Skin tags
Overview
Skin tags are soft, skin-coloured growths on the skin. They are very common and are usually small and harmless.
Symptoms
Skin tags are usually the same colour as the rest of your skin, or a little darker. They can look like they're hanging off the skin. They do not usually hurt and are normally harmless. Skin tags often grow where your skin rubs together or where there are folds in your skin. This means they usually appear: on your neckunder your armson your eyelidsunder your breastsaround your bottom Skin tags range in size from around 2mm to 5cm. You may get one or you may get a large group of them.
Causes
The cause of skin tags is not always known, but they are sometimes caused by skin rubbing against skin. Anyone can get skin tags and they cannot be prevented, but you may be more likely to get them if: you're living withobesityor have skin folds that rub togetheryou havetype 2 diabetes, because severe insulin resistance is thought to cause more skin tags to growyou're pregnant, as hormonal changes are thought to cause skin tag growth
Treatment
Skin tags do not need to be removed, but if they're causing problems they can be removed: using heatby freezing themby cutting them off with a surgical blade or scissors Once a skin tag is removed it does not usually return. Removing skin tags can cause scarring or darken skin (hyperpigmentation) where the skin tag was, particularly on black or brown skin. These effects are usually temporary, although it can sometimes be permanent.