What Are the Best Tips for Using Tea Tree Oil for Skin Tags?

I have a massive one in the anal area. It's probably been there for years now. I just started using tea tree oil and it seems to be disappearing. Whew!

It really works. I just tried it. Only after a day of using the tea tree oil, I observed the skin starting to fall off. I'm so excited because the skin tag was on my face and starting to affect my vision, and I can see it disappearing.

I have been using tea tree oil for 14 days now. I bought a two-ounce bottle from Walmart for $8 plus tax. I simply applied the oil to my moles with a cotton swab twice a day. My raised, flat moles turned a dark color and started to dry out, but it didn't have any effect on the dangling red moles under my arms. When I feel one of the flat moles becoming real dry, I use a nail file on it. Sometimes it scrapes away part of the mole painlessly and then I re-apply the tea tree oil on the remaining part. Sometimes, it just leaves a white dusting on the mole and then I clean it, dry it and reapply the oil. Sometimes it bleeds a bit and I clean it and put more oil on it.

There is no scar or redness under the part of the mole that does break away from the filing (just regular skin). My moles are not falling off on their own like other people have mentioned. It seems I have to work a bit harder to remove them. I tied a string of thread around the base of one of the dangling red moles to cut off its blood supply, but now it hurts so darn bad and I can't get the thread off. It looks like it is killing it, but it's a slow painful process. I won't be trying this method again! Tea tree oil is a smelly, long process, so be patient.

One last thing: I tried it on a skin tag under my eye where I apply my liner and the oil is very strong and stings the eye, although that hasn't deterred me. It has not fallen off, change color or done anything yet and it's been five days. I don't know how much longer I can put up with the stinging sensation. I'm already suffering with the hanging mole. I hope it does something soon.

@Tomislav - Good thing that you held back! If it is red, from what I know it could be two things. One is a mole. And if you mole is red then you most certainly should have it checked out. One way to tell if it is a mole is that it has slight color changes.

I know you mentioned that your bump does not change colors, but when it comes to red bumps, you need to be really sure it does not change colors.

The other thing the red bump could be is a cherry hemangioma. These bumps, in my opinion are more raised than most moles and like you mentioned rarely change color.

Also it would be interesting to know your age because the cherry hemangiomas are supposed to be more of a middle age occurrence. However, I am in my late twenties and I have two. So if you were rather young and had them, then I could have someone else that was a part of my too young to have cherry hemangiomas, but have them anyway club.

As far as removing them, they are not a sign of any skin problem or internal problem so most people do not get them removed. But if they are removed for whatever reason cryosurgery, electrosurgery, or pulsed dye laser removes them.

@wander - I have only dealt with small skin tags, so I don't know if that applies to you but I definitely understand wanting to avoid paying dermatology expenses, even with my insurance the co-pays for specialists are quite high.

For my small skin tags I have used really sharp scissors, for example nose hair scissors. I know that sounds weird, but the scissors have small blades so they are perfect for small skin tags. I have removed to with them and have had minimal to no bleeding. And more importantly, minimal to no pain!

I have a question, I have what I think is a skin tag, but it is a red skin tag. It does not change color or anything it has just always been red. So I wanted to make sure of what is was before I tried any skin tag remedies.

I am also afraid to cut it like I have the other skin tags because it is larger and I wonder if blood is in the tag, and that is what makes it red.

@sunnySkys - That's very true! Tea tree oil does smell quite distinctive. I actually kind of like the smell though.

Anyway, one other tip for using tea tree oil: I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to cover large areas of your body with it. So using it on a few skin tags should be fine, but I wouldn't, say, cover your whole leg in tea tree oil.

Also, I've found that there are a few good place to purchase tea tree oil. While most "regular" grocery stores don't have it, you can usually find it at a Whole Foods, herb shop, or other health food store. And of course on the Internet!

Tea tree oil is really great for a variety of skin problems. I've used it to get rid of rashes several times. I also use a shampoo with tea tree oil in it on my hair-I get dry scalp and tea tree oil is good for that too.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that tea tree oil can sting a little bit. I think it's still worth using though. Also, it has a very distinct and strong smell. If you're going to use the cotton ball method, depending on where the tag is, you might want to consider upping your perfume or cologne that day. If you don't, you might have a lot of people asking you "What's that smell?" all day long.

I had several skin tags in one area on my neck, and I wanted to get rid of them. Whenever I wore my hair up, I felt self-conscious about them. Other than this one region, I had an attractive neck and clear skin.

I decided that since tea tree oil was good for regular skin, it wouldn't hurt if I got some on the areas in between the skin tags while applying it. I saturated a cotton ball with the oil and soaked my neck. I wrapped gauze around my neck to hold it in place, because a bandage would have ripped out the tiny hairs that grow there.

It took a week and a half, but the skin tags did fall off. I feel a lot better about wearing my hair in a bun or a ponytail now.

@Sara007 – Is tying a string around the skin tag painful? I have skin tags near my underarm, and I am willing to try new things to get rid of them, but I don't want to do anything that hurts too much.

I know from experience that messing with skin tags can cause a lot of pain. I tried to cut one off with sharp nail clippers a few years ago. It did not work, and it hurt as much as if I had cut my finger.

I am going to try tea tree oil, because it sounds like a nice, painless way to remove them. Hopefully, it will work, but just in case it doesn't, I would like to know how painful your method is.

Are tea tree oil and tree tree oil the same thing, and can they both be used for skin tag removal?

I have been battling with skin tags so how to remove them has been on my mind a lot recently. My friend mentioned that she used tree tree oil, and now I am confused as to whether or not that is just another name for tea tree oil. From reading about tree oil, it seems like it has really good antiseptic properties and should be able to solve my skin tag problem.

@wander - It could be a problem with the product you purchased. If you buy tea tree oil that is 100% natural you may have better luck than using a commercial skin tag remover.

For myself I learned how to remove a skin tag from my mother. She was always fretting whenever she had one and would do her own skin tag removal at home. What my mom did was make a paste of baking soda and castor oil to apply on the skin tags. She did this a few times a day and after about a week the skin tags always fell off.

Another sure fire way to get rid of skin tags is to tie a fine string around the base of it and leave it for a few days. This will cut off blood to the tag and it will dry out and fall off.

If you have tried removing skin tags with tea tree oil and find that you aren't having much success what other methods of skin tag removal at home can you do?

I really want to know how to remove skin tags without having to visit a doctor because I am sure that seeing a dermatologist is going to be quite expensive and I don't have insurance. I purchased skin tag remover that had tea tree oil as the main ingredient and after two weeks nothing is happening to the skin tag. I am closely following the directions on the bottle of remover I purchased.