Patient-Friendly Explanation

Skin tags are small, soft flaps of skin that usually appear where skin rubs together, such as the neck, armpits, groin and eyelids. They are harmless in themselves, but having many of them is a visible signal that the body may be dealing with insulin resistance and weight gain.

Clinical Definition

Acrochordons (skin tags) are benign fibroepithelial polyps that arise in areas of skin-on-skin friction and are strongly associated with obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia. Chronic mechanical friction, together with raised insulin and insulin-like growth factor signalling in insulin-resistant states, promotes their development.

Why It Matters

Because skin tags track with insulin resistance, they are a useful prompt to check fasting glucose, HbA1c and a lipid profile. Weight loss of 5 to 10 per cent often stops new tags from forming, while cosmetic removal alone does not change the underlying metabolic picture that NuLifeCare Singapore assesses and treats.