While skin tags are generally harmless, they can be quite annoying and even embarrassing for some people if they appear on visible areas such as your face, eyelid or neck. These pesky outgrowths also risk becoming infected if scratched or pulled constantly.
The truth is preventing skin tags can be a bit tricky because there is no one guaranteed method that can keep tags from appearing on your skin. Factors such as obesity and genetics increase the risk of having skin tags but even without these factors, most people will get skin tags at least once in their lifetime.
Skin tags generally tend to appear around the eye area, face, neck, armpits and groin. Mostly, you may only need to get rid of large skin tags; the small ones, which are more common, are generally benign.
How to Prevent Skin Tags from Appearing
To prevent skin tags, you need to identify factors that may be causing these outgrowths in the first place. Some causes of skin tags such as genetics are obviously beyond your control and there is no guarantee that anything you do can help to avoid skin tags.
Here are some things that are in your control to prevent skin tags from appearing or reappearing.
Adopt a healthier lifestyle
Obesity has been found to be a risk factor for skin tags. The appearance of tags on your skin could be an indication of the quality of your health especially if your lifestyle entails unhealthy consumption of sugar and saturated fats.
Skin tags usually appear on parts of the body that have creases or folds. Too much body weight means you will have more folds on your skin. This causes increased rubbing and sweating, which leads to the formation of skin tags.
To minimize the appearance of skin tags, try improving your lifestyle by eating healthier foods and losing weight. Sometimes, skin tags can be a pre-diabetes symptom and could be an early warning of the need to improve your health immediately.
Losing weigh will reduce your skin folds and amount of sweating, which can then slow down the appearance of skin tags. Drastic hormonal changes can also be moderated by adopting a healthier lifestyle. Try as much as possible to reduce your sugar intake, as sugar is a main culprit in weight gain.
In addition to changing your diet, take up body toning exercises to reduce skin folds. The results of adopting a healthier lifestyle will not come up overnight but with consistency, you will not only improve your health you will also keep these annoying skin tags at bay.
Avoid tight clothingIt is a no brainer that tight clothing can increase sweating and causes your skin to constantly rub against the clothes. Tight clothing also keeps your skin from breathing easily.
Although fashionable, tight clothes could be a cause of skin tags. So, try wearing lose fitting clothes more often. You could still look descent in fashionable clothes that are not excessively tight. This will minimize rubbing of the skin and sweating too, allowing you to avoid skin tags.
Identify whether jewelry is contributing to your skin tags. Necklaces for example can cause friction and increase sweating around the neck area therefore increasing the risk of skin tags appearing.
Minimize sweating and friction
As mentioned earlier on, too much sweating and skin-to-skin rubbing especially around parts of the body with skin folds exposes you to the risk of skin tags.
Applying medicated powder to skin tag-prone areas such as around the groin area, between the legs, beneath your breast and armpits can go a long way in reducing friction and sweating, therefore preventing skin tags.
Go for fragrance-free powders, as these will not cause additional friction unlike the scented types.
What Causes Skin Tags?
There are different reasons why people get skin tags but the causes are surprisingly connected. Drastic hormonal changes arising from factors such as pregnancy and weight gain, and an increase in skin-to-skin rubbing, which could be a consequence of excessive weight, are the major causes of skin tags.
All in all, to prevent skin tags you need to understand why they are appearing in the first place. Some risk factors include:
Age:
Elderly people are more at risk for skin tags compared to younger people.
Hormonal changes:
If your body is undergoing certain events that cause hormonal changes for example, weight gain, pregnancy or the onset of a disease, you may get skin tags. Steroids can also create hormonal changes that can predispose you to skin tags.
Genetics:
The appearance of skin tags among close family members may increase your chances of getting skin tags.
How Do I Get Rid Of Skin Tags?
There are several excellent ways to get rid of skin tags but one of the best methods is applying Australian tea tree oil directly to the tags. This all-natural essential oil will make skin tags disappear within 3 to 6 weeks. For best results, apply at least three times a day. For more related content, take a look at our content on the best skin tag removal product.
Conclusion
Most people develop tens or even hundreds of skin tags in their lifetime. While factors such as genetics and hormonal are beyond your control, making lifestyle adjustments will go a long way in helping to prevent skin tags from appearing. Of special importance is the need to improve your health because sometimes, skin tags could be a pre-diabetes symptom.
