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Skin tags are small, benign skin growths often found on the neck, underarms, under the breasts and groin areas as well as on the eyelids.  Generally speaking, these are not cause for concern especially when almost half of the population has them especially at the onset of middle age.  However, you may choose to have your skin tags removed for physical (avoid pain and irritation brought by friction) and cosmetic (not exactly pretty to see) reasons. As such, you must look into medical and natural options.

Medical Options

It must be emphasized that only a qualified physician should provide the diagnosis for skin tags since many other skin disorders can mimic them.  Think warts, moles and malignant skin cancers, all of which require a different treatment approach. Also, skin tags can be the visible signs of an underlying endocrine or hormonal syndrome like polycystic ovary syndrome.

Your doctor will recommend either cryotherapy or cautery to remove your skin tags.

- Cryotherapy means freezing the skin tags with liquid nitrogen, which will then fall off in a short time.  However, risks like cold blisters and skin discoloration are possible especially when the liquid nitrogen comes into contact with the unaffected skin.  It is not as simple as it seems indeed.

- Cautery means electrically burning off the offending skin tags after it has been cut with surgical scissors.  The advantages are lesser bleeding and quicker healing due to the sealing of the surgical wound.  However, side effects like skin discoloration are also possible.

Take note that these medical options are not cure-alls for the skin condition.  You will have to return to the clinic when the skin tags grow back on the same spot, new tags appear elsewhere and the old tags do not fall off.

Natural Remedies

There are many natural treatments available for skin tags, too.  However, be very careful since some of them can pose complications like infections from non-sterilized equipment and bleeding.  These treatments include tying of the tag with dental floss over several days, applying caustic salves made from acids and removing with home scissors.  Instead, you should consider safer natural methods like organic ointments and oils.  These are made from tea tree oil, castor oil and bloodroot paste, to name a few ingredients.  You ought to find these herbal remedies in health food stores and online sites.

Choosing the Cure

After being presented with all these medical and natural options in removing skin tags, the question of what type to go for remains.  It depends on your physical condition, available budget and time needed to remove the offending skin.  If your skin tags are indeed just skin tags with no underlying medical disorder, you have little money to visit the dermatologist and you are willing to wait for a few days for visible results, then natural methods are for you.  If your skin tags are unusually large, you have the money to pay for the medical procedures and you are in a hurry to make the offending tags disappear, then the medical options are the best bet.

Keep in mind, however, that the natural methods are often the better first recourse because of their efficacy, affordability and safety. In short, you still get rid of your skin tags without ridding your wallet of far too many dollar bills.