Skin Tags

Common and treatable

Skin tags are also known as acrochordons, pedunculated papilloma or polyps.  It is a small benign (not dangerous) skin tumor that forms mostly in skin creases - the neck, under arm, groin.  They can also form around the eye.  Somes as small as a grain of rice, they can be as large as a golf ball.  It is unusual for skin tags to hurt if not irritated, but because they are often formed in the skin creases, they get traumatized and can bleed or hurt.  They also can interfere with shaving and grooming.  Often, they are raised from the surface of the skin on a fleshy stalk called a peduncle.

Skin tags can be treated in a number of ways including injection and cryotherapy (freezing), they are typically treated with a very quick removal with a scissors or scalpel after a tiny amount of anesthetic is injected.  Skin tags rarely recur after removal, but since they can continue to form, many people will have new ones developed.



Skin tag on a cheek