What should you know about floss skin tag?

A skin tag, also called an acrochordon, is a soft, usually flesh-coloured growth that may hang from a narrow stalk. It commonly appears where skin rubs against skin or clothing, such as the neck, underarms, eyelids, groin, or beneath the breasts. A growth that resembles a skin tag can sometimes be a wart, mole, or another lesion, so appearance alone cannot confirm it.

Floss can compress the stalk, but home tying may cause bleeding, infection, irritation, and an uneven wound. It can also delay assessment of a lesion that needs a different approach.

Leave the area clean and avoid cutting, burning, or pulling the growth. Arrange a dermatology or primary-care assessment if it catches on jewellery, bleeds with rubbing, becomes sore, or bothers you cosmetically. After diagnosis, removal may involve freezing with cryotherapy, controlled heat with electrosurgery, or a minor procedure chosen for the lesion’s size and position.

Do not apply household chemicals or share tools. Follow the clinician’s wound-care instructions after removal, and protect healing skin from friction.

Seek prompt medical advice if the growth changes quickly, develops several colours, bleeds without being rubbed, forms an ulcer, becomes persistently painful, or is surrounded by spreading redness, warmth, swelling, or discharge. Urgent care is appropriate for bleeding that does not stop with steady pressure or signs of a significant infection.

Ask whether the lesion is truly a skin tag, which removal method fits its location, how to care for the area afterward, and which changes should trigger a review.