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JuanitaJ
Star Contributor
Houston, TX
USA
946 Posts |
 Posted - 04/09/2012 : 09:54:41 AM
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When I go in for my yearly check up pretty soon, I am going to ask the doctor to refer me to their resident dermotologist. I want him to look at all the various blotches, moles, tags, etc, that I have accumulated. It is good to have this done periodically and it has been a long time.
As for removing the tags, I have had it done four times (twice on each side of the neck). This was a doctor I used many years ago and he charged $200 per side of my neck and would snip 60 tags for that price. On my second visit he let his NURSE do it. My tags are generally very, very small. So it cost me $400 then to get my neck cleaned up. I venture to guess it would be $1000 or much more nowadays.
My family doctor had frozen one once for me. He charged $170 for ONE. They usually have a mininum fee to pull out their equipment.
Tags come back. So it would be great to get these things cleaned up again and then watch for them and get rid of them as they show up. I know that cutting is safe (that's what the doctor does), and many people use the thread, and wart remover, etc. I think the main thing is to have the doctor verify that they are in fact tags and not something more sinister.
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Juanita
MSPA Gold Certified
Happily shopping the Houston, TX area. |
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Jnanne
Star Contributor
Shreveport, LA
USA
2744 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2012 : 11:31:17 AM
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| You are making me miss my old HMO--every time I've had anything done it just cost the co-pay which was probably between $10 and $25, depending on the year. My how times have changed. |
Jnanne
Silver certified and looking for work near my new home |
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JuanitaJ
Star Contributor
Houston, TX
USA
946 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2012 : 12:29:49 PM
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Jnanne, removing skin tags is considered "cosmetic" and most insurance companies won't pay a cent. I have great insurance and rarely have to pay anything at all but for something like this, it would need to be shown that it was a medical necessity. I might be able to do that if I could show that they were getting caught on things and bleeding or whatever. But they really aren't. They are just not pleasant to look at.
The dermatologist who removed my tags many years ago charges $150 just for his office visit. That is even if he does nothing. Then he charged the $200 additional for each side of the neck. They are mainly charging for the use of a surgical tray.
I am hoping my new physician, who is part of a group of doctors, will have a more reasonably priced dermatologist on staff in case I need one.
So many people have skin tags that, if insurance companies started paying for their removal, they would go broke just paying for skin tags. They are extremely common. |
Juanita
MSPA Gold Certified
Happily shopping the Houston, TX area. |
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KariK
Contributor
Minneapolis, MN
USA
86 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2012 : 8:43:08 PM
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| I ripped a skin tag off last night. |
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JuanitaJ
Star Contributor
Houston, TX
USA
946 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2012 : 10:43:37 PM
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| KariK, did you rip it off accidentally or on purpose? Those things can bleed pretty bad. |
Juanita
MSPA Gold Certified
Happily shopping the Houston, TX area. |
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KariK
Contributor
Minneapolis, MN
USA
86 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2012 : 7:31:41 PM
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I did it on purpose.
It didn't bleed and tonight I pulled the scab off and still didn't bleed. |
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JuanitaJ
Star Contributor
Houston, TX
USA
946 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2012 : 11:41:31 PM
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Kari, it really sounds like something other than a skin tag. A skin tag has a blood supply running to it through the stem and even the tiniest of tags will bleed quite a bit.
I clipped two that were no larger than a coffee ground and they bled for 15 minutes...not a lot of blood but small drops. Years ago when the doctor clipped a bunch off my neck, my neck looked like a piece of raw meat. |
Juanita
MSPA Gold Certified
Happily shopping the Houston, TX area. |
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Skin tags - how can I get rid of them?