• Symptoms of a sinus headache include swelling in the face, a feeling of fullness in the ears, a fever and persistent pain.
• Some symptoms that are unique to migraines include nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, noise or smells.
• Balloon sinuplasty is one treatment that can help patients with chronic sinusitis.

When sinuses become inflamed -- typically due to an allergic reaction or an infection -- the sinuses swell, produce more mucus and they can become blocked from draining properly. This buildup in the sinuses can cause pain that feels like a headache, according to WebMD. Symptoms of a sinus headache include swelling in the face, a feeling of fullness in the ears, a fever and persistent pain in the cheekbones, forehead or the bridge of the nose. Migraines or tension headaches can sometimes be mistaken for sinus headaches.

Although sinus headaches and migraines share some symptoms, there are other symptoms that are unique to migraines, such as nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, noise or smells, according to the American Migraine Foundation.

"A sinus headache is where you have pain in the distribution of your sinuses," Dr. John Ditto of Richmond Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers told Virginia Business Daily. "And what I mean by that is your forehead, behind your cheeks, next to your eyes, and you have a sinus way in the back in the center of where the nose meets the back of the throat. It's called the sphenoid sinus. You can get infections, or obstruction of those sinuses, and they can cause pain. It's that sinus lining that causes the opening to obstruct, and then it is full of pus and can't drain, and that pressure then causes sinus pain. That's the infectious and inflammatory part from sinus pain. Sinus pain can also occur because of a migraine. You can have unilateral facial pain due to the different other forms of headache. The challenge is to differentiate between what's a headache, like facial pain or migraine, and what's a sinus pain, and sometimes the two overlap."

People who suffer from sinusitis have several surgical treatment options, including endoscopy and balloon sinuplasty, according to WebMD. Balloon sinuplasty is a newer treatment and is a good option for patients who don't need anything cut or removed from the sinuses. The doctor puts a thin tube into the nose with a small balloon attached to one end. The doctor then guides the balloon to the blocked area inside the sinus and inflates it. The balloon helps clear the passageway so the sinuses can drain properly, alleviating congestion.

Readers experiencing sinus headaches and chronic sinusitis are invited to take a Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz from Richmond Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers.