Facial pressure can feel like constant heaviness around your eyes or cheeks, making it hard to focus or enjoy your day. Dr. Ryan E. Stern, our board-certified ENT, listens carefully and offers personalized, minimally invasive treatments to relieve pressure effectively.
Do Your Cheeks or Forehead Ache Without Relief?
Facial pressure is a common symptom that feels like heaviness, tightness, or aching around your eyes, cheeks, forehead, or nose. It often happens when the sinuses become inflamed or blocked, and it can worsen when you bend forward or lie down. Many people describe it as a dull, constant pressure rather than sharp pain. Facial pressure is frequently linked to sinusitis, nasal polyps, or structural issues like a deviated septum that prevent normal sinus drainage, allowing mucus and pressure to build up over time.
Signs & Symptoms of Facial Pressure
Facial pressure can show up in different ways, and the symptoms often build gradually or worsen throughout the day, including:
- A heavy or tight feeling around the eyes or cheeks
- Dull aching in the forehead or behind the eyes
- Increased discomfort when bending forward or lying down
- A sense of fullness in the face or sinuses
- Pressure that worsens with congestion or drainage
- Difficulty concentrating due to persistent facial discomfort
What Causes Facial Pressure?
Your sinuses are air-filled spaces behind the cheeks, eyes, and forehead that rely on open pathways to drain. When inflammation, swelling, or structural blockages interfere with this drainage, pressure builds inside these cavities, leading to ongoing facial discomfort.
Several underlying issues can contribute to this sensation, including:
- Inflamed sinus lining due to chronic or recurrent sinusitis
- Swollen nasal tissues that block normal sinus drainage
- Nasal polyps, occupying space within the sinus passages
- A deviated nasal septum, narrowing airflow and drainage pathways
- Thick mucus trapped within the sinuses
- Ongoing nasal or sinus inflammation from allergies
Facial Pressure Treatment
Your visit starts with an in-depth consultation with Dr. Stern, during which you walk through your symptoms, pressure patterns, and how they affect your life. He performs a detailed nasal exam and often uses a small in-office camera (nasal endoscopy) to examine the deep recesses of your nasal passages and sinus openings. When needed, imaging helps pinpoint blocked drainage pathways, inflamed tissue, or structural problems causing pressure buildup.
Your treatment is tailored to the exact cause of your facial pressure. You may begin with prescription nasal sprays, saline rinses, short-term oral medications, or allergy treatment to calm inflammation and improve airflow. If the sinus blockage is structural, Dr. Stern may recommend in-office procedures like balloon sinuplasty to gently widen sinus openings, turbinate reduction to shrink swollen tissue, septoplasty to straighten a deviated septum, or polyp removal to restore normal drainage and promote long-lasting relief.
Why Choose Dr. Stern?
Dr. Ryan E. Stern is a board-certified otolaryngologist and subspecialty-trained rhinologist with 25+ years of experience caring for patients across the Pacific Northwest. He believes in treating you like family, taking the time to listen and fully understand what you’re experiencing before recommending treatment. If facial pressure is affecting your comfort or life, schedule a consultation with Dr. Stern in Auburn or Federal Way, WA, to achieve lasting relief.
