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Ingrown toenail and missing portion of nail Issues

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Robot Parade Leader:
I know I am not the only person dealing with these and there are much smarter people out there than me. There was also a bit of a derail in another thread about these issues. So, here:

I have an ingrown toenail. It's not fun. I treat it by soaking it and putting antibiotic Neosporin on it after soaking it. I also tried lifting the nail a little bit (because it was growing into my toe (side) a bit.

Part of the nail seems to have broken off, like the purple part of the nail by the side of the toe. I'm not a doctor but I think I might be seeing a little bit of the nail bed when I zoom in?
It seemed to have gotten infected, no pus but some nice throbbing and redness. My doctor prescribed a 10 day antibiotic course without seeing me or the toe (since I had just seen him recently).
It was actually another doctor from his office that wrote the prescription and that doctor said "You might want to see the foot doctor/podiatrist." (not having seen it).

I freely admit I don't know a lot about this. I still have 9 days of antibiotic left. I don't know what happens after that. I don't want to be the moron who screws this up more than I already may have..

Do I schedule a podiatry appointment with a foot doctor?

Robot Parade Leader:
Update. I was told to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist (Foot doctor), because the nail is broken. Like it is actually broken in the part you don't want it to be broken and you can see the nail bed under it by the edge near the border with the toe's skin.

I have never been to a foot doctor before. Not sure what the heck to expect. I'm hoping the missing part of my toenail (not the part you usually trim but the one under that) grows back.

nenjin:
It probably will. My brother dealt with ingrown toenails in his teens and they'd cut away a part of it. However it may not grow back fully/healthy. You may end up with a thin veneer of nail over the top and it may be subject to unpleasantness like getting gross when it gets/stays wet for too long.

Robot Parade Leader:
Thanks for letting me know / commenting. Nobody talks about any of this and it should probably be common health knowledge but it just isn't. Especially, I don't think I'm diabetic but if anyone out there is, it can be a huge concern for them. 

I wouldn't mind keeping it dry or whatever works either. It never occurred to me that part of the actual nail (not the part you trim) would break off. Very grateful I have an oral antibiotic, because otherwise I am pretty sure this would just be infected bad. $1.68 for 10 days and having to drink a lot of water because of the antibiotic is way better for everyone than an urgent care visit costing literally 100 times that.

nenjin:
Mostly it comes up as an issue if you have sweaty feet. If you find your feet are sweaty and that's causing the regrown part of the nail to get soft and the whole thing gets gooey (which can lead to another infection) you can use foot powder to keep your toes dry. Or wear open toed sandals in the appropriate weather as an alternative.

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