Skin tags and diabetes: what is the connection?

Skin tags are soft growths that favour rubbing areas such as the neck, underarms, eyelids, and groin. They can occur for several reasons, and their presence does not prove that a person has diabetes. Multiple or newly appearing tags may be a useful reason to tell a clinician about your wider health, family history, and any symptoms that concern you.

Only appropriate medical assessment and glucose testing can evaluate diabetes. Do not use the number or appearance of skin tags as a substitute for testing, and do not stop or change prescribed diabetes treatment because a tag appears.

Mention recurrent or numerous skin tags at a routine appointment, particularly if you also have increased thirst, frequent urination, unusual tiredness, blurred vision, or wounds that heal slowly. A clinician can decide whether glucose testing or another assessment is appropriate.

For a tag that catches, rubs, or becomes sore, protect the area from friction and avoid cutting or tying it off. After confirming the diagnosis, Skin Tag Removal, Cryotherapy (Lesion Removal), or Electrosurgery may be options. Keep any diabetes care plan and medicines unchanged unless your treating clinician advises otherwise.

Seek prompt medical advice for a rapidly changing, hard, ulcerated, very painful, or repeatedly bleeding growth. Urgent care is appropriate for heavy bleeding, spreading redness, pus, fever, confusion, severe weakness, or symptoms of markedly high blood sugar. A skin tag itself is not an emergency, but these accompanying features need attention.

Ask whether glucose testing is appropriate, whether the lesions look like skin tags, how diabetes might affect wound care, and which removal method would be safest for your skin and current treatment plan.