What should you know about developing skin tags?

A skin tag is a soft, flesh-coloured or slightly darker growth that may hang from a narrow stalk. It often appears where skin rubs against skin or clothing, including the neck, underarms, eyelids, groin, or beneath the breasts. Several may develop over time, and a tag can catch on jewellery or fabric and become sore or bleed from friction.

A wart, mole, cyst, or other lesion can resemble a skin tag. Colour, firmness, a broad base, rapid growth, persistent bleeding, or pain makes self-diagnosis less reliable. A clinician can examine the growth and decide whether it is suitable for straightforward removal.

Reduce rubbing with comfortable clothing and avoid cutting, tying off, or burning the growth at home. Over-the-counter removal products can injure nearby skin and may delay diagnosis. If the tag catches repeatedly, a clinician can discuss [Skin Tag Removal](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/skin-tag-removal/).

Depending on its size and position, removal may involve freezing with [Cryotherapy (Lesion Removal)](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/cryotherapy-lesion-removal/) or using controlled heat through [Electrosurgery](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/electrosurgery/). Temporary tenderness, crusting, or a colour change can occur while the area heals.

Arrange an examination if the growth is new, enlarging, firm, irregular, darkening, painful, or bleeding without repeated friction. Seek prompt care for heavy bleeding, spreading redness, pus, fever, or worsening pain after a procedure. Do not remove a lesion near the eye or on delicate genital skin without professional guidance.

Does this growth have the typical features of a skin tag? Is removal medically needed or mainly for comfort? Which method suits its location, and what wound care should I follow afterward?