Ask the doctor: I hate my skin tags. Should I try a home removal kit?

Skin tags are simple outgrowths of skin, usually benign. Photo: Getty

Question: I have recently developed skin tags around my armpit and I absolutely hate them. My father has dark coloured ones — will mine turn this colour too? I have seen a few home kits for removal and I was wondering what your thoughts were on using one of these. Is it dangerous? Are they effective? And are skin tags anything to worry about?

Dr Grant replies: Skin tags, also known as ‘acrochordons,’ are commonly seen cutaneous growths that are simple outgrowths of normal skin. They appear as a pedunculated lesion on a narrow stalk and are usually benign by nature. Estimates are that almost 50pc to 60pc of adults will develop at least one of these harmless growths in their lifetime. Often people develop a multitude over the course of a lifetime.

It should be noted that skin tags are frequently seen in individuals suffering from obesity and diabetes. Acrochordons are now thought to be a skin manifestation of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. However, they may also occur in people with a strong family history of skin tags.

The typical onset may be as early as the teenage years but skin tags are most common in later life. Unsurprisingly, many studies have reported increased incidence of skin tags in children/adolescents in association with the global rise in the incidence of childhood and teenage obesity.

Skin tags tend to grow in areas where there are skin folds such as the armpits, neck, eyelids, groin and inframammary (under the breasts). The lesions are typically skin-coloured and often have a fleshy pedunculated stalk. People frequently complain of skin tags getting caught on clothing or jewellery, and occasionally friction between the garment and the skin tag may result in bleeding or itching. Of note, due to pregnancy-related hormonal surges, skin tags occur with increased frequency during the second trimester with some regressing spontaneously postpartum (after giving birth).

Doctors with a special interest in dermatology or consultant dermatologists will usually use a handheld dermatoscope to allow the visualisation of subsurface skin structure and help confirm the diagnosis. Skin tags rarely contain melanocytes, which may be responsible for the dark colouration. It is important to emphasise that the majority of skin tags are benign and patients with skin tags should not be overly concerned about them.

Should the skin tag appear in a very obvious area, for example your armpit, then it may be necessary to remove them. There are a number of treatments available, including surgical removal, ie a small dose of local anaesthetic, scalpel to remove the skin tag, and one stitch. This is rarely necessary. Most commonly, doctors can remove the skin tag using freezing therapy (cryotherapy). This simple procedure involves the application of freezing cold CO2 to the lesion which then freezes and will often, after a day or two, simply fall off.

Finally, home kits for the removal of skin tags are to be avoided as there is no clarity about what the home kit contains and therefore, if a patient has a reaction to it, they may need to seek medical help.

If there is a family history of darker skin tags, then it is quite likely that your skin tags will deepen in colour as time goes by. For the most part they are entirely innocent and if removal is requested, then this is best arranged through your GP. In individuals where weight loss is indicated, this has been known to reduce the incidence of recurrent skin tags.

Dr Jennifer Grant is a GP with Beacon HealthCheck