"But I can't prevent you from growing new ones. "I can remove what you have," she says Davis. One more thing to note: While skin tags don't grow back after they're removed, that won't stop you from growing new ones. It’s important to receive care from a health professional and not try to treat them yourself. But if their appearance bothers you, you can undergo a skin tag removal procedure. That skin tag might just be a skin tag, but it could be something else more dangerous, says Clark. Skin tags are small, noncancerous growths that form when the skin rubs against itself. "That way, you get just a tiny scab."Īnother reason to see a dermatologist is that you can get a correct diagnosis. "If it's very delicate, like if it's on the eyelid, I numb it with an anesthetic and then I cauterize it," she says.
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If the tag is extremely small, she might skip the numbing agent, or she'll use a little anesthetic cream on the site. She typically injects the skin under the tag with a local anesthetic, snips off the tag with sterilized scissors, and then cauterizes the base to stop the bleeding.
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Skin tags are also different from another type of skin growth: a mole, or nevus.
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But we know they're caused by a viral infection to the top layer of your skin, and unlike skin tags, they're contagious. "They also have a smooth surface, unlike a wart, which is typically rough or corrugated," I don't think I've ever seen someone come in with just one skin tag," says Joyce Davis, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in New York, New York. Skin tags can vary in size, and they often come in bunches. It typically looks like a loose piece of skin attached by a stalk to your body, and you can often wiggle it back and forth with your fingers. A skin tag is usually the same color as the rest of your skin.