visible after a week or so, depending on the skin tag.

Some side effects that can occur include redness or blistering, but it will disappear together with the skin tag as it heals and falls off.

How to Freeze Off Skin Tags

Step 1: How to apply the TagTarget skin shield.
This is a self–sticking round pad with a hole at the center which fits over the skin tag you want to treat and protects the healthy skin around the skin tag. It is of great importance to use the Tag Target skin shield and it is recommended to always apply the right size before using compound W skin tag remover. This ensures the compound W is applied at the right location, it is more proficient when you use a mirror to locate it. One package has skin shields with three different size holes.

Step 2: How to prepare the Foam-tip Applicator and Holder.
It is advisable to use Compound W skin tag remover as recommended with the foam-tip applicators in the package since the remover may not work if you use other applicators. Insert firmly the stick end of the applicator into the holder.

Step 3: How to Freeze the Applicator

• First is to put the can firmly on the table provided or on a flat surface then insert the holder and the applicator onto the can at the top. Line up the notches with the holders openings at the top of the can.
• Using one hand hold the can upright without shaking. Use the other hand to press the holder downwards until it produces a hissing sound. Failure to produce the hissing sound means the can is damaged and it is not advisable to use the product. Go on pressing the holder down in order to hear the hissing sound for 2-3 seconds. This performance demonstrates that the applicator has been familiarized to its liquid state.
• Finally remove the holder and applicator from the can used, wait 10 – 20 seconds until the applicator appear frosty and produces smell similar to that of ether.

Step 4: How to Freeze the Skin Tag

• Use the mirror to help see the skin tag then press lightly the tip of the applicator on one side of the stalk mainly where attached to the skin.
• Hold the applicator gently for 45 seconds in one place and ensure that the tip is held firmly since the applicator needs to remain in one place for effectiveness.
• During the process you, there is likelihood of feeling a mild aching or stinging sensation at the point of application.

Skin Tag Removal Using Revitol’s Solution

Revitol is an all-natural homeopathic topical skin tag removal cream that removes skin tags naturally and painlessly. It boasts of natural ingredients derived from plant extracts, like sunflower oil, tea tree oil, and soybean oil, plus the pure and potent essential oil called Thuja occidentalis.

Even in its diluted form, Thuja occidentalis is a powerful remedy against skin tags, effectively targeting and penetrating the tissues. Revitol is gentle on the skin, promising no harmful side effects or allergic reactions. It works great on all types of skin and can remove your skin tags in as short as 7 days.

Apply Revitol on the skin tag regularly, at least three times a day. The solution has a nice smell, so it feels like you’re just wearing a fragrant body oil. Results will vary as skin tags also differ in size and thickness. Pinhead-sized ones will discolour and harden in as short as five days. Keep applying the solution until the skin tags just fall off on their own.

Why not do it yourself just by using a piece of string? Sounds death-defying for you? You’ll be surprised that this particular method of skin tag removal has been around for ages.

Removal of skin tags by a doctor

Removal of skin tags by the medical doctor is one of the safety measures that need to be undertaken by an individual when he or she has decided to remove the abnormalities protruding from the skin. It is advisable not to remove skin tags on your own, particularly if large since skin tags have blood vessels since they could bleed and become infected if someone uses non-sterile equipment The doctor can easily identify the right anesthesia to be taken to avoid subjecting you to painful cuts on your skin and also reduces chances of infection.

To avoid infection, scarring, or pain, skin tags can be easily removed in the hospital by a doctor or a family dermatologist by tying with a rubber membrane or by cutting the protruding skin tags after injecting a small amount of local anesthesia to suppress the pain and bleeding in case of any deep cuts. It is good advice to check with your doctor if you are unsure of any changes or any growth arising on your skin. After removal of the skin tag, there will be a small white scar on your skin and complications are rear and an individual can just go home as soon as the anesthesia wears off the skin.

Skin Tag Removal Frequently Asked Questions