Skin Tag (cont.)
Do skin tags need to be sent for pathology?
Most typical small skin tags may be removed without sending tissue for microscopic examination. However, there are some larger or atypical growths that may be removed and sent to a pathologist for examination under a microscope to make sure that the tissue is really a tag and nothing more. Additionally, skin bumps that have bled or rapidly changed may also need pathologic examination. While extremely rare, there are a few reports of skin cancers found in skin tags.
What else could it be?
While classic skin tags are typically very characteristic in appearance and occur in specific locations such as the underarms, necks, under breasts, eyelids and groin folds, there are tags that may occur in less obvious locations.
Other skin growths that may look similar to a skin tag but are not tags include moles (dermal nevus), nerve and fiber-type moles (neurofibromas), warts, and "barnacles" or "Rice Krispies" (seborrheic keratosis).
Warts tend to be rougher, with a "warty" irregular surface whereas skin tags are usually smooth. Warts tend to be flat whereas tags are more like bumps hanging from thin stalk. While warts are almost entirely caused by
human papilloma virus (HPV), tags are only sometimes associated with HPV.
Groin and genital lesions resembling skin tags may actually be genital warts or condyloma. A biopsy would help diagnose which of these growths are not skin tags. Very rarely, a basal cell skin or squamous cancer or melanoma may mimic a skin tag, but this is very uncommon.
Is there another medical name for a skin tag?
Medical terms your physician or dermatologist may use to describe a skin tag include fibroepithelial polyp, acrochordon, cutaneous papilloma, and soft fibroma. All of these terms describe skin tags and are benign (noncancerous), painless skin growths. Some people refer to these as "skin tabs" or warts. However, a skin tag is best known as a skin tag.
- A skin tag is a common but harmless skin growth.
- Skin tags are frequently found on the eyelids, neck,
chest, armpits, and groin.
- Treatments include freezing, tying off with a thread or suture,
or cutting off.
Last Editorial Review: 3/26/2008
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