

“There are very serious risks associated with trying to remove a mole yourself, whether it’s with a tool called a mole removal pen, plasma corrector pen or something found around the house. “This isn’t like giving yourself a haircut,” she says. Sarnoff, MD, president of The Skin Cancer Foundation, they simply aren’t worth the risk. But products that promise to burn, freeze or use lasers to remove moles or skin tags come with plenty of potentially harmful side effects and unintended consequences. Some things are better left to the professionals, however, including the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer.Īt-home mole removal devices may be a tempting purchase for people attempting to take skin concerns into their own hands. While these lifestyle changes might be inconvenient, most of them generally won’t cause you harm (bad DIY haircuts notwithstanding). Home workouts, cooking meals you’d usually have in a restaurant and virtual hangouts are now the norm. You can also use the online scheduling tool found on this website to book an appointment.Photo: Getty Images Various devices claim to let you remove moles, skin tags and other lesions at home - here’s why you should think twice before tackling this procedure without a doctor.Īs the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, it’s likely you’ve taken part in an “at-home” version of something. If you’d like to clear your skin of unsightly tags, we invite you to give us a call so we can set up an appointment, which you can even do on your lunch break. Whether we cauterize or freeze them, we’re able to quickly and efficiently remove the tags in mere minutes, leaving your skin in pristine condition. If you’d like to have your skin tags removed, we have the right tools for the job, virtually eliminating the risks outlined above. With your skin opened up, you put yourself at risk for infection, making the original skin tag a problem you wish you still had. Third, skin tags can, and do, bleed if you try removing them at home. Second, you run the risk of damaging the surface of your skin if you don’t have the tag removed correctly, leaving you with a scar instead of a skin tag, and scars are far harder to remove. First, the fact that your skin tag doesn’t have any nerves may embolden you to try removing them at home, but the tiny stalk that attaches the tag to your skin does have tiny nerves in it.
#ARE SKIN TAGS BAD HOW TO#
Don’t play tagĪs we mentioned earlier, the internet is full of advice on how to remove skin tags yourself, but we caution you against this practice for several reasons. It’s this stalk that makes removal trickier than you might think. The tags aren’t dangerous and are simply extra cells that gather on top of the smooth surface of your skin, attached by a stalk. People with weight problems are also more prone to skin tags because more areas of their skin rub together. Skin tags usually strike women over the age of 50, though this doesn’t mean to say that men are immune to developing the condition - they just do so at a much slower rate.

The scientific name for these skin growths is acrochordon, and they form in areas where there’s considerable friction, such as under your arms, around your bra line (if you’re female), on your eyelids, around your groin, and along your neck.

Skin on the looseīefore we get into the correct way to remove your skin tags, let’s step back and take a look at what they are in the first place. To find out why you should never remove skin tags on your own, read on. Trying to remove these pesky growths on your own can leave behind a problem that looks much worse than when you started. Here at Dermatology Center of Northwest Houston, we want your skin to be in the pink of health, which is why we provide comprehensive services to residents in Cypress, Texas, and the greater Houston area, including skin tag removal. If you’re tempted by an online video to simply remove your skin tags in the comfort of your own home, you run the risk of turning a benign problem into a much larger one. The flip side to DIY, however, can be costly, especially when it comes to your health. When it comes to DIY projects, you can take a good deal of pride in a renovated bathroom or great-looking garden.
