Skin tags -- they occur out of nowhere and have us booking an emergency appointment with our dermatologist to figure out what the hell is growing on our body. While they're perfectly normal and typically very small, that doesn't stop them from being annoying.

Skin tags, aka the bane of our existence, are simply overgrowths of skin that usually occur in skin creases, such as the armpits, neck and groin. Though dermatologists aren't 100 percent sure why skin tags appear, they've been linked to friction and rubbing. While neither harmful nor painful, skin tags aren't exactly cute imperfections like freckles.

Since there's nothing you can do to prevent pesky skin tags, your only option is to get rid of them. Do it wrong, and they'll grow back, or become infected. Here are the easy and painless ways to get rid of skin tags -- safely and permanently.

Before we dive into how to remove skin tags, it's important to know one thing: they're not your fault -- though they might be your parents' (skin tags are usually genetic).

"Skin tags can occur on anyone," says Margarita Lolis, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Skin Laser and Surgery Specialists in New Jersey. "However, we usually see them more in middle-aged or older individuals. Patients who are overweight and have diabetes are also more likely to develop them."

Since they are harmless to your health, Lolis says the only reason you would need to remove a skin tag is for cosmetic purposes. Though she does offer one caveat: "If a lesion on the skin changes, I do recommend having it checked by a board certified dermatologist."

We get it: You see a skin tag and you want it gone immediately. You want an at-home remedy that doesn't involve a trip to the doctor's office. While Google might offer you natural skin-tag remedies like tea-tree oil, apple cider vinegar or (yikes) dental floss, Lolis calls BS on such skin tag removal strategies.

"These are just a few of the claims I've seen, but I don't believe any of these home remedies are effective," Lolis says. "I've had patients come into my office with dental floss tied around them, and the skin tags can become more painful and infected."

Just as you wouldn't expect vinegar or tea tree oil to remove skin from your arm, such at-home remedies won't work on skin tags -- which are, essentially, just excess skin. The only true way to remove skin tags is to physically cut, burn or freeze them off, she explains -- which you should definitely not try at home (unless you relish the prospect of infections and scarring).

First, the bad news: Even if you do have your skin tags removed, while they'll never occur in the same spot again -- they might appear on other areas of the body. The good news? They're fairly quick and painless to eliminate if they are bothering you enough. Plus, you have a few options for nicking them. The price of the procedure varies, depending on how many skin tags you have removed and which physician you see, but according to Lolis the general window is $300-$500.

Click ahead to find the best skin tag removal procedure for you.

Cutting off a skin tag is the most common procedure for removing skin tags, and it's not at all painful when done by your dermatologist. "We numb the skin tag with a local anesthesia first," Lolis says. "Then, we use a gradle scissor to cut the stalk."

This procedure is perfect for those seeking instant gratification, as the skin tag is gone immediately. Just be sure to keep the area covered with a bandage for a day or two, so as not to irritate the area further.