Background: Anecdotally, honey is useful in wound healing, but there is limited empirical evidence. Objective: This single-blind, randomised, controlled trial compared a medicated honey dressing vs an iodine dressing on post-operative healing following toenail surgery with matrix phenolisation. Method: Participants (n=51, with 61 operated toes) were randomly assigned to receive honey or iodine dressings. The primary outcome was the time (days) taken for complete re-epithelialisation to occur following surgery. Results: Mean healing times were 33 days (SD=15.71) for honey, and 25 days (SD=8.70) for iodine (P = 0.04). Total avulsion wounds healed statistically significantly faster with iodine (30 days) compared with honey (44 days), but no significant difference in healing time was found for partial avulsion wounds (18 days with honey vs 23 days with iodine). Conclusion: Despite a small sample size, these results indicate that healing time following toenail avulsion surgery is accelerated with iodine dressings vs honey dressings. Declaration of interest: None.