Psoriatic lesions on the face can be particularly distressing for patients as they are clearly visible and difficult to hide or disguise. The treatment of such lesions is also problematic as many of the most widely used agents, such as topical corticosterolds, cannot be used routinely on facial skin. Local and systemic safety, tolerability and efficacy of twice daily application of 3μg/g calcitriol ointment in the treatment of moderate to severe facial, hairline and retroauricular chronic plaque psoriasis were assessed in an open study in ten patients. The duration of treatment was 6 weeks. The treatment was well tolerated, and no serious adverse events occurred. One patient had a transient mild skin irritation reaction and transient moderate hair loss, and another patient had transient mild seborrhoeic dermatitis near the right nose fold. In the baseline/endpoint comparison no statistically significant changes were observed in the mean values of serum total calcium, serum albumin-adjusted total calcium, serum phosphorus, plasma calcitriol and 24-h urinary calcium and phosphorus excretion. Twice daily applications of 3μg/g calcitriol ointment appeared to be very effective in the treatment of moderate to severe facial, hairline and retroauricular chronic psoriatic plaques. The treatment resulted in statistically significant reductions in the severity of the skin symptoms (scaling, erythema, induration, pruritus and overall severity). At the end of the treatment period all patients showed improvement of psoriatic plaques: clearance of plaques was observed in 40% of patients, considerable or definite improvement in 50% and minimal improvement in 10%. In addition, cosmetic acceptability of the calcitriol ointment was judged to be good. The results of this study indicate that twice daily use of 3μg/g calcitriol ointment is safe, effective and well tolerated in the treatment of facial, hairline and retroauricular chronic plaque psoriasis.