Also known as fibroma pendulum, a skin tag is a benign (non-cancerous) soft area of skin that hangs off the body. Technically a tumor, skin tags are made up of collagen fibers, capillaries, lymphatic vessels, a core of ducts, fat cells, nerve cells and are covered by the epidermis. Caused by bunches of trapped blood vessels and collagen inside thicker parts of the skin, they are usually flesh colored, about the size of a grain of rice or bigger, and look like a little flap of skin connected to the body by a small stalk of tissue called a peduncle. Known to doctors as acrochordons, the most common areas where they occur are in the folds of your skin, such as the eyelids, neck, groin under arms and upper chest, but can also be found elsewhere on the body. While it can be alarming to see any kind of growth on your skin, these growths are typically harmless.
Both men and women tend to get skin tags as they age. Skin tags are also more common in pregnant women, obese people, and people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.More than half if not all of the general population has been reported to have skin tags at some time in their lives. Although tags are generally acquired (not present at birth) and may occur in anyone, more often they arise in adulthood. They are much more common in middle age, and they tend to increase in prevalence up to age 60.