Introduction The diagnosis and treatment of cyclical facial pain is difficult for a number of reasons. The complex cranial- and cervical-root innervation, lack of correlation between the findings of the neurophysiologist and those of the clinician, and the psychological aspects, all add to the intricacy of the physician's problem. The present report deals with our experiences with the typical and atypical neuralgias at the Headache Unit the Divisions of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Montefiore Hospital during the past 11 years; classic migraine is not considered in our study. The material includes 206 ambulatory and 88 inpatients and is selective in that most of the patients are chronic sufferers from facial cephalalgia and have been treated previously with a variety of therapeutic procedures. This clinical group presents a common and important type of facial pain, of interest to all branches of medicine. The term "cyclical" is used to indicate recurrent attacks