Facial pain

Facial pain is a debilitating disorder if left untreated. Too often patient s are labelled as having psychopathology when face pain etiology is unclear . These patients are categorized as 'atypical', 'idiopathic' or 'psychogeni c'. Idiopathic, when referring to a medical problem suggests that there is something unknown, and does not define the problem. The same applies to ter ms incorporating the word 'atypical'. It is postulated that the most common ly undiagnosed facial pain conditions include neuropathic and myofascial pa ins because their pathophysiologies are not well understood, Peripheral and central mechanisms associated with these disorders are used to provide an update of these frequently seen clinical conditions. Curr Opin Neurol 13:29 1-296 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.