What Are Skin Tags, and Should I Remove Them?

You’re drying off after your shower when your finger snags on something under your arm. A soft little bump on a stalk, skin-colored, new. You check the other side. Then you check your neck.

What they are

Cleveland Clinic² describes skin tags, also called acrochordons, as small, noncancerous growths the same color as your skin, often looking like a cluster of tissue on a tiny stem. They’re usually 1 to 5 millimeters, though the NHS¹ says they can range from 2 millimeters to 5 centimeters. They don’t usually hurt, the NHS says, and they may darken slightly compared with the skin around them.

Where and why

The places are the clue. The NHS¹ lists the neck, underarms, eyelids, under the breasts and around the bottom. Cleveland Clinic² adds the groin and genitals. These are folds and friction spots, and Cleveland Clinic says tags form when the body produces extra cells in the top layers of skin, especially where skin rubs against itself.

The risk factors on the lists:

• Weight. The NHS¹ and the AAD³ list obesity or being overweight.
• Diabetes. The NHS¹ lists type 2 diabetes, tied to insulin resistance. The AAD³ lists diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
• Pregnancy. All three sources list it, and the NHS¹ points to hormonal changes.
• Age and family history. Cleveland Clinic² lists both.
• Loose skin. The AAD³ lists it.

If the skin under your breasts is also irritated, our article on sweating and rash under the breasts covers that.

Do they need to come off?

The AAD³ says you only need to remove a skin tag if it becomes irritated, feels uncomfortable or affects your eyesight, or if it hurts or bleeds often. Otherwise they can stay. The NHS¹ doesn’t cover removal because it’s considered cosmetic surgery, and it lists private options: heat, freezing or cutting. It warns about scarring or darkening of the skin, especially on darker skin tones.

Why not do it yourself

Both the NHS¹ and Cleveland Clinic² are firm. The NHS says not to try to remove a skin tag yourself unless a GP recommends it, and lists infection, bleeding and scarring as risks. Cleveland Clinic adds incomplete removal and the danger of treating a growth that isn’t a skin tag.

The AAD³ says the FDA hasn’t approved any of the at-home removal products, and that they risk scarring and skin damage.

Here’s the point that matters most. Cleveland Clinic² says a growth that looks like a skin tag may be something else. The AAD³ says board-certified dermatologists should handle removal in part to tell a skin tag from a wart or skin cancer. Home removal skips that check.

How a dermatologist does it

The AAD³ lists three methods: cryosurgery, which freezes the tag with liquid nitrogen, electrodesiccation, which uses an electrical current, and snipping it off, done with local anesthesia. Cleveland Clinic² lists scalpel removal, freezing and cautery.

The play

Try this: the photo-and-date check

Take a clear photo of any growth you’re not sure about, with a coin beside it for size, and write the date.

Check it again in a month. The NHS¹ says to see a GP if a tag grows, becomes painful, bleeds or multiplies.

If anything has changed, bring the photos to your appointment.

When to get checked

The NHS¹ says to see a GP if a skin tag grows, becomes painful, bleeds, or you get a lot of them. The AAD³ says that suddenly developing many skin tags can be a sign that something is going on inside your body and needs a medical look. Cleveland Clinic² says to seek care if a tag becomes irritated or bleeds easily, or if its appearance bothers you.

Book an appointment if any of these fit:

• A skin tag is growing, painful or bleeding
• Many new tags have appeared quickly
• A tag is on your eyelid or affects your vision
• A growth doesn’t look like your other tags, which Cleveland Clinic² says may be something else
• You’d like one removed and want it done safely

If it is a skin tag, the little bump under your arm isn’t a problem on its own. If you want it gone, there’s a right way to do it, and a dermatologist’s office is the place.