Go to your kitchen and you will find a handful of easy remedies for skin tags. Dr. Katherine Lim, a dermatologist at the Arizona satellite of Minnesota's Mayo Clinic, described skin tags in a 2008 edition of Mayo's "Medical Edge Newspaper Column." Lim says skin tags are harmless and painless but annoying and cosmetically unsightly. Half of all people over 40 report having skin tags. Check with your doctor before removing them at home.
Baking Soda
Skin care specialists at SkinTagHelp.com recommend a baking soda cure. Mix enough baking soda with a few drops of castor oil to make a thick paste. Dab it onto a skin tag and it leave in place for 10 to 15 minutes, and then wash and rinse thoroughly. Apply the paste three times a day for 14 days and the skin tag will drop off.
If you have tea tree oil in your pantry, use a few drops three times a day for 14 days for the same results.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar, and tape it in place for 15 minutes three times a day. Writers for HubPages.com say your skin tags will drop off after two to three weeks of applications. Apple cider can be mildly irritating, so wash and rinse the treated area after each application to protect the surrounding skin.
Vegetable Juices
Home remedy researchers writing for FatFreeKitchen.com suggest that skin tags, warts and moles all respond in similar ways to the juices of a variety of common kitchen vegetables. Grate a potato, crush a garlic clove, or chop cauliflower into small enough pieces that you obtain a finely divided, wet mash of the vegetable. Place a dab of any one of the vegetable mashes on your skin tag and cover it with a bandage in the evening before you go to bed. Leave it on until morning. Repeat this for as many nights as required before the skin tags fall off.
Warning
Dr. Lim recommends against all home remedies for skin-tag removal because of three safety concerns. She warns that a skin tag, recognized by its thin stalk of skin topped with a bulbous skin-colored mass, usually between a rice-grain and a pea in size, is not always harmless skin; it might be a cancerous growth which only a doctor can diagnose accurately. Also, skin tags may reflect underlying hormonal or biochemical imbalances in your body; they could be valuable tell-tale symptoms of something else your doctor can treat. Killing a skin tag can also open a sore, cause pain and bleeding and expose you to infections. Home remedies, according to Dr. Lim, are all inferior to a doctor's care.
