Skin tags appear on the body and face as well as any area where your clothing causes friction, for example the waist, underarms and around the neck area, especially if you happen to sleep with a necklace on. The two main methods of treatment are to apply heat via a small needle after applying a topical local anaesthetic to the area – or freeze the skin tag off with cryotherapy.
Skin tags are completely harmless but can be very annoying. Removal is completely safe. If we discover it isn’t a skin tag but a mole, we’ll carry out a thorough consultation and suggest the best treatment for it.
We apply a topical anaesthetic to the skin tag then apply mild heat through a small needle to the root of the tag. The tag will turn darker over a few days and will fall of within a week.
We can also remove skin tags using a freezing method. There’s no anaesthetic necessary since the cryotherapy itself numbs the area.
It can take as little as 15 minutes to remove a skin tag but if you have several to take off you could be with us for as long as 45 minutes. Treatment takes place at our clinic.
We’ll cover the skin tags we’ve treated with a small dressing. Sometimes we’ll leave them open to the air, if they’re in an area where your clothing doesn’t rub. You can carry on with your normal activities, although you should expect the area to be a little bit sore for a few days afterwards.
If the skin tag is on your face or the eye area there will be visible redness, but you can cover it with make-up the day after your treatment. Skin tags often fall off at the time of treatment, leaving behind a small red area to heal. This usually takes about a week to settle down.
It’s best not to have treatment too close to a special occasion, so you know for sure the redness will be gone in good time. The same goes for holidays, since it’s best to let your skin fully heal before exposing it to the sun.
