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Anal skin tags

been to see my lovely GP today had to give in and show him my bum ( he is like a friend now its not right haha !! ) and its confirmed i have anal skin tag and quite a few,
He says that these are an overlooked indicator for crohns and is prety mad that i have seen three consultants and not one of them has looked at my bottom even though i have complained of a stretching kind of pain there tooo !!
is this right about the skin tags i have had a look at this forum and its seams to be common with crohns but can you get anal skin tags with IBS too ?
 
I have never heard of anal skin tags being associated with IBS. IBS is supposed to be a functional disorder that doesn't cause any physical changes, as far as I know.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
If it were me, I'd make sure the GI saw my skin tags. You said none of your GIs have seen them, so maybe they didn't realize the extent of them or thought you were exaggerating? At your next appointment, don't let the doctor leave the room until he sees them. My GI doesn't often look at my backside, but he's definitely seen it and if I had anything new going on back there then I'd make sure he saw that too. Good luck, I know you've mentioned your skin tags before and I'm sure they've got to be pretty uncomfortable. Hopefully if they see the situation then they can help you properly! Good luck!
 
Nope, it only presents with Crohn's. Showing the docs is a MUST! The first time I had a doc look was in the ER ( he was an intern) and his response was "You really should think about waxing.":rof:
 
its bloody hard getting daignosed int it ! if my consultant see these would he rule out ibs ?? that would be a start , my gp is great and has put on the note about skin tags and bowel disease and he has said because of family history its likey its cronh's ? x
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
It is SO hard getting diagnosed, I definitely can say that from experience! In spite of the fact that I don't respond to IBS meds, the fact that I *do* respond to IBD meds (pred, Entocort, and Asacol), the fact that we've ruled out other stuff like Celiac and Addison's, and the fact that this definitely is not IBS - I still don't have a diagnosis either. I'm on Asacol and in remission but I don't even "officially" have IBD (I was unofficially told by both GI and GP that it's IBD, but my official chart states I have "chronic non-specific enteritis" which is a placeholder diagnosis that doesn't really mean anything). I feel for you! It sure couldn't hurt to show all your doctors what's going on back there. It probably won't get you a diagnosis based on the skin tags alone but it should be a step in the right direction towards a diagnosis at least.
 
yep i would just like to get off the ibs bandwagon as my lovely GP calls it , my GP has said prednislone would help me , he has said 20 going down to 5 over 4 weeks ? hey i guess my unpretty bottom may have some significance after all haha xx
 
Yep it means he knows there is something inflammatory going on but for whatever reason he doesn't want to come out and name it. Maybe because he realizes you might have actually KNOWN what you where talking about???? Doctors hate admitting that lol!
 
yep u are very right i think my gp actually wants my consultant to diagnose this for me for that exact reason , gp is pretty cross that he is doing a lot of the work that this consultant should be doing , he was amazed that they hadnt looked at my bottom !!xx
 
I have a similar question. My son was born with a small skin tag on his butt crack. It was noticed by a nurse as soon as he was born. But nothing else was ever said after that. (Im not sure how well of an evaluation the doctor did on him, since the hospital almost let us go home until I asked if someone was going to check out my baby, 6 hours later a doctor FINALLY came to check him out.)

He is now 14 months old and is having severe diarrhea. He has had the ongoing diarrhea since he was 10 months old, and was hospitalized due to dehydration. He tested positive for lactoferrin (which is the marker for IBD). HOWEVER, when he seen a GI doctor they said it was just IBS.

I have never put the skin tag and GI problems together until out of curiousity looked up skin tags and found this forum.

Does anyone have any ideas? And is a skin tag truley associated with crohn's disease??

I honestly dont know what to do, or what to believe. His primary doctor tells me "I dont know what to do at this time, ill do some research and get back to you." And his GI doctor said "Theres nothing we can do, just hopefully he will grow out of it." PLEASE HELP!!!:frown:
 
re baby born with tag

@nhenkel08 - I am so sorry you and your baby. I have children and can only imagine what it must feel like. In fact I'm tearing up as I write this.

I wrote my experiences with tags and crohn's and placed them separate, introductory post here:
PHP:
crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=443093#post443093
As a parent myself, I have been known to over analyze but you can never be too safe when they are that age.

How is the little one doing since the post above? Is there another post you've created with more details?

Your attention to detail and findings with tags at birth could help research if it is ultimately linked to crohns.

Of course I hope the little one's movements normalize and the tag turns out to just be a minor birth defect. Please keep us posted and keep following your instincts.
 
@M30... i have made a thread with all of his symptoms at crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=443372&posted=1#post443372

He has his good days and his bad days. We are STILL waiting to schedual a second opinion for a different GI specialist, since the first one tells us to just hope he grows out of it by age 4 or 5. Thanks a lot doc! :mad:
 
its bloody hard getting daignosed int it ! if my consultant see these would he rule out ibs ?? that would be a start , my gp is great and has put on the note about skin tags and bowel disease and he has said because of family history its likey its cronh's ? x
they are caused by a rip in the skin as i av got one and it very uncomfortable are thats what my doctor said and they av to be surgically removed
 
I have seen a few GIs and none of them have asked to see my rear end. The skin tags I have were only noticed by the doc who did the colonoscopy. As far as I know, they do not have to be associated with IBD.
Great your GP is on your side - mine also did all the leg work and started prescribing IBD meds for me when the consultants didn't.
 
You can get little skin tags from wiping frequently especially with having a disease that has you pooping multiple times a day...the friction of wiping with TP can cause little skin tags BUT, with crohn's there's Perianal crohn's skin tags and those are all together different from the friction type ones and no, IBS is not associated with these kinds of anal tags and neither is having ulcerative colitis, it's only related to crohn's which a google search will confirm.

I have several large ones that were misdiagnosed as hemorrhoid's and they were banded while in a flare (large and hard) this was how my crohn's disease started...with the anal tags when I was a teen....they would just come and go on their own and I never had any bowel issues, then all hell broke loose about a yr and a half after giving birth to my first born....they are not meant to be cut off while they are inflamed since they are diseased tissue and given the area they affect being the anus, they will not heal properly and cause even more issues...I was told by a surgeon that when they shrink back down they can be snipped off but never when they are big.

Google "perianal crohn's skin tags"
 
Can you have internal skin tags (inside the rectum/near the anus)? I just had a flex sig and they found 'Hypertrophied Anal Papilla(e)'. Is this the same thing being discussed here? Or can you have external and internal? Trying to get a diagnosis and wondering if i should put any weight into this finding...
 
As far as I know, they're external only but it's best to ask your GI, I've never asked my GI if they can be internal too, it's bad enough having the external ones, and mine are quite large and they're basically all connected to each other, it's disgusting, I hate this stupid disease.
 
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