INTRODUCTION Chronic leg ulcers (CLU) are ulcers distal to the knee which has not healed after six weeks. They are disabling, resistant to treatment and expensive to manage. The epidemiology of CLU at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos (NOHIL) was studied. Operative and non operative treatment modalities, as well as honey and sudocrem dressings were also compared. METHOD Consecutive CLU patients were prospectively studied for one year. Patients were selected into operative and non-operative treatment groups on the basis of ulcer surface area. Patients of the non-operative treatment group were further randomized into honey and sudocrem groups. A proforma was used to record patients’ epidemiological data, weekly ulcer surface areas and durations of complete ulcer healing. Students’ t-test and Pearson’s chi square test in SPSS version 15 were applied as tests of statistical significance in the analysis of data. RESULTS Forty-six patients with CLU met the inclusion criteria in the one year of study. There were 25 males (54.3%) and 21 females (45.7%). A male:female ratio of 1.2:1 was observed. Most patients were in the 21 – 50 years age bracket. The patients were mainly traders, low level private company workers, students and artisans. Trauma (27.7%), sickle cell disease (25.5%) and venous insufficiency (19.1%) were the leading causes of CLU in this study. Unilateral leg ulcers were more common (95.65%) and the left leg was more affected. Recurrent CLU was found to be common (47.8%). There were no statistically significant differences in healing times between operative and non-operative treatment as well as between honey and sudocrem groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION CLU occurs mainly in the young, male, lower socioeconomic class group. Operative and nonoperative (honey and sudocrem) treatment modalities have similar ulcer healing outcome