What should you know about tiny skin tags?

A skin tag may look like a small flap, smooth bump or narrow-stemmed piece of skin. It can be close to the surrounding skin or darker, particularly where rubbing occurs. Common sites include the neck, eyelids, underarms, chest folds and groin. It may stay unchanged, become irritated by friction, or catch on clothing and jewellery. Warts, moles and other lesions can look similar, so a visual label from a photograph is unreliable.

Leave an uncomplicated tag alone if it causes no trouble. If it is snagging, bleeding after rubbing, or affecting your confidence, arrange a skin assessment. A clinician may remove it with a small procedure, freezing or electrosurgery after considering its base and location. Do not use household scissors, acids or over-the-counter wart treatment on an uncertain lesion. Keep irritated skin clean, reduce rubbing and avoid picking at a crust.

Book an appointment if a bump grows quickly, changes colour or shape, becomes persistently painful, bleeds without clear friction, or develops an open sore. After treatment, contact the clinic for increasing warmth, swelling, pus, fever or bleeding that continues despite pressure. A change does not automatically indicate cancer; it means the lesion should be checked rather than self-treated.

Ask how the clinician identified the growth, whether observation is reasonable, which method is suited to its site, and what healing care is needed. You may want to compare [Cryotherapy (Lesion Removal)](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/cryotherapy-lesion-removal/), [Electrosurgery](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/electrosurgery/) and [Skin Tag Removal](/treatments/surgical-dermatology/skin-tag-removal/).