How Long Does it Take for a Skin Tag to Fall Off

Generally, skin tags generally don’t fall off on their own. Usually, skin tags require some action on your part in order to come off. There are a number of different options available to remove skin tags. Depending on which of these you use will answer the question: How long does it take for a skin tag to fall off?

The exception

Skin tags can form for a number of reasons. One of them is pregnancy. The hormones that escalate and fluctuate as well as all the changes in a pregnant woman’s body can contribute to skin tags forming.

The good news is that pregnancy is the one situation where skin tags may commonly fall off on their own.

It is unknown why these skin tags fall off or disappear once a woman’s hormones regulate whereas other skin tags don’t. Usually, this happens after giving birth and sometimes only after a new mom is finished nursing, the skin tags that she developed during the pregnancy may fall off on their own.

Natural Remedies

Tea Tree Oil

There are quite a number of natural remedies to remove skin tags. These include tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, the dental floss method and baking soda and castor oil to name a few. These are great natural, convenient and safe ways to remove skin tags, but the downside is that these methods take a little longer for the skin tag to fall off. Let’s take a look at some of the expected time to see results with these methods:

Tea Tree oil: 3- 5 weeks

This is a very popular method for removing skin tags naturally. It is a great natural product that is safe to use repeatedly on the skin. Apply tea tree oil to your skin tags a couple of times per day and in a few weeks your skin tag will dry up and disappear.

Dental floss:  3 – 10 days (average 1 week)

Tying a piece of dental floss around the base of the skin tag is a very effective method of removal. This method is known as ligation. There is an even easier way to execute this method than struggling with a piece of dental floss — Micro Tagbands use the same method of cutting off the blood supply to the skin tag, but with an easy-to-use device, that quickly snaps the band on tightly for you using the correct pressure.

Apple cider vinegar – 1 – 3 weeks

Apple cider vinegar has antifungal, antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. It works by drying up the skin tag, causing it to shrivel up and fall off.

Garlic – 2 – 8 weeks

This is one of the longer methods to remove skin tags, but it is a cheap and natural way to get the job done. Easily found in most kitchens, you can get going right away, but you may be waiting a few weeks for results.

Quicker Removal Methods

Cauterization – Immediate.

Cauterization is the use of heat to remove a skin tag. The tip of a cauterization pen burns the base of the skin tag causing it to fall off immediately. You can get this done at the doctor’s office, or for a similar price or less, you can purchase a cauterization pen and use it for multiple skin issues. 

Freezing – 5 – 10 days.

Similar to the cryotherapy that a doctor would use, you can purchase products that can help you freeze off your skin tag in the comfort of your home.

Salicylic acid – 1 -12 days.

There are a number of products that contain salicylic acid as the active ingredient. It is used to a remove a number of skin growths, including warts.

Skin tags are usually small, 2 – 5 mm, however, they can grow much larger, to about the size of a grape or fig. How long a skin tag takes to fall off after being treated is very dependent on the size as well as the method you use to remove it. Larger skin tags will take longer to fall off than smaller ones.

 

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