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Skin tags are small sac-like projections of skin which are commonly located on the sides and back of the neck. In some cases these may be located in the axillae and still less commonly on the face, especially the eyelids, and the groins. The skin tags are asymptomatic and slowly grow in size but the individual lesions do not grow beyond 4 to 5 mm. The base of the lesion is narrow and the sac is usually soft and compressible. The skin tags are usually found in middleaged individuals and are often associated with obesity. They tend to increase in number with advancing age.

The only way of treating the skin tags is to destroy them with electro-cautery, cryo-surgery or even with chemical cautery. A brief touch of treatment at each of these lesions leads to destruction of the lesion. This gets crusted within a week’s time and falls off on its own within the next week or so. There is generally no scarring. The lesions can however reappear slowly over a period of several years when these procedures can be repeated. Skin tags require treatment only for cosmetic reasons.

Sunlight consists of three major components which affect the skin. The ultraviolet (UV)component induces pigmentation in the skin by stimulating the melanocytes. These rays also promote epidermal cell proliferation and normal keratinisation. They also have degerming effect on the skin and lead to formation of vitamin D. The age-old Indian practice of ritual bathing in the rivers or tanks on auspicious days and exposing one’s skin to sunlight seems to have a medical basis. The infrared component of the sunlight is composed of heat waves which tend to increase the circulation of blood in the skin and help in repair and regenerative processes. The visible component of the sunlight also produces some minor effects on the skin. Ultraviolet light produces the maximum effect on the skin.

It is a common observation that areas of the skin which are routinely exposed to sunlight are darker than those which are not exposed. This is because repeated exposures to sunlight stimulate the formation of pigment in the skin. The more the exposure the darker the skin. This is also the reason why populations living nearer the equator, where the exposures to sunlight are maximum, are darkly pigmented while the people living farther off, in the north or the south of the globe where the skin is exposed to sunlight only for short periods, are fair skinned. If a person with a fair skin starts exposing himself to larger amounts ofultraviolet light, the skin becomes darker, and if a person with dark skin moves to a place where the ultraviolet component of light is less, his skin becomes lighter.