A skin tag is a benign, tiny, outpouching part of the human skin that is connected to the underlying skin through the thin stalk. Skin tags are essentially the part of the skin that looks like hanging skin. Moreover, it occurs in those sites where the skin is prone to the rubbing of the cloth. For this reason, there is skin-to-skin friction such as upper chest, neck, underarms, and the groin.
Acrochordon is a medical term used to refer to skin tags. In most cases, many other conditions exist in the medical platform to apply to these skin tags. They also include the soft fibromas, soft warts (although they have no inclusion of the real meaning of moles), fibroepithelial polyps (FEP), pedunculated fibroma, and fibroma pendulum. At Coastal Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, we can remove skin tags safely and effectively. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!
Causes of Skin Tags
In most cases, skin tags have been discovered to develop due to skin-to-skin friction. Sometimes, they also occur due to cloth-to-skin friction. The most common areas where skin tags occur include:
- Eyelids
- Neck
- The underarms
- Groin folds
- Upper chest ( beneath the woman breasts)
Because of the increases friction in the skin-to-skin contact, it is more common to find skin tags on the overweight people. While they are a common phenomenon on the children, they are most common in the older individuals from middle age.
Many studies, in the recent past, have also suggested the relationship between this disease and inheritance. For this reason, it is an inherited skin disorder. Skin tags, in people with the Crohn,s disorder, are more common around the perianal skin and the anal openings. Skin tags can also be affected by the hormonal changes in the body due to pregnancy. This is experienced during the second pregnancy trimester.
Let us be keen to note that skin tags are never cancer. It is very rare to have the disease lead to the development of skin cancer.
Facts About Skin Tags
- While they are annoying, skin tags can be harmless.
- They are commonly soft, small skin growths
- They tend to occur in areas around armpits, neck, eyelids, under breasts, and groin folds.
- At some point in life, everyone develops this skin disorder.
- They are most common in the middle-aged and older adults with obesity.
- One can have between 10 and 100 skin tags.
- Skin tags are associated with obesity
- Skin tags can be removed without triggering more growth.
- You can destroy the skin tags through tying off, freezing with a thread, or cutting it off.
Symptoms of Skin Tags
In the light-skinned people, these skin tags can appear brown or typically flesh-colored. They may be wrinkled or smooth. Moreover, their sizes range from one millimeter to a grape size. While it is possible to recognize the stalk attached to this skin disorder, some common forms of this disease appear as a raised part of the skin.
Contact Coastal Dermatology and Plastic Surgery today to get started on having your skin tags properly diagnosed and removed!
