9yr son really upset by small skin tag on his neck

[A.J. at J.A.]

Hi all!

My 9yr son has noticed a small skin tag on his neck that appeared about a week ago. He is very self-conscious about it (although it is hardly noticeable to anyone looking at him) and is terrified of the thought that he might have to get it removed (he is afraid of the pain).

Please reassure me that it is probably nothing. We are on vacation for spring break and are two states away from our pediatrician. I've read online in one place that it is somewhat unusual for a child to get a skin tag and that if it is removed it should be biopsied (big scare!).

Any experiences would be appreciated. :bigear: I would like to not worry about it and would like to tell DS not to worry about it. But alas, we're both pretty worried. He has also had some small wart-type things show up on his chest too, but of course, I forgot to ask pediatrician about it on his last visit! UGH!

Anyway...lay it on me!
Angela

[DKinTX]

Hmm...that's a tough one. If it were me, I'd take my child to the doctor, because of what you read online, and also just in case it's not a skin tag. My kids had molluscum contagiosum...could it be that? I would reassure my son that the doctors have ways of making sure he doesn't feel any pain, should it need to be removed. Often when I know my kids have to face something scary or uncomfortable, I promise them a treat as a sort of compensation. Some might see that as bribery, but I know I treat myself to a Starbucks or something after I've had a rough day...so I tend to look at it as a bit of pampering. Which I might put into practice tomorrow, as my daughter is getting her braces on! Anyway, I hope it turns out to be nothing to worry about! Blessings, Denise

[j.griff]

If you see a Dr. and they think it's fine (*I* would think it's probably fine, but would see a Dr. just to be on the safe side) and doesn't need to be removed, but your ds still wants it to be "gone", I have a trick for you to try.
My step grandma had a large mole that bothered her, and she started putting vaseline on it everyday. It fell off after a month or so of doing that. (I don't have details, sorry) It may be worth a try though. :)
Meanwhile, I doubt that it's anything terribly urgent, I'm sure it can wait until you are home again. I'd offer to put a small bandaid on it for ds, if that would make him more comfortable. Hugs to both of you.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Hi all!

My 9yr son has noticed a small skin tag on his neck that appeared about a week ago. He is very self-conscious about it (although it is hardly noticeable to anyone looking at him) and is terrified of the thought that he might have to get it removed (he is afraid of the pain).

Please reassure me that it is probably nothing. We are on vacation for spring break and are two states away from our pediatrician. I've read online in one place that it is somewhat unusual for a child to get a skin tag and that if it is removed it should be biopsied (big scare!).

Any experiences would be appreciated. :bigear: I would like to not worry about it and would like to tell DS not to worry about it. But alas, we're both pretty worried. He has also had some small wart-type things show up on his chest too, but of course, I forgot to ask pediatrician about it on his last visit! UGH!

Anyway...lay it on me!
Angela

If you go to the doc (and you probably should go for a skin change, though it's probably nothing), don't tell him you're going until you're about to drive into the parking lot. Shorter time to agonize over it. I'm all for prepping kids ahead of time, but it sounds like he's not able to process this logically because of the fear.

If the doc looks at it and wants it gone, you can either have it frozen off -- and you can prepare him for *this* by dropping a drop of ice water on his skin -- by the doctor or there are kits in the drugstore that you can buy that will freeze off warts, etc. If they want it biopsied, you can give him a reasonable expectation of how long he will feel uncomfortable (30 seconds -- maybe) and see if he can process that.

I remember when I was trying to teach my needle phobic ds (oh lordy, I hate even vaguely remembering how phobic he was) about the relative time of discomfort vs. the time worrying and fretting. I remember having him pinch some tender part of his anatomy for about five seconds, hard enough so that it would truly be uncomfortable, and then talking about whether or not that much pain was, in all honesty, worth fretting about. (All this was done when he was old enough to understand and process cause and effect, etc.) I talked about trading 10 seconds of discomfort for a week of misery or a week of worry. (And one time, I talked about a blood test being necessary to rule out *Mom's* worry. That was the longest week of my life, waiting for those tests. Anyway, after that bit of talking through, he seemed to turn a corner with tests and needles. IIRC, he was seven.)

Hang in there. It's likely nothing at all, and the sooner you get him seen and get this over with, the sooner you can stop him obsessing about it.

[whitestavern]

I hate these things and had all of mine removed last year; I must've had 15 all around my chest area. Apparently they run in my family. Anyway, I'd first make sure that it is indeed a skin tag. They are almost painless to remove though; really just a tiny prick and the pain is gone immediately. One other trick I heard (never did, but my mom did) was to tie a piece of thread around the base very tight and it will fall off on it's own within 24 hours. Good luck.

[Ohio12]

If you are sure it is a skin tag, let him get it removed or just snip it off yourself. I cut some off dh and it was like nothing. But I would see an MD about it first because he is a child. I also don't think it is expensive to get it removed by the MD. Let him get it removed though, no need to make him self conscious.