SARCOIDS
Causes
Sarcoid unsightly skin lumps or warts are a type of skin tumour in horses, not cancerous but they can cause problems especially if they are located where tack is fitted or can get easily rubbed. The cause is largely unknown but many vets believe that a virus is the main cause which gains access to the body via an injury or even an insect bite. A weakened immune system increases the problems and any underlying weakness or disease can also contribute.
Signs
They are most usually found underneath the belly, behind the elbows, inside the thighs, under the girth and sometimes on the head and neck. They come in all shapes and sizes, sometimes with a stalk (a bit like a mushroom) and also flat and wide ( bit like a plate) as well as like straight forward warts
Treatment
Surgical removal of sarcoids is best discussed with your vet as they have a nasty habit of coming back again in ever increasing numbers. . Special creams which burn away the sarcoids can be used to treat them and they can be frozen off. A BCG vaccine can be used to inject into the warts so that rejection is more effective by the body's own immune system. In addition some alternative therapies use an immune system optimizer to ensure the horse's own immune system is in tip top condition to fight the virus and a great deal of success has been noted with this approach.