A sentinel pile is also known as a sentinel anal skin tag or rectal skin tag, and, for the more medically minded, may also be called a hypertrophied papilla or fibro-epithelial polyp.
Sentinel piles are common and usually harmless growths that hang off the skin around the outside of the anus at the front edge at the junction of the anus and the perineum. It is not contagious, but may be due to a lesion, inflammation, anal injury or skin left behind after a haemorrhoid treatment.
More generally, anal skin tags are not a risk to health, but they can cause issues with cleanliness after going to the toilet. This is mainly due to the fact that they can trap moisture and become irritated. Anal tags can be found around the anal periphery and may be single or multiple. The anterior one is called the sentinel tag.
Whilst they may be unsightly, they shouldn’t cause the same problems that are associated with suffering from internal and external haemorrhoids.