Skin tags

[FabIsGoingToGetFit]

I had some removed on my arm and body. I now have one on my breast. Can it be removed or is it too sensitive an area? I am wondering about all new bras too as even though I buy them regularly I have a rash type thing between my breasts, I sweat there and never used too.

Ooooh. I can't answer your question but may I ask you some?

1. how did you have them removed?
2. did it hurt very much?
3. was it expensive?

I have loads around my armpits and I LOATHE them.

I have been thinking of going to these people because they were advertised locally.www.cosmedics.co.uk/

I asked at my surgery and one of the GP's can remove them. Apparently most surgeries do minor surgeries nowadays free of charge. I guess they probably use a anasethic cream and snip them off. I have some on my neck, so may get them removed.

Apparently, if you apply cider vinegar several times a day it will dry them up after a few days.

Wonder if that works Speedy, I have some in my cupboard, might give it a go.

They used to tie a horse hair around the base, which would cut off the blood supply, so the tag would dry up and fall off after a few days.

I had one on my eyelid - I'd had it since I was born but it started to grow when I was in my early 20s. I had it removed in the plastic surgery unit at Mount Vernon hospital beacuse my GP said that if it was just cut off then the 'pulling' of the scar could have distorted my eyelid. I can't imagine that there would be the same issues with one on your breast. Certainly an eyelis must be more sensitive I should think, but it didn't hurt at all.

oops eyelid

I had one on my neck frozen with liquid nitrogen - it took a few days to die and fall off but it did, no scar. Stung a bit at the time but not much.

Do you keep getting them? Just asking, cos if you do it might be linked to raised blood sugar levels and pre-diabetes (syndrome X or metabolic syndrome) - if it's a one-off, not very likely to be that.

DH had 2 on his shoulder - I tied cotton really really tightly round the base and after a few days they dropped off [puke] Never to be seen again.

Thanks everyone. I had gone off line before you answered.

1. how did you have them removed? At a alon. I didn't look too closely at what she was doing.

1. did it hurt very much? For a second or two.

1. was it expensive? £10 each though she did 2 for one as they were smaller. thumbwitch, tell me more. I have had them before.

This probably won't be available on the NHS for much longer, the PCT I work for has already stopped commissioning them in hospital and GP surgeries will be next.

There are exceptions, but the standard ones you'll have to put up with them or pay to have them off.

OK! Here goes:
Insulin can stimulate the production of androgens and also inhibit the production of sex hormone binding globulin, which can lead to excess free active sex hormones in the blood. These are linked to things like skin tags, acne, male pattern balding, polycystic ovary syndrome to name a few.

Skin tags are frequently observed in obese individuals and are a known marker for type II diabetes. ONe researcher tested 200 patients with skin tags and found that 26% had overt type II diabetes (of whom 8% were unaware of it) and another 8% had signifcantly impaired glucose tolerance tests. The association between type II diabetes and skin tags is so strong (about 62%) that it has been suggested that anyone presenting with skin tags should be tested for type II diabetes to rule it out.

This is paraphrasing from a text book that has just come out but the research is over 10 years old.

In case you aren't aware, type II diabetes involves excess insulin production because it is ineffective - the blood sugar levels are still too high because the cells are already full of sugar and have reduced the number of insulin receptors on their surfaces. So - high blood glucose > more insulin production > more androgen production --> increase in things like skin tags.

Of course, just because you have skin tags doesn't mean you are type II diabetic, but it might be one thing to rule out, especially if you have any of the other things mentioned here.

Even if you have not got type II diabetes, if you are in the pre-diabetic phase, you can do something about it, diet-wise, to get back on track.

Hope that helps anyway.

Thanks thumbwitch. I have to get on with painting the kitchen so need to read your post again later but does it seem like checking if I have diabetes is a good idea?

If you have had a few of them then it might be worth checking, yes. Better to catch these things - if you do have disordered blood glucose processing, you can still nip it in the bud; and if you happen to have type II diabetes then it's far better to know now before you start getting eye problems and peripheral nerve problems.

Thank you.

It is only the odd skin tag I have out of all that is listed but I will bare this in mind and try and do some research about diabetes as I don't know an awful lot. I am overweight borderline obese but are tackling that.

I had one in my armpit / side of my breast from childhood but it kept rubbing on the side of my bra so I asked the GP when I went about something else.

He produced an aerosol of some description - am guessing liquid nitrogen - and squirted it - mild stinging pain for the duration but it dropped off a few days later.

I use silver nitrate sticks to get rid of my skin tags.

BTW I am also type 2 diabetic.

Fab, I'm probably shockingly out of line here, but if you are tackling your overweightness, can I suggest you do it in a low GI/GL fashion, as that would also reduce your risk of insulin resistance? Just a thought

No idea what GI/GL is????

glycaemic index - food low in sugars, but be careful as some low sugar food is full of fat.

I have wondered if some food I eat has sugar in it that I hadn't realised and also how much fat I can eat. I love cheese with think it is too calorific for me.

Honestly Fab, it is scarey. Since being diagnosed as diabetic I read all labels.

Sorry, sorry - disappeared there for a while.
GI - as agedknees says, is Glycaemic index - it relates to the speed at which the food causes blood sugar to rise. I.e. how fast the sugar part is absorbed. There are different scales, some measured to pure sugar and others to white bread (which is very high anyway) but there are some silly results on it.
For example: carrots have a high GI on their own, because they are quite sweet; so as an extra refinement to this scale, they introduced GL = glycaemic load.
This takes the GI of a food but includes the actual sugar content of the food as well - carrots may be high GI but they are low GL and therefore are good to eat.

All fat is not bad - do not get dragged down the low fat route as it will impede your ability to lose weight sensibly. Especially as a lot of low fat food is very high in sugar/carbohydrates and is therefore very high GI and often high GL as well.

There are lots of books out there on GI/GL diets - I would look for one that uses both scales.

But, if you don't want to go for a book, then the best thing to think about is eating everything in its most natural state - as unrefined as possible. Whole grains rather than white flour; whole veg and fruit rather than juices; natural fats rather than chemically altered ones (olive oil better than most).

Eating fat with a carbohydrate-heavy meal will also slow down the absorption of the sugars from the carbs; so for e.g. having a baked potato WITH mayo/cheese/butter/oil/any other fatty food will have a lower GI than having a baked potato on its own or with no fat.

Skinny Cow ice cream has a much higher GI than ordinary ice cream as there is next to no fat to reduce the sugar hit. (I hate it for that reason, it's bloody misleading. Just like those Go Ahead biscuits, which are full of bloody sugar)

HTH - happy to answer any other questions.

Yes Yes to low GI - good for sensible weightloss and sustainable in log term too.

Thank you so much

I never had a mum so haven't been taught what foods are okay and not when trying to lose weight but not be always hungry, and I am sure I am making mistakes with feeding the kids when I am trying to bring them up healthily with a good attitude to food.

Oh bugger. I bought the go ahead stuff for the kids thinking they were okay. I mostly bake but bought bars are handy sometimes.