Do skin tags around the anus go away on their own?
In adults with perianal (anorectal) skin tags, what proportion resolve spontaneously without treatment, compared with those left untreated, over follow-up periods of 6-12 months or longer?
How people search for this, in their own words
- “will anal skin tag go away”
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- “anal skin tag go away on its own”
- “anal skin tag usually does not go away on its own authoritative source”
- “extra skin in anus skin tag can they go away on their own”
- “do skin tags around anus go away”
- “anal skin tag go away on its own usually permanent”
Evidence review in plain language · compiled 2026-10-13 · checked 2026-10-13 · next 2026-11-13 · automated review, how it works
What the evidence says
Bottom line
No study has tested whether skin tags around the anus disappear on their own in people without Crohn's disease.
The only related data come from two old studies that followed people who already had Crohn's disease, not skin tags in general. In those patients, tags mostly stayed the same rather than disappearing — but that result may not apply if you don't have Crohn's disease.
How certain
Very low
The 1 human study found measure a related question rather than this one, so they can only be read indirectly.
What it shows
Not studied
No study has measured this outcome in people with this condition.
- studies found
- 2studies found
- randomised trials
- 0randomised trials
- people studied
- 109people studied
- years covered
- 1980–2007years covered
What the research shows
Not studied
Persistence of the tag at 6-12 months or longer
In one 10-year study of Crohn's disease patients, skin tags were still present in 25 of 37 people (68%) at follow-up; only 2 people developed new tags. This is the closest data available, but it's from a different population.[1]
No improvement shown
Not studied
Need for later surgical removal
The studies describe watching and waiting or topical treatment, not surgery, so they don't tell us how often removal becomes necessary later.[1]
Insufficient evidence
Symptom development (itching, hygiene difficulty, irritation)
No study measured whether untreated tags caused new symptoms, such as itching, hygiene difficulty, or irritation. One study followed people with Crohn's disease for 10 years, but it tracked whether tags persisted or new ones appeared, not symptoms.[1,2]
Not studied
Important limitations
- Both available studies were done in people with Crohn's disease, a condition known to cause its own skin tags and anal changes — the findings may not apply to tags that appear without Crohn's disease.[1,2]
- Neither study was a randomised trial. Nobody was formally left untreated and compared against another approach for the purpose of testing whether tags resolve.[1,2]
- One study enrolled 109 patients with Crohn's disease, but only reported skin-tag outcomes for a subset of 37 of them at 10 years; it had no comparison group, and all patients had Crohn's disease, which may not reflect people with ordinary anal skin tags.[1]
- The studies are old (1980 and 2007) and small, with no stated sample size for the 2007 review.[1,2]
Why people try it
- Embarrassment about the location makes people delay seeing a doctor and hope it resolves by itself.
- Fear of a painful or embarrassing procedure makes watchful waiting feel like the safer option.
- Many people assume all skin tags, wherever they are on the body, behave the same way and shrink or fall off eventually.
- A tag that isn't currently painful can seem like something that doesn't need urgent attention.
What the studies found
- Found no clear effect2 · 100%
What kind of studies
- Narrative review1 · 50%
- Case series1 · 50%
The studies that decided it
Ingle et al. 2007
The natural history of perianal Crohn's disease
Skin tags often persist, not disappear.Narrative reviewVery low qualityRelated question
size not given2007
Skin tags, fissures and haemorrhoids tend to persist and are usually just watched or treated topically rather than resolving on their own
- Who was studied
- People with Crohn's disease who have perianal skin tags, fissures or haemorrhoids
- What they received
- Watchful waiting (expectant management)
- Compared with
- Topical therapy
- Main outcome
- Whether perianal skin tags persist over time
- Quality
- This is a general narrative review about Crohn's perianal disease, not a dedicated study measuring whether skin tags resolve, so the statement is brief and not based on systematic data collection.
- Limitations
- The abstract is a broad review of Crohn's disease perianal manifestations, not a focused study on skin tag natural history, and all patients described have Crohn's disease, which may not reflect people with skin tags unrelated to this condition.
Taken word for word from the abstract
- population
Perianal lesions are exceedingly common in Crohn's disease and many patients have more than one type of lesion.
- intervention
are usually managed expectantly or with topical therapy
- comparator
are usually managed expectantly or with topical therapy
- primaryOutcome
Skin tags, fissures and haemorrhoids may persist over time
- result
Skin tags, fissures and haemorrhoids may persist over time and are usually managed expectantly or with topical therapy.
Dig Liver Dis · PMID 17720635 · Read it on PubMed ↗
Buchmann et al. 1980
Natural history of perianal Crohn's disease. Ten year follow-up: a plea for conservatism
Most Crohn's-related skin tags persisted, didn't disappear.Case seriesLow qualityRelated question
109 people10 year
skin tags were still present in 25 of 37 patients (68 percent) at 10 years, with new tags appearing in only 2 patients
- Who was studied
- patients with Crohn's disease and anal lesions (skin tags, fissures, fistulas)
- What they received
- no specific treatment described; conservative, non-surgical management over time
- Compared with
- follow-up over 10 years without routine surgery
- Main outcome
- whether perianal skin tags and other anal lesions persisted or resolved over 10 years
- Quality
- this looked only at a subgroup of Crohn's disease patients, used a small sample with incomplete follow-up (only 61 of 85 surviving patients were rechecked), so it may not reflect skin tags in people without Crohn's disease.
- Limitations
- Loss to follow-up (only 61 of 85 patients followed to proctoscopy/biopsy), no control group, and the population is specific to Crohn's disease rather than general anal skin tags.
Taken word for word from the abstract
- n
A 10 year follow-up of 109 patients with histologic Crohn's disease and anal lesions is reported.
- population
109 patients with histologic Crohn's disease and anal lesions
- primaryOutcome
Anal skin tags were still evident in 25 of 37 patients (68 percent), but new tags have appeared in only 2 patients.
- result
Anal skin tags were still evident in 25 of 37 patients (68 percent), but new tags have appeared in only 2 patients.
- intervention
These results indicate that perianal manifestations of Crohn's disease pursue a relatively benign course and are rarely an indication for proctectomy.
- comparator
A 10 year follow-up of 109 patients with histologic Crohn's disease and anal lesions is reported.
Am J Surg · PMID 7435823 · Read it on PubMed ↗
What actually helps, on this site
More about the condition:
All 2 studiesEvery study that answered the question, with its design, size and result.
How we searchedThe exact query, the date it ran, and what came back — so you can run it yourself.
- Searched
- PubMed · ClinicalTrials.gov · Crossref on 2026-10-13
- The exact search — paste this into PubMed to repeat it
("Skin Tags"[tiab] OR acrochordon[tiab] OR "fibroepithelial polyp"[tiab] OR "cutaneous tag"[tiab]) AND (anus[tiab] OR anal[tiab] OR perianal[tiab] OR anorectal[tiab]) AND ("natural history"[tiab] OR resolution[tiab] OR spontaneous[tiab] OR "watchful waiting"[tiab] OR regress*[tiab])- PubMed expanded that to:
("Skin Tags"[Title/Abstract] OR "acrochordon"[Title/Abstract] OR "fibroepithelial polyp"[Title/Abstract] OR "cutaneous tag"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("anus"[Title/Abstract] OR "anal"[Title/Abstract] OR "perianal"[Title/Abstract] OR "anorectal"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("natural history"[Title/Abstract] OR "resolution"[Title/Abstract] OR "spontaneous"[Title/Abstract] OR "watchful waiting"[Title/Abstract] OR "regress*"[Title/Abstract]) - What came back
- 9 records found · 8 read · 2 answered the question
- Included
- Human, animal or laboratory studies reporting an outcome relevant to the question
- Excluded
- Records about a different condition or intervention
- Records reporting no outcome
- Retracted publications, which are listed but excluded from every count
- Limits
- Details were read from abstracts, not full papers, so anything reported only in a paper's methods section is not captured here.
- Fields were read from abstracts, not full text, so detail reported only in a paper's methods section is not captured.
- Evidence strength is adapted from the GRADE framework. It is not a GRADE assessment and was not produced by a GRADE panel.
Automated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.
- 9records came back from the search
- 8were read
- 2actually answered the question
Common questionsShort answers, drawn from the same studies.
- Will an anal skin tag go away on its own?
- No study has directly tested this in people who don't have Crohn's disease, so there's no reliable number to give you. The only related evidence, from people with Crohn's disease, found that tags mostly stayed present rather than disappearing over 10 years.
- Is it true that an anal skin tag usually does not go away on its own?
- That matches the limited evidence available, though it comes from a specific group: people with Crohn's disease. In that group, 68% still had their tags at 10 years, with very few new ones forming. There's no study confirming this holds for everyone.
- Does an anal skin tag go away on its own, or is it usually permanent?
- Based on the only long-term data available (in Crohn's disease patients), tags tended to persist rather than disappear. Nobody has studied this question in people without Crohn's disease, so 'permanent' isn't proven either — it's simply unstudied.
- Can extra skin near the anus (a skin tag) go away by itself?
- There's no research answering this directly for typical skin tags. The closest evidence, from a Crohn's disease population, showed tags usually stay rather than resolve, but this may not reflect your situation.
- Should I just leave it alone, or get it checked?
- The evidence doesn't tell us whether leaving a tag alone causes problems, because no study measured that. If a tag bothers you, changes, bleeds, or you're unsure what it is, a clinician can examine it and discuss removal — that's a practical step, not something the studies here tested.
This is information, not advice
This page summarises published research. It cannot tell you what is happening in your own body, and evidence changes. If something is bleeding, painful, or new, it is worth being looked at — that is a different question from the one on this page, and a better one to bring to a consultation.
Contact the officeAutomated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.