Skin Tags: What They Are and When You Should Remove Them

Are skin tags dangerous?

The sight of any new skin growth can send your mind spinning straight to the big C, but skin tags aren’t cancer. In fact, they’re usually harmless.

Can a skin tag turn into cancer?

“Technically, yes, because it’s skin like any part of your body,” Lamb says. She’s seen one rare case of a basal cell skin cancer developing on a skin tag. Still, it’s extremely rare for that to happen.

The only real risk with a skin tag is that it might twist around on its stalk and cut off its own blood supply. Without blood, the skin tag will die, and it could become infected.

Skin tags that get caught in a necklace, shirt collar or piece of your hair can also be painful. That’s often what prompts people to want them removed, says Susan Massick, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

How can you tell whether it’s something more serious?

What looks like a skin tag to the untrained eye might actually be a mole, which could be cancerous. Don’t necessarily rely on your own detective work and assume that a growth is a skin tag. If you’re unsure, get it checked out, Massick suggests. See your doctor or a dermatologist. For more details, read 4 Warning Signs of Melanoma That Are Easy to Miss.

When should you remove a skin tag?

A skin tag that’s infected or inflamed should come off, Lamb says. Otherwise, you don’t need to remove it unless you don’t like the way it looks or it’s getting caught in your clothes or jewelry and irritating you. Keep in mind that if you do have a skin tag removed simply because of its appearance, your insurance company will likely consider the procedure cosmetic and won’t cover the cost.

Can you remove skin tags yourself?

Massick says it’s best to check with a doctor, but she has had some patients remove small skin tags themselves. You just need to be careful.

First, make sure your scissors are sterile. The ones you find lying at the bottom of your junk drawer could cause an infection. Either boil them or clean them with rubbing alcohol. The scissors also need to be small enough to reach the skin tag’s base, and sharp. “If they’re dull, you’re not going to be able to cut through the skin,” Massick says. Clean the skin tag area as well.

Prepare yourself for a bit of bleeding after you snip. Have some gauze ready to stop it.

Another home-removal technique is to tie off the skin tag with a piece of string or dental floss. If you want to try this, make sure you tie the string tightly around the base of the skin tag close to your skin. That will cut off the skin tag’s blood supply. (It shouldn’t be painful, Massick says. If it is, take the string off.) Leave the string in place. It can take a few days for a skin tag to die and fall off.

How do dermatologists remove skin tags?

For larger skin tags or any you’re unsure about, see your dermatologist, Massick says. Your doctor can cut, freeze or burn off the growth. They can also biopsy the removed tissue to make sure it’s benign (not cancerous).

The method your doctor uses to remove skin tags will depend on their size. “If there are a lot of little ones, we can quickly freeze them like we freeze warts,” Lamb says. “If it’s bigger ones, we’ll snip them.”

To freeze them off, also called cryosurgery, your doctor will spray liquid nitrogen onto each spot. The super-cold liquid creates little blisters. “As the blister falls off, the skin tag will fall off as well,” Massick says. The process takes time. Expect to wait anywhere from a few days to two weeks for the skin tag to fall off. Cauterization involves a similar process, but it uses heat to burn off skin tags.

Another advantage to seeing a doctor is that it’s less painful than the do-it-yourself method. An injection of lidocaine numbs the area around larger skin tags, so you won’t feel anything during the procedure.

Can skin tags come back after you remove them?

A skin tag shouldn’t grow back after an in-office procedure, but don’t be surprised if you see a new one in the same area. “They tend to congregate in similar locations — skin folds, arms and neck, in between the thighs and under the breasts. So if you have one, you’ll probably get more as time goes on,” Massick says.