What should you know about clipping skin tags?

A skin tag is a soft growth that often hangs from a narrow base, but not every dangling or pigmented lesion is a skin tag. Cutting it without an examination can injure nearby skin and may leave tissue unavailable for proper assessment. Skin tags can bleed because they contain small blood vessels, and unclean instruments can introduce infection. Friction from clothing or jewellery may make one sore, but irritation does not confirm its identity.

Do not cut, tie, burn, or freeze an uncertain lesion with a home product. Arrange a dermatology assessment if the growth is changing, bleeding without friction, painful, unusually dark, or different from your other skin tags. If removal is appropriate, a clinician may discuss snip removal, cryotherapy, or electrosurgery according to the lesion’s size, position, appearance, and your health history. Keep any irritated area clean and covered with a simple dressing; do not pick at a scab.

Seek prompt medical care for bleeding that does not stop with firm direct pressure, increasing redness, warmth, swelling, pus, fever, or worsening pain. Get urgent help for heavy bleeding, faintness, or signs of a severe allergic reaction. A lesion that changes quickly, develops several colours, forms an ulcer, or repeatedly crusts needs examination rather than home removal.

Ask how confident the clinician is that it is a skin tag, whether tissue should be examined after removal, which method suits its location, and how to care for the wound. Tell them about diabetes, poor wound healing, blood-thinning medicine, and previous raised scars.