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A skin tag is a small piece of soft, hanging peel that may have a peduncle, or stalk. They tin appear anywhere on the body, but especially where skin rubs confronting other peel or clothing.

Other names are an acrochordon, cutaneous papilloma, cutaneous tag, fibroepithelial polyp, fibroma molluscum, fibroma pendulum, soft fibroma, and Templeton pare tags.

Peel tags are very common and generally occur after midlife. They affect men and women equally.

Skin tags, Grook Da Oger, own work, 2012 (wikicommons) Share on Pinterest
Pare tags are harmless and oft removed for cosmetic reasons.
Grook Da Oger, own piece of work, 2012

Skin tags are benign, noncancerous, tumors of the peel. They consist of a core of fibers and ducts, nervus cells, fat cells, and a covering or epidermis.

They may appear on the:

  • eyelids
  • armpits
  • under the breasts
  • groin
  • upper breast
  • neck, in the case of papilloma colli

They frequently go unnoticed, unless they are in a prominent place or are repeatedly rubbed or scratched, for instance, by clothing, jewelry, or when shaving.

Some people may have peel tags and never notice them. In some cases, they rub off or fall off painlessly. Very large skin tags may outburst nether force per unit area.

The surface of peel tags may be smooth or irregular in appearance. They are often raised from the surface of the skin on fleshy peduncles, or stalks. They are normally flesh-colored or slightly brownish.

Skin tags start small, flattened like a pinhead bump. Some stay small, and some abound bigger. They can range in diameter from ii millimeters (mm) to i centimeter (cm), and some may attain 5cm.

As skin tags are usually harmless, removal is unremarkably for artful or cosmetic reasons.

Big skin tags, especially in areas where they may rub against something, such as clothing, jewelry or pare, may be removed due to irritation.

Removing a large skin tag from the face up or under the arms tin make shaving easier.

Surgery

The following procedures may be used:

  • Cauterization: The pare tag is burned off using electrolysis
  • Cryosurgery: The skin tag is frozen off using a probe containing liquid nitrogen
  • Ligation: The claret supply to the skin tag is interrupted
  • Excision: The tag is cut out with a scalpel

These procedures should merely be washed past a dermatologist, or specialist skin medico, or a similarly trained medical professional.

Skin tags on the eyelid, especially those shut to the eyelid margin, may have to be removed by an ophthalmologist, or specialist eye doctor.

Removing a skin tag at home is not normally recommended, due to a risk of bleeding and possible infection.

However, very small tags can be removed by tying dental floss or thin cotton wool thread around the base of operations of the tag to cut off circulation to the tag.

Over-the-counter solutions

Over-the-counter (OTC) solutions are bachelor at pharmacies. These freeze the peel tag, and it will fall off after vii to 10 days. These may as well exist purchased online, although information technology is recommended that professional medical advice is sought before using these treatments.

These medications are similar to those used for wart removal.

In that location is no evidence that removing skin tags encourages more of them to develop.

It is not clear exactly what causes peel tags, but information technology may happen when clusters of collagen and claret vessels become trapped inside thicker pieces of skin.

As they are more common in skin creases or folds, they may be mainly caused past skin rubbing against skin.

Some people announced to inherit an increased susceptibility to skin tags.

Skin tags touch people both males and females, merely they happen more frequently during pregnancy, in people who are obese, and in people with diabetes.

They accept been associated with hyperinsulinemia, when there is besides much insulin circulating in the blood.

Risk factors for skin tags

Skin tags appear to be more common in:

  • people who are overweight and obese
  • those with diabetes
  • women during pregnancy, possibly due to hormonal changes and high levels of growth factors
  • those with some types of human papilloma virus (HPV)
  • people with a sex-steroid imbalance, especially if there are changes in levels of estrogen and progesterone
  • those whose shut family members too have skin tags

Studies accept found that skin tags are more likely to occur with:

  • obesity
  • dyslipidemia, for example, high cholesterol levels
  • hypertension, or high blood pressure level

They have also been linked to insulin resistance and elevated loftier-sensitive C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation.

This suggests that skin tags may offer an external sign of an increased gamble of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

More rarely, peel tags are rarely associated with:

  • Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome

Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome is a rare genetic condition characterized by skin tumors, including multiple fibrofolliculomas, trichodiscomas, and acrochordon, or skin tags. Carcinomas, or cancerous tumors, may besides develop in the kidneys and colon.