I have an external tag that has been getting irritated a lot lately. I've had it forever. Most of what I've read on here people advise to leave them alone. This makes sense as any type of further trauma in the area is usually a bad idea. Recently, this little bastard gets irritated just from sitting, which right now I am doing a lot of for school. I've tried all the salves and aloe, and vitamin E oil. Lately, it just seems pissed off and no cream really does anything.

Is there any procedure that is effective and removing these when they become problematic? One thread mentioned lasers used by aesthetic surgeons. Just some thoughts...would greatly appreciate any advice.

Hi I would agree with the advice to leave well alone.
But one thing that used to shrink my hems and skin tags into practically nothing was apple cider vinegar soaked cotton wool...obviously if you have a fissure or have a recently healed fissure then I wouldn't advise it, I have been using colodial silver instead as it doesn't sting and will shrink them a bit and ease the irritation. I pop a soaked cotton wool ball up there at night and they are much less inflamed after.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I was putting a little apple cider vinegar in a sitz bath and I noticed it did shrink everything up. It does sting sometimes and I also read that ACV can irritate or even burn the skin so I stopped using it. The other thing that really shrinks it is a tea bag. I guess the tannin can reduce hemorrhoids and tags as well. Lately, I've been hesitant to try new remedies because sometimes it gets aggravated further when I mess with it. The last several months have been stressful. I'm currently in school to become a physical therapy assistant and I have to sit for long periods. It gets a bit better and then gets irritated again, this has been going on for a while now.

Just an update:

So my tag is definitely irritated by sitting. It starts to get sore and throbby, and as soon as I get off my ass the discomfort is relieved. Problem is I've been having to do a lot of sitting lately and can't really avoid it. I tried some alcohol free witch hazel after my drive home. It certainly shrinks everything up, but Idk how people find it soothing. After sitting for long periods I get so sore and I thought maybe an astringent would help.

Idk what to do anymore. I use only water to clean myself (have for years). I even bought some cushions to sit on and I've been bringing one to class with me.

I know there are so many factors. I do manage to keep stools soft for the most part, it's def a balance. My thing is that some days I go 3 times. It's almost like if I could just not go for a week it may give my butt some time to recuperate. I also have some issues with cleaning up without irritating. I have so much hair around my hole I need a good steady stream of water. I spend 3 days a week at school and the water there is hard and strips my skin after a few washes. That is how this recent bout of butt pain started. I use a hand held sprayer that connects to the bathroom faucet. It changed my life for sure. Before that I would wash my butt in the sink. Did that for years. Now it just seems like my ass is so sensitive. I thought maybe using the sprayer with hard water threw off my pH. Obviously, I try not to over wash. But I need to at least get the dingle berries off ya know.

I'm so tired of worrying about this.

Just a quick question: Are astringents like alcohol free witch hazel okay to use? There is a brand Thayer's that is just witch hazel and aloe I was hoping to get a hold of...

Try sitting on half a butt - I did that for months before getting rid of that damn tag. I'm 2.5 months post op, everything is healed thankfully except for the tag excision site. Seems like it will take a while. Meh. Sitting on half a butt cheek and leaning to the left helps me. However it has messed up my shoulder because my weight falls on that shoulder now. Win some, lose some. :/ Feel better!

Intobetterdays,

I've definitely been trying different sitting positions. Sometimes I kneel on pillows when I have to work at my desk. Definitely been doing a lot of studying lying on my side. My lower back will start to act up from all the squirming around. Sounds like you had quite a procedure done? I get kind of a general soreness from sitting a lot. This past week of school I managed not to disturb the actual tag too much. However, yesterday I had just a slightly harder stool and right back to being irritated. I usually am able to keep stools soft enough through diet alone but sometimes I slip up. It's exhausting trying monitor everything. Anyway I put a little witch hazel and aloe on it. I'm looking for more natural ways to relieve the pain/soreness because many of the creams and ointments have so many ingredients and they actual cause me some problems. Just some thoughts. Let us know how the recovery is going.

Just a link I wanted to share. This article says not to use Apple Cider Vinegar which I have definitely used.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2016 ... morrhoids/

Hi monkeybutt,

I had a tag from an old fissure. It started acting up in May 2016. It never healed. When I held up a mirror and flashlight I saw that the tag was ripped in the center. It never healed as it was getting troubled everyday despite soft poops. I would use only coconut oil back then for relief. When it became unbarable at work, I would go to the bathroom and spray some hot water on it. At home sitting in hot water used to help. Struggled with this until Dec 2016 and got it cut off. Was admitted. My doc also cleaned up the old-healed fissure and banded some tiny hemmies. (I.e. fissurectomy & hemmorondectomy..can't spell the latter). The site where the tag was cut off is a big gash that fills up slowly. It's healed a lot but since it opens everyday for passing BM, I've read here that it takes 3-6 months for some. So I'm just being patient, trying not to worry about it. It's easy on some days, tough on some. Mental games.

My suggestions from my experience would be the coconut oil, sitting in hot water after poops and anytime it hurts (I would go home to do this) and not wiping but washing with a spray etc anytime it's stinging continuously.

Good luck.

Intobetterdays,
Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely use the coconut oil especially when I have itching all around the area for whatever reason or feel overly dry. I basically never wipe, only on the rare instance I have to go poop outside of home. This recent bout of pain all started for me when I moved to an apartment with hard water. I was using my sprayer there and after a while noticed I was getting this strange irritation (like more than normal.) Anyway my issue is that I get irritated there easily anyway and so if the dam water is a problem it really puts me in a bind. I have been filling gallons of water from home and using them in two portable bidets I bought. I stay there 3 days out of the week and then come home. I'm just trying to get through this semester of PT school and then hopefully in the summer I can see a specialist and weigh my options.

I am scared to get surgery but if this thing is like yours and doesn't heal and the pain continues I may have to see what can be done. The last thing I want is to make it worse. How has your recovery been? It sounds like they did quite a bit. Good luck as well and hopefully things improve for the both of us...