Suggestions for home surgery?
 

I have 8-gauge piercings in my ears. Over the years, I have grown ... I dont' know what exactly it is. Behind my right ear around the piercing, I've grown some extra skin, basically.

It's not infected or anything. It doesn't really cause me any pain, either. But it sticks out and I'd like to be rid of it.

I came to the decision to remove it here at home.

So, I wanted some tips on pulling this off without getting gangrene. My first step is to find someone willing to do it for me because the spot is hard to get to myself, not to mention that I can't really see it. Then I'll probably use a razorblade, thoroughly douse everything in alcohol, do the job fast, and get it bandaged.

Anything I'm missing?

Hey Antagony,

What you have are Skin Tags.

http://health.discovery.com/diseases...pedia/147.html

What are the treatments for the condition?

It is usually not medically necessary to treat skin tags. If they are unsightly or annoying, they can be removed by a healthcare professional. Methods of removing skin tags include the following: · cutting them off with a sterile scalpel or scissors · burning with a special heated needle · cryotherapy, which involves freezing with liquid nitrogen · laser surgery

Yeah, that sounds like what I have.

Need to find someone to chop that stuff off ...

I don't think I'd recommend doing that at home, especially with it being behind your ear. It's gonna be hard to check up on.

I dont want you losing an ear or something :)

My friend had those on both of his ears...He had to get them surgically removed. Sometimes they come back.

I would highly recommend that you see a doctor if you want this done. There is no way to ensure that you will be in sterile conditions. If you get an infection, it could be very serious.

yup. do that shit w/ a doctor, man. It's not worth a bit of cosmetic purdyness if you're gonna get sick as shit over it.

You folks have no idea how much I hate doctors, heh.

I've heard of that happening with stretched piercings, usually as a blowout or keloid scar. I've also heard of people cutting them off themselves. I know that for me personally, I wouldn't want to try removing them myself. There are some piercers who specialize in scalpelling and dermal punches that could probably do that kinda thing. Your best bet is to check out www.bmezine.com and look for anything on keloids or "blowouts".

Understandable, but if you do it on your own, you may end up seeing a doctor anyway. As much as you hate doctors, if you end up with an infection, you could end up hospitalized. That's much worse than just seeing a doctor in the first place.