Your doctor may remove a mole or skin tag in any of these ways:
Cutting it off. Skin tags may be snipped off with a scalpel or surgical scissors. Some moles can be "shaved" off flush with the skin. Other moles may have cells that go underneath the skin, so your doctor might make a deeper cut to remove the entire mole and prevent it from growing back. This cut may require stitches.
Freezing it with liquid nitrogen. Your doctor will swab or spray a small amount of super-cold liquid nitrogen on the mole or skin tag. You might have a small blister where the mole or skin tag was, but it will heal on its own.
Burning it off. An electric current passes through a wire that becomes hot and is used to burn off the upper layers of the skin. You may need more than one treatment to remove a mole. Skin tags are removed by burning through the narrow stem that attaches them to the skin. The heat helps prevent bleeding.
The procedure may hurt a little, but your doctor will numb the area with an anesthetic before he or she begins. If the procedure causes any bleeding, your doctor may apply a medicine that helps stop the bleeding. Then he or she will put a bandage on it. These procedures usually leave no scars or marks.
