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Key takeaways
Skin tags are common, noncancerous growths that typically occur in areas of friction on the body and affect 60% of American adults. Age, genetics, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and pregnancy are contributing factors.
Home remedies for skin tag removal include cutting, tying off, or applying various substances. However, these methods increase the risk of infection and scarring and are generally not recommended by healthcare providers.
Over-the-counter treatments like cryotherapy kits, removal creams, and skin tag patches can cause skin damage. The FDA approves none, and they can lead to serious skin conditions.
Professional removal by a healthcare provider using methods like excision, cryotherapy, hyfrecation, or ligation is safe and effective. Minor procedures typically involve local anesthesia, and complications are rare.
Skin tags are one of those things you probably don’t think about until you spot one. These small skin growths known as acrochordons are like tiny flaps of skin that don’t belong. At first glance, you may fear it’s a symptom of psoriasis, eczema, HPV warts, or skin cancer—but skin tags are common, noncancerous, and essentially harmless. In fact, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, 60% of American adults will experience skin tags at some point in their lives. They affect people of all genders and races.
“Skin tags are benign growths that love areas where there’s lots of friction,” explains Mary Alice Mina, a dermatologist in Atlanta and host of “The Skin Real” podcast. “We often see them around the neck, under the breasts, and along the groin and armpits. We don’t fully understand why some people get more than others, but they’re fairly universal as we age.”
In addition to age and parts of the body, certain health conditions can be a contributing factor.
“Some people are genetically predisposed,” says Faranak Kamangar, MD, a Silicon Valley-based dermatologist, who adds that obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and pregnancy make someone more likely to have skin tags.
While skin tags don’t cause harm, many people want to get rid of them for cosmetic reasons.
13 home remedies for skin tags
If a skin tag pops up out of nowhere, it may be tempting to try to remove it on your own. They aren’t a medical issue—and don’t actually need to be removed—but healthcare providers do recommend you have a professional remove them rather than trying to DIY.
If you’re determined to do it yourself, there are options that could work, but there are risks. Read on to see what experts say about the following 13 home remedies for skin tags.
1. Cut it off
When you find a skin tag, it can be tempting to snip it off with scissors. In fact, you can go down a lengthy Reddit rabbit hole about things people have used to cut off their skin tags at home—nail clippers, tweezers, hair scissors—you name it. But just because you can cut off a skin tag at home doesn’t mean you should.
“I don’t recommend people cut things off their skin by themselves at home,” Dr. Mina says. Your scissors are likely not sterile or sharp enough. Plus, Dr. Mina explains that skin tags often have a central blood supply. If you cut it off, it could bleed and leave an open wound that’s vulnerable to infection and scarring.
2. Tie it off
A popular skin tag removal method is tying them off. The idea is that you tie a piece of string around the stalk of the skin tag tightly and leave it there until the skin tag falls off. Will it work? Probably, says Dr. Mina. Is it a good idea? Probably not.
If a skin tag is big enough that you can tie a string around it with relative ease, you should probably have your healthcare provider look at it. “You want to make sure it’s not actually a mole or something else… like neurofibromas, which can resemble skin tags,” Dr. Mina says.
When getting a concerning-looking skin tag removed in a healthcare setting, your provider will send it to the lab for a pathologist to look at it under the microscope to confirm it’s not cancer—something you can’t do at home.
3. Use a cryotherapy kit
Several brands make at-home cryotherapy kits that claim they’ll get rid of skin tags—which is similar to a procedure that’s done in a dermatologist’s office.
“We use liquid nitrogen to freeze skin tags,” Dr. Mina says. “You really need about negative 25 degrees Celsius to remove these benign skin lesions.” The over-the-counter (OTC) kits, which you can purchase at the drugstore, might not get cold enough to effectively remove skin tags—plus, this method has the potential to scar or discolor the skin around the skin tag.
“It’s really difficult to limit the freezing to the skin tag alone,” Dr. Mina says. “You can actually destroy the little melanocytes in the skin and leave people with white marks on the skin.”
4. Apply removal cream
Like the cryotherapy kits, there are OTC creams on the market that claim to remove skin tags. Some use chemicals, such as salicylic acid, and some use natural ingredients like essential oils. There’s no research indicating that they might be effective, and they likely haven’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
There is evidence that some of these creams may be dangerous, though. In a study from 2023, researchers found 38 cases of serious skin conditions that likely resulted from skin tag removal creams bought online. In other words, use them with caution.
5. Try patches
Skin tag removal patches are generally small, adhesive patches that contain salicylic acid or essential oils. The problem, again, is that most skin tag removal patches are larger than the skin tag so the active ingredients that remove the skin tag will also affect the surrounding skin. As of this writing, none of the skin tag removal patches available over the counter have been approved by the FDA, and they have issued a statement warning consumers against using these patches. They can cause skin irritation or other skin conditions such as dermatitis.
6. Soak with apple cider vinegar
The idea behind using apple cider vinegar to remove skin tags is that the acidity of the vinegar will irritate the skin tag into falling off. To do this, you’re meant to apply a cotton ball soaked in apple cider vinegar to your skin tag and then cover it with a bandage. You should leave for a few days or until the skin tag falls off.
There is no research supporting this method and it’s possible the ACV could cause contact dermatitis.
RELATED: Health benefits of apple cider vinegar
7. Cover in nail polish
One alleged natural remedy for removing skin tags is using nail polish. You are meant to coat the skin tag in nail polish, wait for the polish to harden, and then pull it off. There is no evidence that this is a safe or effective method—but there is a risk of bleeding or scarring if you rip the skin tag off.
8. Soak with nail polish remover
Some people believe nail polish will help a skin tag fall off. Similar to ACV, they say to apply a cotton ball soaked with nail polish remover to the area and cover with a Band-Aid; it’s meant to be done daily until the skin tag falls off. However, this is not advised as the active ingredient in nail polish remover is acetone, which can be toxic when applied directly to the skin.
9. Apply raw garlic
According to the internet, garlic is great for just about everything, including skin tag removal. Some sources say that if you cut a clove of garlic, press it to the skin tag, and then cover it with a Band-Aid, the skin tag will fall right off. Sounds like magic, right? Unfortunately, like so many things that seem too good to be true, it is.
“You’re likely to get skin irritation when you put it on, not just on the skin tag, but on all the surrounding skin, and it’s not going to make the skin tag disappear,” Dr. Mina says.
10. Try a banana peel
Using banana peels to heal skin tags seems to be one of the gentlest home remedies. Similar to the other treatments, you are meant to apply a piece of banana peel to the skin tag and cover it with a bandage nightly until the tag falls off. Unfortunately, doctors have no reason to believe this method will do anything to skin tags.
“You’re better off just eating the banana and getting the nutrients from that,” Dr. Mina says, adding that this DIY attempt won’t hurt you, so if you want to give it a go, it’s low risk.
11. Treat with tea tree oil
Applying tea tree oil to skin tags is another natural approach to removing them. With a lot of home remedies, you’re trying to irritate the skin to exfoliate or rub them off. In other words, you’re trying to traumatize the skin to get them to fall off, Dr. Mina explains. “I’m not sure how tea tree oil would work,” she says, given that tea tree oil has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. The good news is that it isn’t likely to hurt your skin or the surrounding skin. The bad news is that putting tea tree oil on skin tags probably just won’t do anything.
12. Apply vitamin E
The logic behind putting vitamin E on skin tags is a bit confusing. Some people claim that vitamin E will soften aging skin and therefore reduce skin tags and others say it will dry them up. In any case, applying vitamin E to skin tags is not a clinically proven removal strategy, but it’s also not likely to hurt you. While vitamin E can be toxic for some people, that’s only when it’s taken orally as a supplement.
13. Use iodine
Another treatment for skin tags involves applying iodine to them daily until they drop off. Unfortunately, this method isn’t just ineffective—it can also be harmful. Iodine side effects are rare but possible.
How to treat skin tags when natural remedies don’t work
If home remedies don’t work and you still want to remove your skin tags, it’s time to see your healthcare provider. When you go to your family healthcare provider or dermatologist, the treatment will depend on the size of the skin tag and any other conditions you may have. Dr. Mina says she generally uses excision (cuts them off) and then sends the skin tag to a lab to be tested. Some providers will use cryotherapy—freezing them off with liquid nitrogen—but some dermatologists avoid cryotherapy due to the potential for scarring.
Other healthcare providers may use hyfrecation, which burns them off with electrical energy, or ligation, which is a method of strangulating the blood vessel with a suture. All of these methods are safe and effective in a clinical environment. If the area is bleeding after skin tag removal, healthcare providers will cauterize the area to stop the bleeding. Some healthcare providers use injected anesthesia at the base of the skin tag. Complications are rare during and after these minor procedures.
When to see a doctor for skin tags
Most of the time, skin tags aren’t a problem. That being said if you suddenly have a lot of skin tags, you should have them examined by a medical professional. “There are some conditions where people are covered in skin tags,” Dr. Mina says. “It’s not so much that the skin tags are a problem. They just may help us identify an underlying skin condition.”
If you are getting skin tags all of a sudden, it could be related to weight gain or hormonal issues. Pregnant women often get skin tags, although researchers aren’t exactly sure why.
The other factor to consider is size. What you think is a skin tag could be a mole or something else that needs investigating. Dr. Mina recommends seeing a provider if you have a skin tag that is more than a centimeter to verify it’s benign. When in doubt, see a dermatologist.