Many people ask the question: how do you get skin tags? Or wonder where they come from. Unfortunately the answer is still not clear. There are certain risk factors which can lead to the formation of skin tags but first it is important to answer the question of what is a skin tag?
Skin tags are small lumps of tissue containing collagen and blood vessels, which are flesh like in color that protrude from the surrounding skin and are attached by a small stalk. They are a similar size and shape to a small rice crispy and can be found anywhere on the body. The most common places where one would find such a skin lesion are:
The skin lesions are not dangerous in any way and can be removed without any worry or danger, in fact many people who have skin tags may not even notice as the tags can fall off themselves without ever having caused a problem to be noticed by the person.
Medical experts believe skin tags are mainly formed by friction caused by skin rubbing against skin or clothing which would explain why they are most common in areas where the body has natural folds and creases. For this reason, one of the main risk factors which can lead to the appearance of skin tags is obesity. Overweight people naturally have more skin folds, which in turn mean more skin rubbing on skin. Other risk factors include:
Skin tags can appear at any stage through life although people are more likely to suffer, or at least notice, after mid-life.
Over recent years there has been a high amount of interest shown in the apparent link between diabetes 2 and skin tags.
Firstly, people with diabetes 2 can quite often gain weight. As mentioned before, this is one of the main risk factors pertaining to skin tags. However studies have shown that skin tags may be a sign of insulin resistance, also a sign of diabetes type 2. Furthermore, studies have shown that when treatment was given to sufferers of this form of diabetes for their inability to process carbohydrates in the correct manner (a classic symptom of the disease), not only did the treatment work for the diabetes symptom, but those with skin tags saw the disappearance of the skin lesions.
Up until this point, a relatively small amount of research had been conducted on skin tags and their cause due to the fact that they are relatively easy to remove and pose no threat to a person’s health. With this new revelation though, experts are extremely interested in seeing if more information can’t be found out about both diabetes and skin tags, wondering if the answer to one lies within the other. Hopefully the new studies and research will soon be able to answer the question; how do you get skin tags?
Loading…
