Aciclovir cream - sarcoid success

a kind of magic

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My husband's mare has a sarcoid in a vunerable area, right above her eye. It went undetected for a long time as we just thought it was an area of scarred skin, then she rubbed it and it turned nasty.

The vets were involved at this point, photos were sent to Liverpool and they suggested a course of BCG because of the location. We were waiting and waiting for the BCG drugs to come from Liverpool but by the time they finally turned up, she had rubbed the now lychee size section of the sarcoid off whilst turned out in the field. More photos sent to Liverpool who confirmed there was now not enough mass to inject safely with BCG and suggested treating with radiotherapy, the dodgy location meant they had to rule out other means almost immediately. Unfortunately this was not an option due to cost, they then said we could use Bloodroot ointment as long as it was applied thinly and VERY carefully but we were both very worried about getting it in her eye.

A bit of research led me to a study done on the use of 5% aciclovir cream (Zovirax) on sarcoids with very good success, applied directly to the sarcoid once or twice a day. The study was over 6 months. I spoke to our vet, showing them the result of these studies, they suggested it was definitely worth a go. Luckily our local chemist has an 'own brand' cream for £2.50 a tube, this lasts a week.

She has been having the cream applied daily for a month now and we are very impressed. The pink area is much less angry looking and has shrunk, the grey warty area has flattened considerably and also shrunk, to the point there is now normal tissue with hair growth and in general it is looking 100% better.

I have photos that I am just putting onto photobucket to paste in here but so far we are very impressed and confident that it will at least be greatly reduced by the end of the 6 months!
 
I'm really not surprised that Zovirax would work on some types of sarcoid given the link between sarcoids and the herpes virus. Makes a zillion times more sense to me than flippin' toothpaste or burying bacon fat at a crossroads at midnight when there's an R in the month!
 
I'm really not surprised that Zovirax would work on some types of sarcoid given the link between sarcoids and the herpes virus. Makes a zillion times more sense to me than flippin' toothpaste or burying bacon fat at a crossroads at midnight when there's an R in the month!

Dear God you a like a broken record!! Many people have proven success with the toothpaste treatment. But also many people have proven treatment with the Zovirax treatment. Can't you be open minded and polite to people.

On the aciclovir my vet has sent me 10g tubes which cost me about £3 that was the best value for money I could find. One of the vets at the practice swears by it after cutting out lesions and the one I was dealing with thought it was simular to the toothpaste idea, but he was happy for me to try, which I have now been doing for just under a week. I will wait for results.
 
Same question I've asked a zillion times before: if YOU had a skin cancer, say on your arm, would you slap toothpaste on it to see how it went or would you hot foot it down to your GP and demand to see a specialist immediately. People need to be able to separate scientifically evidenced results from the mix of "other". All sorts of lumps, bumps, warty things and who knows whats are commonly called a sarcoid by worried owners. It's often very challenging to work out what is a true sarcoid and what is a lump, bump etc etc. And the only way to be certain what you're dealing with is to take a biopsy. Unfortunately, the very act of taking a biopsy can trigger an aggressive growth spurt in a true sarcoid. Catch 22. But the real problem arises when an owner applies something to a lump or bump that ISN'T a true sarcoid, finds that the lump/bump/whatever disappears and promptly announces, with the best of intentions, that they've found a cure for sarcoids. The reality is that it WASN'T a true sarcoid but either the lump/bump was going to clear up regardless of an attempted cure or the antiseptic nature of toothpaste (or whatever) helped a little.

Can't you see the enormous danger in posting on this Forum where there may be desperate people dealing with TRUE sarcoids that a simple cure for sarcoids has been found? I'd recommend you read Prof Knottenbelt's definitive guide to sarcoids then you'll realise the sinister nature of a true sarcoid and the danger inherent in slapping, yes, slapping, ANY chemical on it.

I'm as open minded as the next person but not when untried, untested and unscientific stuff is posted as the simple cure for an extremely complex problem. That's why the cold sore products sounds so hopeful...because sarcoids and the herpes virus may be linked. And by the way, the only person being impolite here is you.
 
Same question I've asked a zillion times before: if YOU had a skin cancer, say on your arm, would you slap toothpaste on it to see how it went or would you hot foot it down to your GP and demand to see a specialist immediately. People need to be able to separate scientifically evidenced results from the mix of "other". All sorts of lumps, bumps, warty things and who knows whats are commonly called a sarcoid by worried owners. It's often very challenging to work out what is a true sarcoid and what is a lump, bump etc etc. And the only way to be certain what you're dealing with is to take a biopsy. Unfortunately, the very act of taking a biopsy can trigger an aggressive growth spurt in a true sarcoid. Catch 22. But the real problem arises when an owner applies something to a lump or bump that ISN'T a true sarcoid, finds that the lump/bump/whatever disappears and promptly announces, with the best of intentions, that they've found a cure for sarcoids. The reality is that it WASN'T a true sarcoid but either the lump/bump was going to clear up regardless of an attempted cure or the antiseptic nature of toothpaste (or whatever) helped a little.

Can't you see the enormous danger in posting on this Forum where there may be desperate people dealing with TRUE sarcoids that a simple cure for sarcoids has been found? I'd recommend you read Prof Knottenbelt's definitive guide to sarcoids then you'll realise the sinister nature of a true sarcoid and the danger inherent in slapping, yes, slapping, ANY chemical on it.

I'm as open minded as the next person but not when untried, untested and unscientific stuff is posted as the simple cure for an extremely complex problem. That's why the cold sore products sounds so hopeful...because sarcoids and the herpes virus may be linked. And by the way, the only person being impolite here is you.
The problem is the vets CANNOT tell you exactly what a sarcoid is!!! my point would be =they dont know everything, there is a reason it's called practice....
 
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Please excuse the size of these but here is her sarcoid BEFORE the treatment:
530637_10152242096635002_394270973_n.jpg


After just over a month of Aciclovir application:

270404_10152242103805002_674621470_n.jpg


Although it's at a different angle you can see how much drier, flatter and smaller it is, the angry red area has started to shrink and looks much more 'normal'. Prior to treatment the sarcoid was still growing at quite an alarming rate, so this is amazing progress!
 
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