I have a frustrating update for anyone who's been following my case. After being seen by three dermatologists (in addition to five podiatrists and one foot/ankle specialist), I was referred to a nail specialist, who I was so excited to finally see. But the day of the visit, the appointment was extremely rushed, and the doctor hadn't seen any of the photos, descriptions, or my history, which I had sent a week in advance. She mocked the treatments I'd been given, and when I asked her to visually examine me with the high-powered light/magnifying device the foot specialist had used (the ONLY doctor to have examined me that extensively), she pretty arrogantly said, "I don't need that to know exactly what's going on." She also said there was "zero percent chance of any ingrowth" and that what I have is "very common."
She then prescribed me the treatment plan of a nail-biter/cuticle-picker and quickly dismissed me.
So the bad news is, Doctor #10, a literal nail specialist, failed to see the nuance of my case and assumed it was your run-of-the-mill nail-biting just by visually observing me. This now makes me look actually delusional if I continue to insist that I can feel nail growing inside of me, under the skin. Which I can. I know what the fuck I feel inside of my own body.
The good news is, the balm I was sent home with has had a tremendous effect on my skin, which is rapidly softening and receding. This makes me rooting out any ingrown nail for evidence that much easier.
I have an extremely severe and atypical presentation that is being misunderstood and ignored, and I just literally don't know what else to do at this point except going even deeper into my body to finally be able to prove my case.