Ayurvedic medicine originated in India thousands of years ago. It uses herbal remedies and lifestyle changes to treat conditions ranging from hair loss to cancer. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, practitioners develop treatments based on your prakriti, or constitution, and life forces, or doshas. Ayurvedic medicine may be able to treat underlying conditions that cause skin tags; however, to remove the tags themselves, your best bet is to have your dermatologist remove them with cryotherapy or a small surgical incision. If you attempt to remove the tags yourself, you may inadvertently cause a scar or an infection.
Identification: Skin Tags
Skin tags are fleshy growths connected to your skin. The government's Medline Plus website notes that in most cases hese growths are benign. Once formed, the tags won't grow or change, although certain articles of clothing might irritate them temporarily. The tags don't usually require treatment unless you feel they are unsightly and want them removed for cosmetic reasons.
Causes
Skin tags commonly occur on those who have diabetes or are obese. In "Healing without Medication," author Robert Rister cites two causes for skin tags: a lack of circulation and a lack of cellular ability to process sugar properly. Rister describes this as "insulin resistance." Because of these two factors, some skin cells do not function normally and form a skin tag instead. Rister notes that those who have skin tags are four times as likely to have diabetes as those without skin tags.
Ayurvedic Treatments for Skin Tags
In "The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs," authors Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa and Michael Terra describe two herbs that may help heal skin conditions. Gotu kola, they note, has been used in Asia for hundreds of years to heal wounds, varicose veins, skin lesions and ulcers. The authors recommend 1 oz. of dry gotu kola per day, brewed as tea. A second herb, turmeric, can be taken orally or applied to skin surface to treat boils. Since turmeric stains the skin, you may want to take it orally --- the authors recommend 1 g per day in capsule form.
Ayurvedic Treatments for Diabetes
If your skin tags are caused by diabetes, treat the disease with a regimen proposed by author Acharya Vipul Rao in "Ayurvedic Treatment for Common Diseases." Rao suggests you take two daily walks and eliminate all sugar from the diet. Each day, Rao advises to take one of the following on an empty stomach: 1 ½ oz. karela juice, 2 oz. jamun juice, or two leaves of bilva and neem. Take 250 mg of shilajit twice daily with stone apple juice. Rao also recommends a treatment that quickly reduces your body's sugar content; take two daily grains of vasanta kusumakar ras with 1 tsp. of honey or cream, and taper off your consumption as your blood sugar reaches normal levels.
Ayurvedic Treatments for Obesity
If you are obese, treating your obesity will help reduce future growth of skin tags. In "Shed Weight, Add Life," Dr. S.K. Sharma notes that in Ayurvedic medicine, obesity is caused when an element called "agni" is blocked, preventing fat molecules from being dissolved. Sharma recommends you take guggul in a dosage of 15 g four times per day, dissolved in a hot beverage. You also need to take 1 tsp. of haritaki fruit pulp at night with hot water, in order to help stimulate bowel movement. In terms of diet, Sharma suggests you eliminate starchy foods such as rice, white bread and potatoes; instead, eat fruits such as apples, oranges and papayas along with barley and coconut water.
References
- Medline Plus: Cutaneous Skin Tags
- "Healing without Medication"; Robert Rister; 2003
- "The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs"; Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa and Michael Tierra; 2008
- "Ayurvedic Treatment for Common Diseases"; Acharya Vipul Rao; 2005
- "Shed Weight Add Life"; Dr. S.K. Sharma; 2006
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Ayurvedic Medicine
