Skin tags, are common, painless, benign growths. Medical News Today reports that about 46 percent of the population will develop skin tags.
Relatively small in size, skin tags appear as smooth, loose flaps of skin attached to the body by a stalk, called a "pedicle." The pedicle contains nerves and blood vessels that nourish the tag.
Friction
A variety of factors contribute to the formation of skin tags. In the general population, according to Medline Plus of the National Institutes of Health, friction is a dominant cause. Continued rubbing of skin can disrupt normal skin formation. For this reason, skin tags are most often found in places where chafing occurs, such as on the neck, under the arms and on the eyelids. Skin tags also frequently grow in groin and buttock folds.
Weight
Weight is another factor. Overweight people tend to have more skin tags than do others. The extra weight itself does not necessarily cause the increase in skin tags. Rather, excess fat creates folds in the skin where chafing and pulling can occur. Skin tags also commonly form in the fold under the breasts of normal weight women.
Age
Skin tags can form at any age, though older individuals develop them more frequently than do the young. As people age, the collagen and elastin matrix that holds young skin taut begins to loosen and sag. Sagging skin is more likely to be chafed and pulled than firm skin, thus increasing the friction that contributes to skin tag formation.
One exception is a specific type of skin tag called a "preauricular skin tag." Some infants are born with a small tag located just in front of the opening to the ear. Preauricular skin tags present as tiny bumps or depressions.
Hormones
Different hormones contribute to skin tag development. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas as part of metabolism. People with type-2, insulin-resistant diabetes have more skin tags than do people without this disease. The reason for this is not fully understood. In an article for "Endocrineweb," Dr. James Norman notes that the typical patient with type-2 diabetes is overweight. Further, the disease usually develops in middle age, so weight and age may play a role in skin tag formation for individuals with type-2 diabetes.
Pregnant women and people who take anabolic steroids (artificially created hormones) also develop more skin tags than the general population.
Risk Factors
Skin tags, while unsightly, are harmless. Skin tags very rarely become malignant. Skin tags that grow rapidly, bleed or develop uneven coloration should be seen by a doctor.
