Hello! I had a balloon sinuplasty and turbinate reduction a couple of years ago, under sedation and local anesthesia. I was loopy enough from the sedation that I don't remember the entire procedure, but I do remember the 'crunching' sound as the balloon expanded and the 'grinding' noise during the turbinate reduction. It didn't really bother me much, but I've had plenty of surgeries and I think I'm probably an exception rather than the norm. My ENT didn't mention general anesthesia as an option (as far as I remember), but if he had I would have still gone with the local and sedation; recovery from general is always a rough road for me.