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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Skin tags and other things that go bump in the night!

14 replies

Pagen · 26/03/2010 15:07

Hi All,
I've always been prone to cysts and skin tags, it runs in my family but since reaching the third trimester my body has gone into overdrive!!
I knew lumps, bumps, tags etc... tend to grow more due to the hormones but what I never thought to ask was if they then shrink after the birth...or will I, as i suspect, be stuck with them?
Anyone else had this problem?

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 26/03/2010 15:47

Lots of wee skin tags - I'm afraid I tend to just pick them off

MumNWLondon · 26/03/2010 16:02

get some sewing thread, loop over the tag pull tight and it should come off.

Trillian42 · 26/03/2010 18:34

ItsAllGoingToBeFine - I do the same! Is it ok or should we not?

CiderIUpAndSetIFree · 26/03/2010 18:58

You won't be stuck with them, they will stop appearing after the birth and the ones you have will be picked drop off.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 27/03/2010 10:10

I think there is potential for infection as with any other open wound. Haven't dared to pick off the ones around my nipples though - wince

strawberrykate · 27/03/2010 13:16

Thank god someone's mentioned this. I have a skin tag that is honestly a centimetre in length! I'm not sure about the cotton method because of the sheer size of it

Haggisfish · 27/03/2010 13:22

I'm going to go to the doc after I've given birth and see if i can have the bigger/more annoying ones removed - bit safer than cotton!

ChunkyChick · 27/03/2010 14:16

Gave birth 8 weeks ago and mine have all dropped off (sorry if TMI!). I used to cut mine off with a pair of sharp nail scissors. No bleeding and hardly even hurt. Found it oddly satisfying in fact...

Elsa123 · 27/03/2010 14:40

the cotton method is what my mum, a nurse used on people with skin tags and those benign facial warty things. Its quite safe.

Original poster
Pagen · 29/03/2010 16:08

I had a load of old ones removed by the doctor a couple of years ago, they numb the site first with a local anaesthetic injection then burn them off which seals the area and stops them coming back.
I was told the cotton/scissors method is unreliable as it can cause infection and if the "bleeder" doesn't seal it will just re-grow....has anyone found this is true?
Still I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they just drop off after the birth. The surgical removal didn't hurt except a couple on my eyelids...the area is too sensitive for local so he just tried to burn them off without....and that smarts a bit!

OP posts:
ooosabeauta · 29/03/2010 22:57

I had lots at the end of pregnancy, then all but one disappeared, but that remaining one turned into a kind of nightmarish growth! Asked the doctor at ds's 6 week check, and he put me on a list for when they would do a removal clinic, then the next time I saw him, a few months later, he said that the NHS doesn't remove skin tags anymore because it's classed as 'cosmetic'. He referred me to the local Spire clinic, who quoted £320 to remove it To justify this, they said 'oh, but we'll do two removals for this price'. Was I meant to say, 'oh, take off my finger while you're at it then so it's better value!'?

A year and a half on and I've still got the thing, sitting right below my collar bone, looking like a wart.

Apparently you can use over-the-counter wart remover like 'Bazuka' for small ones.

Haggisfish · 30/03/2010 08:39

I would maybe go back and say it is irritating/catching on your clothes/been bleeding and itching, so they can't classify it as cosmetic. That is my plan anyway. Maybe see a different, slightly more sympathetic doctor?!

Original poster
Pagen · 31/03/2010 12:30

oooos - Thats so naff! How long ago was this? My doctore removed the ones on my neck and face at the surgery using local, I didn't need to go into hospital and he never mentioned a charge...but if your doc is adament I would go with Haggis advice...complain it is catching and bleedin.

OP posts:
ooosabeauta · 31/03/2010 19:59

Yes it is indeed naff Pagen and Haggis! I had ds in August 08, so they must've agreed in Sept/Oct 08 to remove it, and then by January 09 had taken it off the NHS do-able list. They'd been waiting for enough people in the area to want a removal so that they could do a Saturday clinic, and while they were waiting they stopped doing it. I wish they'd have warned us and just done it early!

I had a mole removed from my neck when I was younger just as a one-off patient and thought they might do it like that (I really sound like a moley taggy monster )

I went to another doctor within the same surgery to plead my case, saying I can't afford £320 and it's catching and bleeding and my little boy tries to go for it, and the other doctor was steadfast and said, no, they can't do it anymore, but I could take a razor to it if I was desperate . I can't do it!! I'm preggers now so will leave it and see if I can collect some more in the next 6 months for a mass culling in the autumn

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