Does a skin tag removal cream get rid of skin tags around the anus?
In adults with perianal (anal) skin tags, does topical application of over-the-counter skin tag removal cream, compared with no treatment or surgical excision, lead to complete resolution of the tag without recurrence?
Evidence review in plain language · compiled 2026-10-23 · checked 2026-10-23 · next 2026-11-23 · automated review, how it works
What the evidence says
Bottom line
No study has tested whether over-the-counter skin tag removal cream gets rid of skin tags around the anus.
A search of the published literature found no trial, case series, or even a single case report testing these creams on perianal skin tags. That is different from the creams having been tried and found not to work — it means the question simply has not been studied. It also doesn't tell you anything about safety one way or the other; that's a separate judgement, not a finding.
How certain
No human evidence
No studies were found that answer this question.
What it shows
Not studied
No study has measured this in people with this condition.
- answer it directly
- 0answer it directly
- studies found
- 0studies found
- randomised trials
- 0randomised trials
- people studied
- 0people studied
What the search returned
Every record the query brought back, and why each one does not answer the question. Follow any of them to PubMed and check.
- AGA Clinical Practice Update on Diagnosis and Treatment of Hemorrhoids: Expert Review
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol · 2026 · PMID 42067175
This is a clinical practice review about hemorrhoid diagnosis and treatment that focuses on dietary modifications, sitz baths, topical anesthetics/astringents/corticosteroids, banding, infrared coagulation, and surgery, with no mention of skin tag removal creams or their use for perianal skin tags.
- Adalimumab-responsive Monogenic Inflammatory Bowel Disease With Pseudopolyposis Characteristic of TGFBR2 Variant in Loeys-Dietz Syndrome
DEN Open · 2026 · PMID 41426201
This case report is about monogenic inflammatory bowel disease and pseudopolyposis treated with adalimumab, not about topical skin tag removal creams—the skin tag mentioned is incidental to the condition being studied.
- Analysis of recurrence after stapled hemorrhoidopexy in grade IV hemorrhoid disease
World J Gastrointest Surg · 2025 · PMID 40949368
Studies a surgical treatment (stapled hemorrhoidopexy) for hemorrhoids, not a topical skin tag removal cream, and addresses a different condition and intervention.
- Non-standardized surgery lateral internal sphincterotomy: Is there a consensus?
Turk J Surg · 2025 · PMID 40619740
This study is about lateral internal sphincterotomy for chronic anal fissures, not about topical skin tag removal creams, making it a different treatment for a different condition.
- Reliability of patient-reported pain and discharge for predicting perianal lesions in pediatric Crohn's disease
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr · 2025 · PMID 40364578
This study examines detection of perianal lesions in pediatric Crohn's disease patients and does not test any skin tag removal treatment.
- Operative Management of Perianal Crohn's Disease
Surg Clin North Am · 2025 · PMID 40015816
This abstract discusses surgical management of perianal Crohn's disease, not skin tag removal creams or treatment of perianal skin tags.
- How to Approach the Difficult Perineum in Crohn's Disease
Clin Colon Rectal Surg · 2025 · PMID 39944307
This abstract discusses management of perianal disease in Crohn's disease patients but does not test or report outcomes for topical skin tag removal creams on anorectal skin tags.
- Early tumour necrosis factor antagonist treatment prevents perianal fistula development in children with Crohn's disease: post hoc analysis of the RISK study
Gut · 2025 · PMID 39667905
This study is about preventing perianal fistulas in children with Crohn's disease using anti-TNF therapy, not about skin tag removal creams in adults with perianal skin tags.
- High-Intensity Laser Therapy - An Option for Managing the Pain in Anal Fissures
J Lasers Med Sci · 2024 · PMID 39650782
This study is about laser treatment of anal fissures, not topical skin tag removal creams, and does not evaluate efficacy of any skin tag removal treatment.
- INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND ASSOCIATED SKIN MANIFESTATIONS
J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad · 2024 · PMID 39623845
This study is about skin manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease and their treatment with systemic corticosteroids and anti-TNF therapy, not about topical skin tag removal creams.
- [Anal Pathology in General Practice: A Syndromic Approach to Diagnosis]
Acta Gastroenterol Latinoam · 2024 · PMID 41341550
This is a narrative review article about diagnosis and management of anal pathologies that discusses skin tags only descriptively without reporting any outcome data from testing a specific treatment.
- Hemorrhoidal disease: Epidemiological study and analysis of predictive factors for surgical management
J Visc Surg · 2024 · PMID 38580520
This study is about hemorrhoidal disease and its surgical management, not about topical skin tag removal creams, and does not evaluate any cream treatment for perianal skin tags.
- Efficacy of Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction in the Posthemorrhoidectomy Period Trial: Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial
Dis Colon Rectum · 2024 · PMID 38380823
Tests micronized purified flavonoid fraction, a different treatment from topical over-the-counter skin tag removal creams, and studies post-hemorrhoidectomy prevention of skin tag formation rather than removal of existing skin tags.
- Typical MR features and interpretation of perianal fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease
Eur J Radiol · 2023 · PMID 37634442
This study is about imaging and diagnosis of perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease, not about treatment of skin tags or testing any removal cream.
- Perianal Skin Tags Revealing Asymptomatic Crohn's Disease in a 12-Year-Old Child With Growth Impairment: A Case Report
Cureus · 2023 · PMID 37193423
This case report describes perianal skin tags as a manifestation of Crohn's disease but does not test or evaluate any skin tag removal cream treatment.
- Infantile perianal pyramidal protrusion: A retrospective review of 27 patients
Pediatr Dermatol · 2023 · PMID 36967585
This study is about infantile perianal pyramidal protrusion in infants and young children, not about skin tags in adults, and does not test skin tag removal creams.
- Pyostomatitis Vegetans With Orofacial and Vulvar Granulomatosis in a Pediatric Patient
Cutis · 2022 · PMID 36735990
This case report discusses anal skin tags as a manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease, not as a condition being treated with skin tag removal cream; it does not test or evaluate any treatment for the skin tags themselves.
- Treatment of Haemorrhoidal Disease by Laser Haemorrhoidoplasty at Dakar Preliminary Study of 21 Patients
J West Afr Coll Surg · 2021 · PMID 36188055
Tests laser haemorrhoidoplasty, a different treatment from topical skin tag removal creams.
- STAPLED HEMORRHOIDOPEXY: RESULTS, LATE COMPLICATIONS, AND DEGREE OF SATISFACTION AFTER 16 YEARS OF FOLLOW-UP
Arq Bras Cir Dig · 2022 · PMID 36134815
This study is about stapled hemorrhoidopexy for hemorrhoid treatment, not about topical skin tag removal cream; skin tags are mentioned only as a complication (3.1%), not as the primary condition being treated or the intervention being tested.
- Tissue-selecting-technique mega-window stapler combined with anal canal epithelial preservation operation in prolapsed hemorrhoids
Asian J Surg · 2023 · PMID 35961908
This study compares surgical techniques for treating prolapsed hemorrhoids, not topical skin tag removal creams for perianal skin tags.
What actually helps, on this site
More about the condition:
How we searchedThe exact query, the date it ran, and what came back — so you can run it yourself.
- Searched
- PubMed · ClinicalTrials.gov · Crossref on 2026-10-23
- The exact search — paste this into PubMed to repeat it
("skin tag*"[tiab] OR acrochordon*[tiab] OR "fibroepithelial polyp*"[tiab]) AND (anus[tiab] OR anal[tiab] OR perianal[tiab] OR anorectal[tiab]) AND (cream[tiab] OR topical[tiab] OR ointment[tiab] OR removal[tiab] OR treatment[tiab])- PubMed expanded that to:
("skin tag*"[Title/Abstract] OR "acrochordon*"[Title/Abstract] OR "fibroepithelial polyp*"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("anus"[Title/Abstract] OR "anal"[Title/Abstract] OR "perianal"[Title/Abstract] OR "anorectal"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("cream"[Title/Abstract] OR "topical"[Title/Abstract] OR "ointment"[Title/Abstract] OR "removal"[Title/Abstract] OR "treatment"[Title/Abstract]) - What came back
- 108 records found · 108 read · 0 answered the question
- Included
- Human, animal or laboratory studies reporting an outcome relevant to the question
- Excluded
- Records about a different condition or intervention
- Records reporting no outcome
- Retracted publications, which are listed but excluded from every count
- Limits
- Details were read from abstracts, not full papers, so anything reported only in a paper's methods section is not captured here.
- A search finding nothing shows that nothing is indexed for these terms. It cannot prove no study exists anywhere.
- Evidence strength is adapted from the GRADE framework. It is not a GRADE assessment and was not produced by a GRADE panel.
Automated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.
- 108records came back from the search
- 108were read
- 0actually answered the question
Common questionsShort answers, drawn from the same studies.
- Has anyone studied skin tag cream for this specific use?
- No. The search turned up no studies on perianal skin tags treated with these creams — only unrelated research on hemorrhoids, Crohn's disease, and anal fissures.
- Does 'untested' mean the cream doesn't work?
- No. It means nobody has checked. It could work, do nothing, or cause irritation — there's no data either way.
- Is it safe to try anyway?
- That's not been tested here, and the skin around the anus is more sensitive and prone to irritation than skin elsewhere, so caution is reasonable.
- What actually works for removing skin tags?
- In-office removal — excision, cryotherapy, or ligation by a clinician — is the established approach, though specific studies of this in the perianal area specifically are limited too.
- Should I get a lump near my anus checked before treating it myself?
- Yes. Tags, hemorrhoids, warts, and signs of inflammatory bowel disease can look similar, and a clinician can tell them apart before anything is applied or removed.
What has changedEvery re-check, and whether it changed the answer.
2026-10-23
Re-reviewed under a revised method. 4 no longer retrieved · evidence strength very low → no human evidence.
How certain we are changed.
This is information, not advice
This page summarises published research. It cannot tell you what is happening in your own body, and evidence changes. If something is bleeding, painful, or new, it is worth being looked at — that is a different question from the one on this page, and a better one to bring to a consultation.
Contact the officeAutomated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.