How to Identify a Skin Tag? Ways to Get Rid of It

The skin tag can be understood as a small piece of hanging and soft skin. They can generally appear anywhere on your skin, however, they are more likely to appear when your skin rubs against other clothing or skin.

Skin tags tend to become increasingly common and usually occur after midlife. It affects both women and men equally. Other names for these tags include cutaneous papilloma, fibroma molluscum, soft fibroma, acrochordon, fibroepithelial polyp, and more.

In this article, we will discuss everything about skin tag: what are the causes of its appearance, what do they look like, and what are the possible treatment options that will help you to get rid of them.

Surgery removal of tag (Image via Pexels/Anna Shvets)

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What Are Skin Tag?

Skin tags are more often tumors in the skin that are non-cancerous and benign in nature. It consists of epidermis, fat cells, core fibers, ducts, and nerve cells. Generally, they appear on your body parts such as the neck, eyelids, upper chest, armpits, groins, and under your breasts.

Often skin tags go unnoticed if they are not in a prominent place or rubbed and scratched against jewelry and clothing. Sometimes skin tags fall off painlessly and people might not even notice them. On the other hand, large tags might burst because of the pressure.

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What Causes Skin Tags to Suddenly Appear?

The causes of the skin tag are not exactly clear, but they usually happen because the clusters of blood vessels and collagen get trapped inwards of the thicker pieces of your skin.

Since they usually appear in your skin folds or creases, they are mostly caused by the skin rubbing against the other skin. They usually affect both men and women equally, but the susceptibility of skin tags increases for people with obesity, diabetes, and pregnant women. This is because the tags are also associated with too much insulin in your blood.

Risk factors for skin tags include obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.

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What Do Skin Tags Look Like?

The surface of these tags can be either irregular or smooth in their appearance along with being slightly brownish or flesh-colored. They usually start with flattened and small pinhead bumps, which can grow bigger or stay as they are.

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How Do You Get Rid of Skin Tags?

Skin tags are usually harmless and therefore are mainly removed due to cosmetic or esthetic reasons.

1. Surgery

Surgery is a common treatment option to get rid of the skin tag, which should be done with the recommendation of a dermatologist or specialist.

The procedure used for its removal includes excision, which means cutting them out with a scalpel, cauterization which means burning off tags using electrolysis, ligation which means interrupting the blood supply to these tags, and cryosurgery which means freezing them.

Skin tags that are closer to your eyes are generally removed by the specialist eye doctor.

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2. Over-the-Counter Medications

Several such solutions are available in pharmacies that work in a similar manner to that of wart removal. They claim that the skin tag falls off with their use in about 7-10 days. However, it is recommended to seek the advice of medical professionals before using such solutions.

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3. Home Remedies

There are several home remedies that you can try to get rid of the skin tag, which include apple cider vinegar, banana peel, tea tree oil, vitamin E, and garlic. However, it is not recommended to remove the tags using home remedies because of the increased risk of bleeding and infections.

Tea tree oil for home remedy (Image via Pexels/Dominika Roseclay)

Overall, skin tags tend to have a common appearance in the body, especially after mid-life. They are generally not harmful to health because they are benign in nature.

Therefore, the removal of such tags is generally due to cosmetic reasons. Some of the ways to get rid of skin tags include over-the-counter solutions, surgery, and home remedies.