Skin tags vs. hemmies

Are anal skin tags related to Crohn's? I have a couple of them and they don't bother me. What's weird is during my first flare (6 years ago), they developed as hemmies, or so I thought. The doc called them hemmies. But they never went away. They just became skin tags? They're still there and I'm flaring now, but they're not painful or itchy or anything. Just...there. Are skin tags there related to Crohn's somehow? Could they have changed from hemmies to tags?

My crohn's started out with perianal crohn's skin tags (aka; elephant ears) 18 yrs ago now, and they were mistaken for hemmies (cuz the specialist was an idiot), they used to come and go on their own until after I had my first baby then they stayed (large and inflamed, still flesh coloured not red/pink or anything) and I had them banded cuz the idiot doc, only to find out shortly after they were infact perianal crohn's skin tags NOT hemmies (since I ended up having my crohn's start to affect me internally---rectom, colon and TI----).

They should not be removed while they are in a flare (large and hard and for many including myself, painful) because they are infact diseased tissue and the area would not heal (remain an open wound leading to re-occuring infection and such given the area passes poop full of nasty bacteria)...they can however be snipped off when they're tiny (not flaring) so long as they've shrunk completely down....and they can re-appear after getting them removed as well.

Please check out this link, it shows pics of hemmies (the first set) and pics of actual perianal crohn's skin tags (the set below the hemmie pics), why the idiot surgeon I had couldn't clearly see the difference is beyond me!!!!

http://www.emedmag.com/html/pre/fea/features/011504.asp

:)

 

You're lucky chrisnsteph, mine are large and I have many surrounding my anus (worse than what was shown in the link) and they are quite a bother...they often hurt too, obviously getting them banded while they were in a flare 18 yrs ago didn't help, since by them doing that it's kept them in a constant flare ever since...the other specialist I saw after the fact (getting them banded) said had they not been banded they'd have shrunk back down again, likely would have needed some help in the form of using cortifoam rectal meds, but instead they would remain in a constant flare and not to dare let anyone cut them off or the area would forever be an open wound, never being able to heal because of it being diseased tissue.

So if yours do end up causing you issues then ask for cortifoam to see if it helps...just a side note, I've heard that some large hemmies can leave a skin tag behind which isn't related to CD, but they're much looser and softer tags, not large and hard tags like the perianal crohn's skin tags can be.

:)