What Are Skin Tags?
Q: I was shaving my armpits and ran over what I thought was an ingrown hair, but when I looked, it was just a floppy little piece of skin sticking off my armpit. But what's worse — there are a bunch of them! What are they and why are they sprouting in my armpits?
A: It sounds like what you're describing are skin tags in your armpits. These are harmless little pieces of extra skin that protrude from your body. They typically appear in body folds, like your underarms, the sides of your neck, between your thighs, or under your breasts.
Skin tags can be hereditary or an effect of hormone fluctuations. They're more likely to occur in adults, though children can develop them too. Skin tags tend to show up on women more often during pregnancy, when hormones are also causing their bodies to grow more hair, and their nails to grow faster. In many cases, skin tags are caused by friction, when skin rubs on skin or against clothing. People who are overweight commonly develop skin tags for this reason.
These little growths are benign and, in most cases, unobtrusive. People often just ignore them. However, skin tags can become red, itchy, or irritated, and they can also bleed or become infected. If you're lucky, your skin tags will just fall off on their own. But if they don't, do NOT try to remove them yourself!
I've had patients who've tied dental floss around their skin tags, some who've attempted to cut skin tags off with cuticle scissors (that they'd just used to trim their toenails!), and at least one who tried burning skin tags off with a cigarette. The outcome is usually disastrous — bleeding, infection, scarring — all that effort to no avail! The skin tags didn't budge.
If your skin tags are bothering you, we have a machine called the Lam Probe and they are easily burned off, with minimal discomfort and little to no healing time needed in most cases. Most of the time it can be done in one treatment. Call for a consultation. We offer the Lam Probe for
$20.00 -- per area