Did you know? Removing skin tags with vinegar is a common and all-natural home remedy? If you've got some skin tags you're not too proud of and you just got that estimate for how much it will cost to remove them, you've probably been looking for some more affordable alternatives. Because I'm sure they told you that bill isn't covered by your medical insurance (since it's considered cosmetic and unnecessary for your overall wellness). Vinegar is one of those more affordable alternatives that can be done in the comfort of your home.

Plain vinegar vs apple cider vinegar

If you've been looking around, you'll have noticed some people tell you to use vinegar in general. You'll also have noticed that others insist you use vinegar, but they specify a specific type of vinegar; apple cider vinegar to be exact (such aweremedies.com).

Why is it that some will tell you plain vinegar while others tell you to use apple cider vinegar only? Are some. Are some people just plain lazy and they don't want to type out apple cider vinegar, so they just shorten and simplify things by just saying vinegar (assuming you'll somehow read their minds and know exactly what they're talking about?). Who knows if that's even close to the truth of the matter, or not, but let me clarify things for you once and for all.

You can actually use any kind of vinegar for the remedy. Now, I will say that my personal experience has been mostly with organic, apple cider vinegar. However, I have used just plain vinegar with success. I haven't tested them side by side (which I probably should one of these days), but I didn't really notice any major difference in the time it took to take effect.

Others may argue with my statement, but I have my reasons. The reason why I say it doesn't really matter is because of why vinegar works at removing unwanted skin tags. Vinegar (whether plain white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar) has considerably high concentrations of acetic acid. The acetic acid found in both vinegar is what makes this remedy work for our purpose of removing skin tags.

Acetic acid, when exposed directly to a skin tag, will break it down. It will kill the nerves connected to the excess skin growth, the skin tag as well as the tiny blood vessels supply blood and life to the growth. So regardless of whether the vinegar is organic, or not, the main active component that's found in vinegar will do the same thing.

How to use vinegar to remove skin tags

As mentioned above, vinegar works by making direct contact with the skin tag. That's the key removing skin tags with vinegar. You have to make sure the skin tag is surrounded by vinegar. If you could, I suppose one effective method would be to drown the skin tag in a tiny tube of vinegar until it shrivels up and dies. That's not very practical nor is it going to be easy because you'll have to keep that up for days without much rest.

To make this work, you only have to expose the skin tag to vinegar; you don't have to drown it. A much more practical way to do this is to use cotton balls. Soak the cotton balls with vinegar and then place it over the skin tag. This will allow the vinegar to make direct contact with the skin tag and work its way at killing and breaking down the skin tag.

The cotton ball won't stay on the skin tag by itself, so you will need to use something to hold it in place. Some people like to use Bandaids and others like to use first aid tapes. If you're thinking you can use any kind of tape you might already have on hand, you are correct. You can indeed use any tape. The problem with just using any tape is some might not hold very well. The only general tape I recommend is duct tape. I actually think it does a way better job and is way cheaper. Plus you can use it to fix a whole bunch of other stuff as well.

Don't be shy with the duct tape. Although you should be careful if you're wrapping tape around you. You need to make sure you're not wrapping the tape too tight and cutting off blood flow. I don't even recommend wrapping duct tape. All it takes it one piece to hold the cotton ball in place and you can just place it right over the cotton ball and skin tag.

How to tell if it's working

How exactly do you know if it's working? One sure sign is to look at the color and shape of the skin tag. After about a week of using the remedy, you should see a change in both the color and shape of the skin tag.

The skin tag will get darker and darker in color as it dies off. Once it's ready to come off, it should be a dark brown to almost black color. The skin tag will also start to shrivel up and get smaller and more wrinklier.

When to give up

Sometimes, vinegar might just not work for you. It does happen and it can happen to you. You already know what to look for to see if it's working for you. What if you don't see any signs of it working for you? How long should you wait?

Well, after a week, if you don't see any signs that it is working, you can two options. One, give it another week. Sometimes it does take longer. Or two, you give up. If it's been two weeks and you've been pretty diligent with the remedy, you might want to consider trying something else. Home remedies, just like medications, will not work for everyone. You might have just struck out with luck and happen to be one of the few who didn't respond to vinegar.

It's ok if removing skin tags with vinegar isn't for you. There are still many other options available for you to try. Move on to a different one and see if it'll be the one that does the job for you.