Just over a year ago, I got my finger caught in a fixture at work and tore the nail off. Over the next couple months, the nail seemed to grow back fine. As time went by and the nail was just about completely grown back, I noticed the skin on the tip of my finger began to get hard...almost like calloused. Then, due to the hardness of the skin and normal activity, it started to have painful splits. I tried using neosporin with bandages, but that did not help. It is now a year later and I still have this condition, which actually appears to be slowly spreading over more and more of the tip of my finger. The growth has taken on the appearance almost of a wart-like protrusion and is very painful, especially if I bang it even lightly. The nail itself has retreated slightly in the area of the growth, but otherwise is completely normal in appearance (ie, no thickening or discoloration...or any other symptoms typical of a nail fungus.)
I showed this to my primary care doctor and she told me that this sort of thing can happen if a nail bed is injured. She recommended me getting an emory board to keep the skin tissue filed down, not allowing it to get hardened which results in the painful cracking. I have been trying this regimen for a couple months. I do notice an improvement for a few days immediately after filing, but after about a week, the hardening and splitting invariably returns. It concerns me that this condition is gradually involving more and more of the end of my finger.

Any ideas or suggestions as to what is going on?

Thanks,
Lou