More than six million people experience migraine attacks in Britain

They cause crippling pain, nausea and dizziness to more than six million Britons.

But now doctors believe they have discovered a surgical solution to the curse of migraines.

Sufferers are being offered an operation to remove a muscle in the head that triggers the attacks  -  a radical departure from the drugs or complementary therapies relied on by many to mask the throbbing headaches.

Harley Street plastic surgeon Professor Thomas Muehlberger said the treatment  -  the first stage of which uses injections of Botox, more commonly associated with cosmetic treatment to remove wrinkles  -  is effective because it tackles the cause of the problem.

He said: 'Over the years, there have been many developments in migraine treatments, ranging from over-the-counter painkillers to prescription drugs.

'These treatments provide symptomatic relief, but they do not address the cause of the migraine and so the attacks occur just as frequently as before.'

The surgery, pioneered in the U.S., works by removing the 'corrugator' muscle found above the eyebrows.

Many, but not all, migraines are triggered by the interaction of this muscle with nerves in the head.

As the treatment is effective only against this type of migraine, patients must be screened by having Botox jabs in the forehead to paralyse the corrugator muscle.

After eight weeks, if they have experienced significantly fewer headaches, the hour-long operation can take place. Patients can leave the clinic the same day.

Professor Muehlberger said: 'It will offer many of those affected a real chance of freeing-themselves from their migraines completely or at least reducing the severity and frequency of their attacks.'

The surgeon, whose London clinic has just launched the operation, has already successfully carried out the procedure on 500 patients at a centre in Berlin.

Studies in the U.S. have shown more than a third of patients have been free from migraines for more than a year after having the corrugator muscle removed.

Botox injections to relieve migraine symptoms are already available in the UK and America, but the relief is only temporary.