Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Aibu to get DS skin tag removed?

29 replies

Mtierney96 · 28/03/2017 20:48

My DS is nearly 3 and has a skin tag on his ear (see pic) it doesnt bother him or anyone really but im so aware of how cruel kids can be and want it to be removed before school. (My mum had the same skin tag in the same place and is pretty traumatised by the bullying she recieved about it at school)
The removal procedure is deemed as cosmetic by the NHS so i would be paying for it privately.

Im just worried that IABU and i should be setting an example that physical features dont matter?

OP posts:

DaisyBlameless · 28/03/2017 20:50

I would do it myself, with a bit of cotton. I did DSs and it fell off after 2 days.

Crispmonster1 · 28/03/2017 20:51

Do it. It's minor.

highinthesky · 28/03/2017 20:54

Have you had a GP check it? I'm a bit surprised by the size and location, as it's not usually subject to friction (unless DS sleeps on that side, of course). If it's deemed benign then I agree a DIY job will spell an end to it.

gamerchick · 28/03/2017 20:58

I just do it myself, bit of thread, splodge of germoline and cover with a plaster. Check every day to make sure it's dying, another splodge of germoline and plaster and the bairn picks it off when it goes crusty. Usually when they get a bit of a neck and it's irritating him.

Original poster

Mtierney96 · 28/03/2017 20:58

He's had it since birth and had it checked during the check they do before discharging you. Ive took it to the gp since then and they have said its minor.

Would a cotton one do one this big? Would it hurt him at all
Will cost upwards of 80 quid to have it done as a private outpatient

OP posts:

ThoraGruntwhistle · 28/03/2017 21:00

Pay the money and get it done. I don't think I'd attempt home surgery on one that big. I've removed little ones from my armpits and neck but none that visible.

gamerchick · 28/03/2017 21:02

But either way don't worry about whatever message you're concerned it's sending. Just get the bugger took off, it would probably bleed like a bastard if it gets caught on something.

sonjadog · 28/03/2017 21:07

I would go and get it done professionally. It looks quite big. I wouldn´t worry about the message. He´s so young that he is unlikely to remember it and it isn´t like you are going to be making lots of other cosmetic changes to his appearance (I assume).

staghunter · 28/03/2017 21:07

My ds had very similar growth, in the same place. I think it is slightly more substantial than a usual skin tag and cotton would not work.

Ds had his tonsils out at 3 and I asked them to remove it at the same time which the surgeon did. It needed stitches.
Not very helpful advice though! But I am still pleased with the multi tasking a few years on!

Mallowmarshmallow · 28/03/2017 21:09

This is a pre-auricular tag.
My son had the same, we had it removed when he was about nine months old on the NHS. It wasn't at all traumatic, it was very, very quick and he has a tiny, light scar there now.

I had the same dilemma about whether he would one day feel as though he hadn't been perfect with it, whether I should leave it until he was old enough to drive etc but my DH, DM and everyone else in the family were insistent that he should have it done and it would be unkind to leave him open to bullying.

I'm still not so sure...

Original poster

Mtierney96 · 28/03/2017 21:09

Yes think ill just take him
I would be a bit scared cos its bigger than any ive ever seen.
And yeah definitley wont be having any other cosmetic procedures hahahaha
Thanks for the advice

OP posts:

Rossigigi · 28/03/2017 21:10

Get it removed but by a professional

Original poster

Mtierney96 · 28/03/2017 21:11

Thanks Mallow noones ever given me a proper name before. Im quite young (had him when i was 17) so often seem to get fobbed off and hate to seem pushy with doctors etc.
I feel exactly the same as you but DP and all other family think it needs to go now. Feel so conflicted about it!

OP posts:

Trb17 · 28/03/2017 21:14

I would definitely get it removed as kids at school will target him. It shouldn't happen but it will, so best sorted now. For one that big I'd get the professionals in.

BenLinusatemyhomework · 28/03/2017 21:14

One of my DS's had the same. It's not quite the same as a skin tag though as it's an additional growth from the ear nub - I can't remember the exact details now, sorry.

It's not that uncommon and the hospital took it off when he was a week old. They did it with a sort of plastic staple thing that cut the blood supply, I didn't pay to have it done.

I would go to the GP and ask what the treatment would be for one that size. If they would still just restrict the blood supply, you could do that yourself with some thin cotton.

sonjadog · 28/03/2017 21:16

I can understand that you are conflicted and I think it is right that you are mulling it over, but I think it is a fair point that he might be bullied over it, or at the very least it might cause unwanted attention and make him self-conscious. The procedure to get rid of it is very small, and really don´t think it will make or break the values you want him to grow up with. I doubt he´ll come to you as an adult man and say that he wished you had left he skin tag on his ear!

BluebellsareBlue · 28/03/2017 21:22

DS, now 13, had similar and they were going to remove it when he was a week or so old however there were two and one had cartilage in it so we had to wait until he was over one for a GA. I didn't think twice about getting it done.

Koala101 · 29/03/2017 14:32

Studies have shown general anaesthetics in animal models can affect brain development. Therefore it is recommended that young children avoid unnecessary General anaesthetics.

xStefx · 29/03/2017 14:34

I would get it removed, but yes by a professional

PupPupBoogie · 29/03/2017 14:35

Our son had something similar removed. I wouldn't recommend diy as everything removed by medical professionals is sent of for testing. In our case we were called back in and he is now under oncology for 5 years to keep an eye on it and had to have further scans and lymph nodes removed. We would never have known if we had tried to fix it ourselves

LadyPW · 29/03/2017 14:38

Get it done, and properly.

Mallowmarshmallow · 29/03/2017 15:24

Oh, and my son didn't have a GA, they were happy to do it with me holding him and a local anaesthetic and it was over very quickly.

PebbleInTheMoonlight · 29/03/2017 16:10

That's helpful Koala101 especially as no doctor would subject a child to GA unless necessary. Even if OP gets a doctor to remove this it'll only be a local anaesthetic!

OP I have skin tags, I honestly wouldn't have cared if my parents had removed them - it wouldn't have changed who I am. If my child had one that prominent by their ear I'd have it removed.

I'd be less concerned with bullying and more concerned about it accidentally being caught on something when playing, doing sports, getting changed in a rush (zips!) and there being pain instead of a calmer removal.

PebbleInTheMoonlight · 29/03/2017 16:12

And yes I'm speaking with experience - one of mine came off during a sport session where someone's watch caught the tag at the back of my neck.

RhiWrites · 29/03/2017 16:18

I'd get it removed.

However my doctor said the easiest way is to take a strand of hair (the hair of the person with the tag) and tie it tight around the tag. After a couple of weeks without blood supply it will fall off. You use your own hair to avoid any allergic reaction.

Flip

1 2