Your skin is the heaviest organ in the body and takes up about 16 percent of your total weight. It serves many purposes, such as protecting your internal organs from microbes and environmental heat, as well as regulating body temperature. But due to its size and breadth, there's a chance that growths can unexpectedly form. One common example found among adults is skin tags. 

Skin tags (acrochordons) are small, noncancerous (benign) growths that usually measure only a few millimeters in length, though they can grow up to half an inch. They typically appear on the neck, armpit, groin or inflammatory areas. Almost half the population has been reported to have a skin tag, but the condition is more associated with obese people. Skin tags are also rare during childhood, but older people have an increased chance of developing them. 

While harmless, skin tags can affect your quality of life. For example, if a skin tag grows on your eyelid, you may want to have it removed for cosmetic reasons. A skin tag may also cause friction in your clothing, which can lead to skin irritation and bleeding. 

Experts don't know the exact cause of skin tags, but they believe that these growths appear when skin rubs against skin. As such, skin tags are often found in armpits, or on the neck and groin. In other cases, your skin tag may be confused with a condition known as the Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) syndrome, a condition that produces growths on the skin that look exactly like skin tags. 

The cause of BHD syndrome is a mutation in your FLCN gene that produces folliculin, which is a tumor-suppressing protein. Eventually, the mutation causes multiple fibrofolliculomas and trichodiscomas that may be indistinguishable from skin tags. 

To be clear, topical growths caused by BHD syndrome are not skin tags — they only look very similar. The cause of regular skin tags is still unknown. Other risk factors can influence the appearance of skin tags, namely:

• Gender — Women are more likely to develop skin tags compared to men.
• Age — Skin tags are more commonly found in middle-aged and elderly citizens.
• Weight — Overweight people have a higher chance of developing skin tags.
• Lifestyle — One study notes that skin tags may signify metabolic syndrome.

If you discover any unusual growths on your skin, please visit your dermatologist at least once a year for a full body check.

Excerpted from mercola.com

 TREATMENT FOR TAGS

Treatment for tags is easy, and permanent. If you have tags growing on your face, eyelids, neck, armpits, chest and panty-line, tags can be treated with Skin Classic High Frequency in one visit. This service can be performed even if you are having a facial service.

Treat them while they are small, because they keep growing in size. New tags will develop in other areas, so treating them in their early stages will be a quick fix. The same rule applies to other benign skin imperfections. Catch them while they are small, and easier to treat.