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Medical
Dermatology - Growths / Skin
Tags
A skin tag
is a common, acquired benign
skin growth that looks like a
small piece of hanging skin.
Skin tags are often described
as bits of skin- or
flesh-colored tissue that
projects from the surrounding
skin from a small, narrow
stalk. They typically occur in
characteristic locations
including the neck, underarms,
eyelids, and under the breasts
(especially where underwire
bras rub directly beneath the
breasts).
Although
skin tags may vary somewhat in
appearance, they are usually
smooth or slightly wrinkled and
irregular, flesh-colored or
slightly more brown, and hang
from the skin by a small stalk.
Early or beginning skin tags
may be as small as a flattened
pinpoint-sized bump around the
neck. Some skin tags may be as
large as a big grape.
There are
several effective medical ways
to remove a skin tag, including
removing with scissors,
freezing (using liquid
nitrogen), and burning (using
medical electric cautery at the
physician's office). Usually
small tags may be removed
easily without anesthesia while
larger growths may require some
local anesthesia (injected
lidocaine) prior to removal.
Application of a topical
anesthesia cream prior to the
procedure may be desirable in
areas where there are a large
number of tags.
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