Skin tags, medically known as acrochordons, are growths that develop on the skin’s surface. Certain health conditions, such as obesity, pregnancy, diabetes, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can increase your risk of anal skin tags, which form on the skin surrounding your anus.
An anal skin tag is usually harmless and doesn’t require treatment unless it’s bothering you. In that case, a dermatologist can talk to you about your options for removal.
Design by Health
Skin tags can be easily confused with warts, moles, and hemorrhoids, but a few symptoms set skin tags apart from similar growths.
- Appearance: Skin tags are usually round and soft to the touch. They may be the same color as your skin, but more often they are darker. Skin tags can stick out from the skin, as if they’re attached to your skin by a stalk, or they can sit close to the top of your skin, like a raised mole or freckle.
- Size: Skin tags typically range in size from 1-5 millimeters, both in width and in how raised it is from the skin. They can sometimes grow larger, and they may appear in clusters or as a single skin tag.
- Location: Anal skin tags develop anywhere within the perianal area, which includes the skin surrounding your anus, the skin between your anus and genitals, and the fleshy skin between your buttocks.
Skin tags are not usually painful, but they can become easily irritated or itchy from friction. In some cases, they may turn red or bleed.
The most common cause of anal skin tags is skin-on-skin friction. Other types of friction can create anal skin tags, too, like from frequently wearing undergarments that rub your skin.
Certain health conditions can also cause anal skin tags. In particular, Crohn’s diseasehas been linked to anal skin tags. One study suggests that Crohn’s disease symptoms like diarrhea and frequent bowel movements cause stress and damage to the area around the anus, which may lead to anal skin tags in as many as 11-19% of people with Crohn’s disease.
Risk Factors
Other factors may also increase your risk developing anal skin tags. These include:
- Family history: If other people in your family have skin tags, you may develop them as well. There’s also a genetic disorder, called Birt-Hogg-Dube Syndrome, that makes skin tags more likely. However, this disease is rare.
- Pregnancy and hormonal changes: Skin tags are more common during pregnancy because of changing hormone levels and weight gain, which may create more skin folds or friction. Hormonal changes not related to pregnancy can also increase your risk of skin tags.
- Obesity: Some studies have found an association between higher body mass index (BMI) and skin tags.
- Metabolic disease: People with diabetes or metabolic syndrome (often a precursor to type 2 diabetes) are more prone to developing skin tags.
A healthcare provider can usually diagnose a skin tag based on a brief physical examination and discussion about your medical history and risk factors.
If the healthcare provider is unsure whether you have a skin tag or a similar skin growth (like a wart, mole, or cancer), they may refer you to a specialist. These may include a dermatologist (a doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating skin conditions) or a colorectal surgeon (a doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating conditions in the perianal area).
The specialist can use a special magnifying tool called a dermatoscope to examine your skin tag and confirm the diagnosis.
Skin tags typically don’t require treatment unless you’d like to have them removed. There are a few ways a dermatologist or colorectal surgeon can remove a skin tag so it won’t bother you anymore.
- Excision: A surgeon may use medical scissors or a cutting blade to snip the skin tag off at its base.
- Cauterization: A dermatologist may perform this procedure. Cauterization involves using an electrical tool that generates a small amount of heat to destroy the cells of the skin tag. Then, the skin tag falls off on its own.
- Cryotherapy: Your dermatologist may use a chemical, such as liquid nitrogen, to apply extreme cold to the skin tag. This freezes and destroys the cells, so the tag falls off on its own.
There is no evidence that over-the-counter (OTC) treatments or home remedies work to remove skin tags. In some cases, they may even be harmful. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns people against using OTC products for skin tag removal, as they can injure the skin and cause bleeding, infection, and scarring.
It’s best to meet with a dermatologist to discuss the best treatment for removing skin tags, especially if they are located in a sensitive area like around your anus. Don’t try to remove them at home.
It’s not always possible to prevent skin tags from forming. If you are pregnant, of older age, or have a family history of skin tags, they may be unavoidable. Still, there are ways to manage your health to reduce your chances of developing skin tags.
- Maintain a weight that’s healthy for you: Because obesity is a risk factor for skin tags, managing your weight through regular exercise and a nutritious diet may lower your risk of developing skin tags.
- Manage any metabolic disease: Diabetes and metabolic syndrome are both linked to skin tags. For this reason, controlling your blood sugar levels and implementing strategies for weight management may help you prevent skin tags.
- Manage any gastrointestinal disease: If you have Crohn’s disease, the best way to prevent anal skin tags is to manage your condition well. Talk to a healthcare provider about the best way to treat Crohn’s disease, especially with anal skin tags.
Skin tags are usually uncomplicated. You don’t have to remove them, and they typically won’t cause any long-term problems if left untreated.
Skin tags can grow over time, which could make them more uncomfortable if they’re located in the anal area. Skin tags can also become inflamed and irritated, possibly leading to mild pain and bleeding.
Because skin tags are more common in people with certain health conditions, such as diabetes and Crohn’s disease, they could be a sign of a more serious condition that requires treatment. If you have anal skin tags and any symptoms of Crohn’s disease or symptoms of diabetes, consider making an appointment with a healthcare provider.
Anal skin tags are noncancerous growths that can form on the skin around your anus. Certain medical conditions, like obesity, pregnancy, diabetes, and Crohn’s disease, can increase your risk of anal skin tags.
Though skin tags are harmless, they can be bothersome and may cause irritation. If you want to remove your skin tags, it’s important to talk to a dermatologist. Also, consider seeing a dermatologist if you aren’t sure whether you have a skin tag or another type of skin growth.
