09/06/2011: Becky from Cottonwood, Az: "Skin tags are caused by too much sugar. Diabetics get a lot of skin tags and if you are hypoglycemic or hypothyroid you will see them appear when you over do the sugar. I don't know(or can't remember)why but my husband will get them when he is on an ice cream/sweet run; eating something sweet every night for a couple of months until he can break the habit and then tags will go away. I too have experienced this - usually around Christmas when more sweets are around. Most hypothyroidism leads to diabetis and heart disease. Check out Dr. Mark Starr's excellent book, Hypothyroidism type 2, The Epidemic."

09/22/2012: Grandmajia from Wellman, Iowa, Usa replies: "I am diabetic and eat absolutely no sugar at all. This is how I control my diabetes. I have never eaten sugar because it makes me sick. However, I DO have skin tags. So how does that fit? Also, my mother-in-law was diabetic and lived on sugar but had no skin tags. Are we just weird?"

[YEA]  12/08/2009: Mikex from Sacramento, Califonia: "Skin Tag Removal..2 methods

I used to have skin tags on an off from my teen years thru my 30's. But I discovered 2 good solutions on my own.

The first; I used to tie off the base or root of the tag with sewing thread. You can do this by yourself. Make a "loop" in a long piece of sewing thread. Then you put it over the tag. Pull the tag away from your body with tweezers and then pull the string real tight. At this point you can make a second loop and double it around he base of the tag, making a knot. It cut off the circulation of nutrients/blood to the skin that the tag was made of. They turned black and drop off in 3-4 days.

The second, fast method; Hold the tag away from your body with tweezers. Heat an exacto blade over a candle flame until it is red hot. Slice off the tag at the root. It's a small area and pretty painless. The red hot exacto blade cauterizes the cut. This works great. You can get rid of them all very quickly with not much inconvenience and no waiting .

I never had any marks or scarring from either method."

[YEA]  10/05/2012: Vicki from Nashville, Tennessee, Usa replies: "I have used this method with sewing thread or even a long hair from your head. It works. It takes several days but it cuts the blood supply and eventually it "dies" and falls off. It will begin looking dried, hard and black and then fall off. Once it starts looking "dead", as described, you could (if urgency is needed) help it along by clipping it off but I prefer to wait until it does it naturally. The problem of course are the ones that don't stick out enough to get thread or hair around the base of it."

[YEA]  02/27/2012: Crazymama73 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada: "I just wanted to say thank you soon much for this website. I can't tell you how often I am on here finding answers on ways to help my family out with one ailment or another. I just recently tried tee tree oil on a skin tag and it fell off in 1 1/2 days!

My sister had a red irritated eye and I suggested the steeped green tea remedy and she called me the following day to let me know it worked.

Thank you again for this site, it is very resourceful and allows us to empower ourselves with useful knowledge!"

[NAY]  09/18/2012: Kitty from Rancho Cordova, Ca, Usa replies: "Tea Tree Oil did NOT work for me! I happened to have some on hand and tried it for over 2 weeks. It was a waste of time. (It stinks, in more than one way... It didn't work for me! )"

[YEA]  06/22/2008: Lanpho from Burbank, CA replies: "This really works. I had a couple on my neck and applied tea tree oil 1-3 times daily. It took two weeks instead of 2 days. I can't believe it! Thank you."

[YEA]  12/10/2008: Margaret from Winnipeg, Canada replies: "I still have many embarassing skin tags on my neck. They have been there for years and I have been to a dermatologist a few years ago who burned them off with some type of laser. This is not a good option as it is very painful and I still have them. Then I read about tee tree oil with skin tags and I have tried it for 3 days now (3 applications a day). It is already much better. All of the tags are disappearing and the skin is noticeably smoother. This is very impressive."

07/20/2008: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand: "Skin Tag Update:

In a couple of cases, I have found skin tags and colon polyps were connected to heavy metals found in anti perspirant product which is aluminum compound that seems to initiate skin tag. The use of this can result in even more excessive sweat as the body tries to get rid of heavy metals. But also, if certain person takes excessive levels of potassium and lack of sodium, excessive perspire can also happen, but not as often as the body trying to rid of toxins. Skin tags disappears when heavy metals are removed from the body (not all cases) - I have as yet to prove whether it happens in a majority of cases. What I do know is aluminum is for one causing skin tags, and copper is another one, however, it i cannot exclude other metals to initiate skin tags. Therefore, metal chelators, and avoiding contaminats may help, so not just polyps but also skin tags. A heavy metal source, as I found (such as polyps) can originate from smoking cigarettes too, not just tap water. Common metal chelators I used is EDTA, cilantro, and chlorella. My favorite seems to be EDTA, but the dose I used is a lot smaller, and is dissolved in greater dilution in a liter of water, such as 100 mg per liter of drinking water, with some baking soda added too. Basically it is done mostly to remove free heavy metals I have found in my drinking water source and does remove some heavy metals from both the drinking water and what is found inside the body.

One theory as to why heavy metals causes skin tags or colon polyps is free heavy metals are free radicals and this reduces the body's immune system. Interestingly aluminum does this on two fronts, and causes blood cells to precipitate from a colloidal solution in the body too. But metals in general, once immune system is reduced, the skin tags and colon polyps are formed. Therefore, one of the possibilities is these are either fungal form or viral form, which is thought to be HSV type of virus. Interestingly HSV has a couple of major weakness, a weak potassium permanganate solution (1:10000 dilution) is one, but also, povidone iodine solution (applied 5-6 times a day), and perhaps a 20% solution of zinc acetate topical solution is one other possibilities. This is why some people report skin tag improvements with application of iodine, either lugol's solution or the povidone iodine. One of the best antiviral HSV is the iodine, but also other possibilities exist for zinc and potassium permanganate.

Ted"

02/07/2011: Suzanne from Oklahoma City, USA replies: "Ted could you tell me if, with your theory of metals in the system, could staples left with surgery, also cause these tags, as you suggest? How then can one compensate for this. Thank you for all your suggestions on this site."

02/16/2011: Judy from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada replies: "Hi all, just wanted to comment on Ted's info. My husband had skin tags, mostly under arm area and used anti persperant. He quit using the anti persperant and the tags disappeared. Thanks Ted for giving me the reason why anti persperant is not good for you."

04/01/2011: Christine from Shoreline, Wa, USA replies: "I stopped using aluminum-based deodorants six months or a year ago, and I am developing MORE skin tags! "

11/23/2011: Sparky from Portland, Or replies: "Christine, I'd be curious to know your current status. It's possible that your body went thru a purge when you quit the aluminum deoderants and temporarily had an increase in skin tags. Better now?"

10/09/2012: Joe from Newark, Oh replies: "Warts, some brown spots and my skin tag seem to be removed by putting duct tape over them. Don't laugh, it works, especially on warts. Had a skin tag under my eye and it is shrinking. I put the tape on before I go to bed, people stare if I leave it on during the day. It works 100 percent on warts and some blemishes."

[YEA]  07/08/2008: Matt from Boston, MA: "After unsuccessfully trying to remove a skin tag with both bloodroot (dermatend) and iodine, i nervously decided to try the nail clipper method. i used brand new, very sharp, straight nail clippers (some are curved, but i would recommend straight ones so you get a cleaner cut.) the trick is to just do it quickly, and you should feel suprisingly little pain. there was a bit of bleeding, but the entire thing came off in one fell swoop. it has been less than a week since i cut it off, and already it is healing quite nicely. highly recommended!"

12/26/2012: Wisdom Ace from Port Huron, Michigan replies: "My doctor used surgical sissors and pulled the tag tight and clipped it off. I felt a momentary small ouch and then it was gone. However: they came back in and in large numbers. I wonder if it's some sort of reaction to certain minerals in our one a day vitamins?"

[YEA]  06/10/2011: Randy from Rochester, Ny replies: "I haves this method many times and it does work, with little or no scaring.. I have had 100's removed by drs druring surgery and in the drs office. The tie off method is hard to get right. I have pair or clips just for this whic I clean in acholol each time I have only had one that bleed for more than a couple minutes and put a saline soaked badage on it and was clean and healing in a day or so."

[YEA]  09/09/2007: Lori from France: "I agree with the rip it off method. I have been doing that and it works. They itch like crazy when they first start growing in. I was told by a doctor that they are caused by friction. (Is that true?)The ones around a neck could be cause by constant rubbing of a neckline or a necklace. They are easier for me to rip them off then to cut them off. Even if I accidentally rip off only part of it, the leftover stub will dry up and fall off the next day or so. That has always been my experience. I appreciate this site and all the wonderful information."