AS Migraine Awareness Week approaches, CHLOE CULPAN looks at the worst possible head pain.

THE Migraine Action Association (MAA) are holding their annual Migraine Awareness Week from September 2. During this time The MAA wants to promote the fact that help that is available for sufferers; many people are unaware of the support they offer.

NHS Direct have found that nearly 6 million people in the UK are affected by migraines. The most susceptible are those aged between 30 and 40 years old, however it is not uncommon for children and adolescents to be affected as well. Some have reported that it runs in families. Woman's Health News has found that for every one man that suffers a migraine 3 women are affected.

Sufferers that The MAA have helped have had their lives turned upside down by frequent attacks. Valerie Cooper, 59 from The Isle of Wight tried to battle though attacks and live a normal life. "I've been trying to get home in the early stages of an attack before and been sick in my car before. There was nothing I could do, it was awful."

Carol Butterfield from Southampton has suffered with crippling migraines since she was 15 years old. "It got to the stage when I was having an attack every weekend. As soon as I'd sit down to relax, I'd feel one coming on. I knew it was coming on as I'd get a sort of zig-zagging in my eyes, then the throbbing would start and I'd be sick." The attacks were so severe that she would still feel ill for days after the attack. "My employer wasn't so understanding back then. They didn't like how I needed so much time off. Of course during an attack you can't drive because it affects your sight, so it was hard to get home."

During her 40s Carol remembers a particularly hard time. She was unable to play with her children or organise family outings, "they would just have to wait for mum to get better, there was nothing else we could do. I couldn't really arrange to go out just in case I had an attack".

Relief from painkillers was brief and although she tried pills such as Imigraine, they only gave her short-term relief. Eventually she went and saw Bournemouth based migraine therapist Olivia Roberts, who offers coping strategies. Although she failed to see immediate results, she persevered. Now the sequence of events' that Olivia gave her to work though when she senses one coming on, prevents a full blown attack.

"I haven't had such a bad attack for about six months now since seeing Olivia. I still get headaches, but they are nothing like I used to get before. At least I can get on with life now."

Olivia explains "One patient even gave birth with a migraine. One patient experienced a migraine religiously for five years. Her first migraine was when she was just 11 years old, the frequency and severity only increased since. The attacks were so bad that she would be bed-ridden two or three days a week. She fell pregnant and had to leave work, she thought not having the stress or work and perhaps the hormone changes would help her condition. The attacks only got worse and she even had to give birth with a migraine. Once her child was born, things did not get any easier. She had to just lie on the floor with the baby and wait for the attack to pass".

l For further information on The Migraine Action Association go to www.migraine.org.uk