Slow healing = low blood volume?

[MTRJ75]

Two weeks ago, the podiatrist placed me on a course of antibiotics for what very clearly was some kind of infection around the toenail. The drainage cleared up around the third day of the antibiotic. However, there still remains some inflamed redness around the area below and to the right of the nail. It's not incredibly painful, but irritating and does not seem to be healing. Went back to the podiatrist yesterday and like most things I present with to most doctors, he's not sure what's going on. 

Suggestions were another round of antibiotics or nail removal, neither of which he was confident would actually do anything because the nail itself is fine now and I'd really rather not start building up an antibiotic resistance, not to mention that I often don't handle them well. There's no actual wound. It's just inflamed and red and has been that way for over two weeks now. 

I'm now wondering if it's a blood flow issue preventing the healing. I know in some sense this sounds strange because when we stand up, our blood generally stays in the lower portion of our bodies. That's part of the problem, but perhaps low blood volume overall is causing the lack of healing here as I'm often reclined on the couch more often than moving around these days. I am not diabetic, but often run into many of the same issues diabetics do. Peripheral Artery Disease frequently comes up on Dr Google (and I'll probably call the cardiologist again to bother her with something completely new), but a lot of it reads as stuff that can seem similar to low blood volume, poor blood flow from dysautonomia/POTs. 

Anyone? 

As I told the podiatrist, the main concern is that I'm not sitting here to wait for something to heal for weeks while it's actually a spreading infection, but he said there's nothing to even culture for bacteria anymore, so he doesn't believe that's likely to be the case. 

[Pistol]

Not sure what you are asking - it is a decision you need to make with your doctor! 

[Guest KiminOrlando]

I am also a slow healer. I had surgery on my ankle and the incision pulled open, maybe because of swelling from blood pooling. The incision bruised. It has been 4 years and still looks bruised. I think it has something to do with POTS, but I don't know what it is.  I was supposed to do the other ankle, but that surgeon,  a podiatrist, declined to do it.

[MTRJ75]

Thanks Kim. This is what I meant. Perhaps with our circulation issues, lack of blood flow doesn't allow for proper healing in a timely manner and if this might be the case, I might want to avoid either of the options the doctor, who seems outmatched, has given to me as neither seems to be without harm. 

[Guest KiminOrlando]

My doctor had never seen anything like it. I had a doppler study to check blood flow, but it was fine. Of course, it was done laying down. 

[MTRJ75]

The strange thing, which adds to this and that I mentioned in another thread, is that I recently had an echo that the doctor couldn't even read. And it's not even the first time something like that has happened to me. So there must be something going on with blood flow. I just don't know how to tell if these particular issues are connected and I'm not optimisticl the doctors would be able to put it together either.