Background: The treatment of ingrown toenail is usually bothersome for patients and doctors.

Objective: To compare two treatment techniques of ingrown toenails-phenol matricectomy (PM) and nail-splinting using a flexible tube (FT)-in terms of efficacy, postoperative pain, postoperative cosmetic satisfaction, amount of tissue damage, and recurrence.

Methods: One hundred twenty ingrown toenails were randomized and divided into PM and FT groups. All cases were evaluated 2 days and 1 and 6 months after treatment. Postoperative pain, cosmetic satisfaction, time to recovery, and recurrence rate were measured.

Results: Postoperative pain was less and cosmetic satisfaction was good in both groups (p <.001). Our recurrence rate was 8.4%. There were no statistical differences between groups in these measures. Tissue improvement rate was 6% in the PM group and 93% in the FT group 2 days after the procedures (p <.001).

Conclusions: Although FT provides faster recovery and less postoperative morbidity than PM, the techniques are equally effective in treating ingrown toenails.