Sinus Pressure Points: Where to Press When Your Head Feels Full

A blocked, pressure-filled head is one of the most common reasons people go looking for facial pressure points. Here are the ones the tradition points to, and the safety notes that matter more than usual because the face is thin-skinned and close to the eyes.

Before you use one at all

This is the part most listings bury, so here it is up front. An acupressure pen passes a low-intensity electrical pulse through your skin. That means there are people who should not use one, and areas nobody should use one on.

• Do not use it if you have a pacemaker, an implanted defibrillator, or any other implanted electronic device.
• Do not use it if you are pregnant.
• Do not use it over broken skin, an open wound, a rash, a mole you are watching, varicose veins, the front or sides of your neck, or anywhere near your eyes.
• Ask a doctor first if you have a heart condition, epilepsy, a metal implant near the area you want to work on, reduced sensation anywhere, or any ongoing medical condition at all.

None of that is legal boilerplate. It is the actual answer, and if a seller does not give it to you unprompted, that tells you something about the seller.

One addition for the face specifically: never work on or directly over the eyes, eyelids, or the thin skin immediately beneath them. Keep any device at least a thumb's width from the eye socket at all times.

Either side of the nostrils

In the small groove where the side of the nose meets the cheek. This is the point most people find themselves pressing instinctively when their sinuses feel congested, often without knowing it has a name.

Very light pressure only, and the lowest intensity setting available. This is delicate tissue directly over the sinus cavities.

The inner edge of the eyebrows

Where the eyebrow meets the bridge of the nose, in the small notch at the inner corner. Traditionally associated with pressure behind the brow.

Stay on the bony ridge of the brow itself, not the soft tissue below it toward the eye.

The cheekbones below the eyes

Directly below the pupil, on the ridge of the cheekbone, roughly level with the bottom of the nose. Keep firmly on the bone, moving down onto the soft tissue brings you too close to the eye.

A gentle two-minute round

1. Either side of the nostrils: 20 seconds each, lowest setting.
2. Inner eyebrow notch, both sides: 20 seconds each.
3. Cheekbone below each eye: 20 seconds each, staying on bone.

This is a short round on purpose. Facial skin is thin and the margin for error near the eyes is small, there is no benefit to lingering here the way you might on a shoulder.

Use the fine point head at its lowest settings for all three spots, the broader heads are too large to control precisely enough on the face.