A skin tag, sometimes also known as a cutaneous skin tag or soft fibroma, is a benign growth that hangs from your skin. According to the New Zealand Dermatological Society, most skin tags are harmless and are made from collagen fibers and blood vessels. The part of the skin tag that connects the growth to normal areas of your skin is referred to as a stalk; the stalks can vary in length. Skin tags are more likely to develop as you age, but certain medical conditions can also increase your risk.
Friction
Medical News Today reports that the exact cause of skin tags are not known, but that the way the tags look, gives researchers ideas about what causes them. Skin tags form most commonly in areas where you have skin folds--your neck, groin, just underneath a woman's breasts or on the backs of your arms. These locations suggest that friction--an irritation of your skin being rubbed against clothing or other areas of skin, for example, may be one cause of skin tags.
Hormonal Changes
Hormonal changes that you go through during your life can lead to skin tags in some cases. People who suffer from a medical condition called acromegaly or gigantism, may be more likely to experience skin tags. Acromegaly is a circumstance in which your body produces too much of the human growth hormone. Becoming resistant to insulin may be another cause of skin tags, according to the New Zealand Dermatological Society. Insulin resistance can be a factor contributing to obesity in some people, and indeed the National Institutes of Health report that people who are diabetic or overweight have more skin tags than people with more stabilized insulin reactions and body weight. The hormonal shifts of pregnancy can also cause temporary skin tags in some women--the growths usually resolve themselves with a few months of giving birth.
HPV
Though a skin tag is not the same thing as a wart, New Zealand researchers theorize that the same virus that causes warts, the human papilloma virus, might cause skin tags.
Steroid Use
Cutaneous skin tags are made, in part, from collagen fibers. Collagen is the protein that supports your skin, and keeps it plump and smooth-looking. Medical News Today explains that heavy steroid use could cause the formation of skin tags. Such high--and illegal--levels of the drugs cause your collagen in effect to stick together and form clumps that become skin tags.
