Skin Tags - How to Remove Acrochordon at Home
Author: Ian C. Langtree - View Credentials
Published: 24 Jun 2009 - Updated: 28 Oct 2026
Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Overview - Related Content
Synopsis
A number of suggestions on ways to remove skin tags using home remedies and household products.
Overview
An acrochordon (plural acrochorda, and also known as a cutaneous skin tag, skin tag, fibroepithelial polyp, cutaneous papilloma, fibroma molluscum, fibroma pendulum, papilloma colli, or soft fibroma, is a small benign tumor that forms primarily in areas where the skin forms creases, such as the neck, armpit, and groin and looks like a small piece of hanging skin.
Skin tags are not skin cancers and cannot turn into skin cancers. Skin tags are often described as bits of skin or flesh-colored tissue that projects from the surrounding skin from a small, narrow stalk. They can be skin color, or darker and can range from 1mm to 5mm in size. Both men and women tend to get skin tags as they age. Skin tags are also more common in pregnant women, obese people, and people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. About 46% of people develop skin tags at some point in their lives.
A number of medical procedures are also used for skin tag removal, freezing, burning, and cutting off with scissors are the commonly used medical methods for removing skin tags. While skin tags are harmless and do not cause any annoying symptoms, many people who have them prefer to remove skin tags for cosmetic reasons.
Home Remedies for Removing Skin Tags
- Fingernail polish
It has found to act well on tags. They are available in all houses and you can easily procure a bottle. Apply it for three days and you can see the difference. This is an ideal home remedy for skin tags - however never use nail polish around or near the eyes or other sensitive areas.
- Tree oil is useful in curing tags
Wash the area with soap and water and then put three drops of this medicine on the tag and massage it into the skin. Within a few days you can see effective changes in the size of the growths.
- Vitamin E extracts
When applied to a bandage and covered on the area affected brings out remarkable changes. Use this home remedy for skin tags and make your skin clear.
- Duct tape
Secure the part using the tape and leave until the part starts to get loose. Repeat the technique to the extent that the tag becomes weak.
Medical Removal of Skin Tags
If removal is desired or warranted, a dermatologist or similarly trained professional may use cauterization, cryosurgery, surgical ligation or excision to remove the acrochorda.
- Ligation: Interrupts the skin tag's blood supply, causing it to wither.
- Cryotherapy: Removes the skin tag by freezing it with a liquid nitrogen probe.
- Cauterization: Burns the skin tag off by using a heat technique known as electrolysis.
- Excision: Numbing medication is first applied to the skin before cutting or shaving the skin tag off.
Author Credentials: Ian C. Langtree is a writer, editor, and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, which he established in 2004 as one of the longest-running independent resources for disability news and information. Over more than two decades, he has written and edited thousands of articles on disability rights, health, accessibility, and assistive technology. Drawing on a global perspective shaped by extensive travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed advocate of the Social Model of Disability, the framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that focuses on removing societal barriers rather than on individual impairments. His writing is grounded in that framework and in a lasting commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.