antibacterial ointment on foot infection - Is it bad?

Question

A few years back, I broke my foot. I had a pin put in and had to have 2 surgeries - one to put it in and one to take it out. Before I went for my second surgery, I had a bug bite on my foot and, long story a little shorter, it got infected. It wasn't too bad, so I performed the "do it yourself" fix of peroxide, neosporin, and a small bandage.
When I went to the doctor for my final checkup before my 2nd surgery, he told me this:
"You're not supposed to put ointment on an infection on your feet because the bacteria on the foot is anerobic and the ointment helps it grow"
What does everyone else think?
I can see how this is possible, but yet it doesn't make sense at the same time.
What should I have done? soapy water and a bandage to let it get some air?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Generally bites like dog bites and puncture wounds are disinfected with something like Betadine and then left open, not stitched up. Mostly because the wound should heal from the inside out to avoid trapping anerobic bacteria in it. I would not put a plastic sealant-type bandaid over a bite or bug bite, but I just can't imagine triple antibiotic ointment generating a problem. Maybe this guy had seen a bad outcome and was sensitive to the issue. You can seen on the link below that treatment for small bites doesn't seem to have a problem with antibiotic ointment.

Answer 2

while it is true that anaerobes are more readily found on the foot, it is not true that they are the only organisms there. I would have done the same thing, but changed the bandage for a clean one the next day without the ointment.