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Imagine feeling like you've got a five-pound weight resting on your face all day. Unfortunately for 27-year-old Hillary, it became a nagging reality.

“I just have a lot of chronic pain and pressure, mostly in my cheeks and face,” Hillary says. “I'm tired a lot because of it. It just makes me feel a little off every day and it's been going on for several months.”

Her doctor, Stacey Silvers, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Beth Israel Medical Center and in private practice at Madison ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery, says chronic sinus pain isn't uncommon.

“People have sinus problems because their sinuses don't drain very well,” says Dr. Silvers. “Every sinus has a drainage into the nose. Our sinuses and mucus membranes make up about a liter of mucus a day, and if that mucus cannot clear and cannot drain from the sinuses into the nose, then the lining from the sinuses can swell, mucus can get backed up, and if they get exposed to allergens or a virus they can get a sinus infection.”

Hillary was first put on nasal sprays and other allergy medications to alleviate the pressure. But in her case, when that didn't work, a CAT scan showed the openings to her sinuses were very narrow.

While it’s not a cure, surgery can help.

According to Dr. Silvers, most people live with the pain because they are afraid of the idea of traditional sinus surgery. But she practices a short procedure, known as balloon sinuplasty – a type of angioplasty for the nose – which can have Hillary, an interior designer, done faster than it takes her to pick out fabric swatches.

Even better, says Silvers, it’s pretty much pain free.

“Sinus surgery has a very bad reputation, and quite frankly it should,” says the doctor. “Many people talk of packing in the nose and being out of work for weeks at a time and also not getting any better, and that's not how sinus surgery should be.”

With balloon angioplasty, a small catheter is inserted into each nostril to widen or open the doors to the sinuses. Silvers says even a couple millimeters makes a huge difference. Sinuses finally breathe, air gets in, mucus gets out, the linings no longer get swollen and patients have less pain.

Still a little numb post-procedure, Hillary can't believe how quickly she was able to take the pressure off a months-long problem.

“It was very fast, which is nice,” she says. “And over before I could think about it.”