Skin Tags
Skin tags are soft, harmless growths that hang from the skin on a narrow stalk, usually where skin rubs against skin. They are extremely common, they are not contagious, and removing them is a choice rather than a medical need.
Key facts
Skin Tags at a glance.
Typical signs
Soft, hanging growths
Common locations
Neck, underarms, groin, eyelids
Expected course
Persist unless removed
Treatment options
Optional snipping, freezing or electrosurgery
What is it?
Top things to know about Skin Tags
- They are soft, benign growths. Skin tags often hang from a small stalk in skin folds.
- They are common. They become more common with age and can be skin-colored or darker.
- Removal is optional. Once the diagnosis is clear, removal is a personal choice.
- Changing growths need a check. A changing, irregular, painful, bleeding or pigmented growth deserves assessment.
What it looks like
What Skin Tags looks like
Skin tags are small, soft, harmless growths that hang from the skin on a thin stalk. They are usually skin-colored or slightly darker and range from a pinhead to a few millimeters, sometimes larger. They form where skin rubs against skin or clothing, such as the neck, armpits, eyelids, groin and under the breasts. They don't hurt unless they are twisted, caught on jewelry or irritated.
Where it shows up
Skin tags commonly develop on the neck and in folds such as the armpits and groin. Covered sites are outlined rather than painted on clothing.
Neck
Locations around the neck and nape.
Armpits
Locations in the underarm folds.
Covered skin folds
The outlined area locates sites beneath the clothing.
On different skin tones
Skin Tags on different skin tones
Skin tags occur on all skin tones. On lighter skin, they are skin-colored to light brown. On brown and Black skin, they are often darker than the surrounding skin. On darker skin, small dark bumps on the face are often dermatosis papulosa nigra instead, a different harmless condition.
What happens in Skin Tags?
A skin tag is a soft projection of ordinary skin with loose connective tissue and small vessels inside. It often hangs from a narrow stalk, and its exact cause is not fully understood.
- A small fold projects outward: The growth is covered by ordinary skin.
- Soft tissue forms the center: Loose collagen and small vessels fill the tag.
- A narrow stalk connects it: The exact cause is not fully understood.
Causes and triggers
What causes Skin Tags
Causes
Why it happens
Skin tags form where skin rubs against skin or clothing. Extra collagen and blood vessels grow into a small, soft flap.
They tend to run in families.
Risk factors
Raise the odds
- Obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Pregnancy
- Age over 40
Triggers
Bring it on or make it worse
- Friction in skin folds (Strong link)
- Rubbing from jewelry or clothing (Strong link)
When it usually starts
When it usually starts
Skin Tags
Become more common in adult life and with age; they may also appear during pregnancy.
Daily care
Daily care for Skin Tags
Reducing friction where you can
Softer collars, a better bra, move the necklace.
Shaving around them rather than over them
An electric trimmer avoids the weekly bleed.
Keeping folds dry
Dry well after showering, wear breathable fabric.
Weight management where it is relevant
Less friction, better insulin resistance.
Discuss new growths or skin changes during pregnancy
Hormonal change produces new tags; some settle after.
Discuss metabolic health and sustainable weight goals when relevant
Both go with developing more tags.
Avoid: Tight collars, straps and waistbands
Rubbing in one line is the worst aggravator.
Avoid: Shaving over them
The usual cause of bleeding.
Avoid: Jewelry that catches
Chains snag tags and twist them.
Avoid: Repeated friction in skin folds
More folds and sweat, more friction.
Avoid: Humidity and sweat
Damp skin in a fold rubs more.
Avoid: Pulling or picking at them
Bleeds more than expected, risks infection.
Avoid: Home removal bands and freezing kits
Where most needless scarring comes from.
Avoid: Treating an unexamined growth
You never learn what it was.
Avoid: Home removal bands and kits
Avoid home removal of unexamined growths; it can cause injury and scarring.
Treatments
Treatments for Skin Tags
Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar and garlic are the usual home remedies, and where they appear to work at all it is by burning the skin. That is a poor trade on a growth that was never dangerous, particularly on a neck or a face, and the mark left behind is often more noticeable than the tag. There is no evidence any of them dissolves a tag.
Petrolatum
This is aftercare rather than treatment. A dab of plain petroleum jelly and a small dressing over the spot left after a tag is removed keeps the scab soft and gives the neatest healing. It does nothing to a tag that is still there, and it will not shrink one.
Zinc Oxide
Daily mineral sunscreen over a healed spot on the neck or eyelid stops the temporary mark from deepening and helps it fade faster. It matters most on deeper skin tones, where a dark mark can otherwise last many months. It has no effect on whether new tags form.
Mupirocin
An antibiotic ointment for the small number of tags that get infected after being nicked or snagged — hot, swollen, oozing. It treats the infection on the surface and does nothing to the tag itself. If the redness is spreading into the surrounding skin, antibiotic tablets are needed instead.
Shave Removal
The usual method: the base is numbed and the tag is snipped or shaved off at the stalk with sterile scissors or a blade in a couple of seconds. It gives the most control over the mark left behind, which is why it is preferred on the face and neck and on deeper skin tones. It also leaves tissue that can be sent to the laboratory if there is any doubt about the growth.
Electrodesiccation and Curettage
A fine electric tip burns through the stalk and seals it at the same time, so there is no bleeding. It suits several small tags in one session and very small ones on the eyelids. It destroys the growth, so it is not used on anything that needs examining first.
Cryotherapy
A few seconds of liquid nitrogen freezes the tag so it drops off over a week or so, and it is quick when there are many. It is less predictable with pigment, because the pigment-producing cells are sensitive to cold, so it is used more cautiously on deeper skin tones and near the eyes. It destroys the tag, so nothing can be examined afterward.
Skin Biopsy
When a growth is firm, broad-based, ulcerated, bleeding on its own or simply different from your others, it is removed and sent for examination under a microscope rather than discarded. When it is being taken off anyway, that costs almost nothing, and it is the only way to be certain a growth was what it looked like.
Outlook
What to expect with Skin Tags
Skin tags follow a slow, undramatic course, and most people notice them only when one catches. Removing one changes nothing about what caused it.
- 1
Appearing · Months 0 to 6
A small soft bump appears in a fold, usually noticed by touch first.
- 2
Growing · Months 6 to 24
The bump enlarges slowly and the base narrows into a stalk. Most stop between two millimeters and a centimeter.
- 3
Staying · Years
Once formed, a tag stays the same size indefinitely. It does not become cancerous and does not spread.
- 4
Catching or twisting · Any time
A tag snagged by jewelry, a razor, a collar or a seatbelt can bleed and stay sore for a few days, then settle. A tag that twists on its stalk loses its blood supply, turns red, purple or black, and is tender. It dries up and drops off within one to two weeks, leaving nothing. Have a dark growth confirmed.
- 5
After removal · One to two weeks
A removed tag leaves a small scab that heals over one to two weeks. A flat mark, darker or paler than nearby skin, is common and fades over months. New tags can keep forming in the same area - not the old one growing back.
Complications
Complications to know about
The usual reason people act
A tag snagged by jewelry, a razor, a collar or a seatbelt can bleed and stay sore for a few days, then settle. A tag that twists on its stalk loses its blood supply, turns red, purple or black, and is tender. It dries up and drops off within one to two weeks, leaving nothing. Have a dark growth confirmed.
When to get help
When to get help
When to seek care
Have an uncertain, bleeding or changing growth checked. Avoid home cutting, tying or caustic removal, especially near the eyes or genitals.
Lookalikes
What else could it be?
Seborrheic Keratosis
Skin tags are usually soft and hang loosely. Seborrheic keratoses feel firmer and may have a rough or waxy surface.
Moles
A raised mole is often firmer, more domed and more pigmented. A skin tag is usually softer and looser; a changing growth needs checking.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Skin tags are soft and movable. A firm, shiny bump that slowly grows, crusts or bleeds needs checking rather than assuming it is a tag.
Questions
Questions you might be asking.
Can I just cut it off myself?
Please do not. It bleeds more than you expect, it hurts more than you expect, the tools at home are not sterile, and you lose the chance to have it examined if it turns out not to be a skin tag. Removal in clinic takes seconds.
Will more grow back if I have them removed?
Not the same one. New tags can appear in the same area over time, because removal does not change the friction, genetics or hormones that produced the first one. Not the tag growing back.
Does having skin tags mean something is wrong with my health?
Usually not. They are extremely common and most people who have them are healthy. A lot of them is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes across large groups, so developing many new ones, especially with darkened velvety skin in the folds, is a fair reason to check blood sugar. A prompt, not a diagnosis.
One of mine has turned black. Is that dangerous?
Most often the tag has twisted on its stalk and lost its blood supply. It is tender for a few days, then dries up and falls off, leaving nothing. Still get it looked at, because a growth turning dark is also how other things present.
Will insurance pay for removal?
Usually not, because it is normally considered cosmetic. The exception tends to be a tag that repeatedly catches, bleeds or becomes inflamed. Ask the clinic before you book so the cost is not a surprise.
Are the ones I got during pregnancy permanent?
Some shrink or disappear in the months after delivery and some stay. Wait several months before deciding on removal, and ask the doctor managing your pregnancy before having anything done meanwhile.
Sources
Sources and further reading
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