Paronychia

I'm sure you want to know all this.

Every time I've mentioned that I think I have a toe infection, people say they've never heard of it. Well, neither have I. And every time I look up my symptoms, it is suggested that I get help with an ingrown toenail. But that's not the problem!

I wake up every morning with the toe part right below my toenail swollen and painfully throbbing, and it gets hot again at random parts of the day. No amount of digging at the nail is going to affect that part of the toe. And after yet another try at going to a doctor for the never-ending problem in January and not getting relief like I was promised, I again scoured the internet.

And I found that there really is something like what I'm describing. It's called Paronychia. Sounds better than "toe infection," right?

Now I just want to know: has the problem cleared up for a while each time I was on antibiotics and I just didn't make the connection? And does topical cream really help with something that seems so deep? And lastly, how come the internet and I often seem to be better at diagnosing me (and sometimes treating--especially in the case of this lame toe) than doctors?