Medical researchers have proven that pain sensitive structures in the upper and lower neck are capable of producing the following symptoms;
  •   Headache
  •   Migraine (all types)
  •   TMJ (jaw) Pain/Clenching
  •   Oral Facial Pain
  •   Neck Pain
  •   Mid-back Pain
  •   Shoulder blade Pain
  •   Radiculopathy (hand/arm)

The American Headache Institute was developed as a direct result of 
this growing body of scientific research and an increasing number of 
doctors, researchers, and world authorities which now recognize the  
cervical spine (neck) to be a formidable   
source of head, TMJ pain, facial pain,  
and other types of symptoms.  


Here’s what 
medical experts 
have said about your neck…and we have listened.


If you have received routine medical care or chiropractic care for any of the above mentioned conditions and are still suffering, there is a much higher chance your neck is the undetected cause and we can help.  All of the above listed problems have been successfully treated at the American Headache Institute.

Unresponsive Treatments
When treating the cervical spine of patients with head and facial symptoms, we 
have often observed the following conditions to improve or completely resolve.

Unresponsive Conditions 
  •   Tooth Pain
  •   Tinnitus
  •   Ear Fullness / Pain
  •   Sinus Pressure / Pain
  •   Sinusitis
  •   Visual Disturbances
  •   Lacrimation
  •   Eye Dryness
  •   Trigeminal Neuralgia
  •   Dizziness
  •   Nausea / Vomiting
  •   Balance Problems
  •   Unsteady Gait



American Headache Institute
Head, Neck, & Facial Pain
Treatment Centers
About Us
The American Headache Institute was founded by Angelo DiMaggio,
PT, Dip. MDT, Spine Therapist.  In clinical practice for over 30 years, Mr. 
DiMaggio has devoted the past 25 years exclusively to the treatment 
of spinal pain and is currently president of the American BackPain
Center.  

As a nationally renown 
lecturer, he presents a new 
system of spine care with a
series of six spine seminars 
he has developed.  At the 
Invitation of major medical 
centers and universities, he 
has conducted over 500 
seminars and instructed 
more than 10,000 medical 
practitioners and physicians.  Seeking to address the needs of patients 
suffering from headaches, migraines, TMJ, neck, and oral-facial pain, 
Mr. DiMaggio has devoted 4 of his 6 seminars to deal exclusively with 
the treatment of these conditions.

Call Us
(248) 841-1543
Thought of your neck?
We Have!
EDUCATING MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
Nationwide, We Train the Medical Practitioners Who Specialize in Headache Care.

We are the education leaders in this field.  And, our seminars are the highest rated with a 15 year average score of 98%.  Our post-seminar critique asks attendees, “What was the most important part of the presentation”?  The most commonly written statements are, the extensive research, the new treatment methods, and the well organized treatment algorithm, but the #1 response is the willingness of the instructor to examine and treat real migraine/facial pain patients in front of the audience.  To our knowledge, no other medical practitioners have ever made this a part of their teaching format.  

Making the examination and treatment of severe, long-standing headache, TMJ, and migraine patients the major focus of our teaching format demonstrates to medical audiences the following;
  • How frequently the cervical spine is the primary or sole source of symptom production.
  • How routinely the cervical spine can bring about rapid and lasting relief in only 1-2  visits.
  • How often symptoms in the head and face can be relieved in a predictive and orderly fashion.
  • How very safe the physical exam is by using small, meticulous movements and 
          position changes in the neck to bring about major reductions in pain.
  • The importance of a new and thorough cervical history.
  • The willingness and ability of patients to invest in 
          self-treatment and relieve their own pain.
  • The confidence we have to succeed.


EDUCATING MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
We teach a system of spine care known as the “Strategic Orthopedics Spine System”.Our seminar format requires our hosting medical centers to provide headache, migraine, TMJ & oral-facial patients to be examined and treated in front of the audience of medical professionals.  The majority of these patients have severe, chronic, constant pain which has not responded to many conventional treatments.  Every audience gets a first-hand look at what the system can do when applied to the cervical spine.  The 15 year combined results for all seminar patients on their first visit is as follows;
  * 59% experience complete abolishment of all head and facial symptoms.
  * 30% experience 10-90% relief of all head and facial symptoms.
  * 11% experience 9-0% relief of all head and facial symptoms.


Having witnessed these results for themselves, many medical practitioners have returned to their clinics more determined than ever to help their head and facial pain patients.  While every pain clinic has a percentage of patients willing to write pain relief testimonials, we have medical professionals from around the country writing us with the results they are having on hundreds of headache sufferers every year.  They have become the headache, TMJ & facial pain experts in their cities.

Consider one such letter

“Our foundation for treating patients with head, neck, and facial/TMJ pain was provided by the cervical examination and treatment system developed by spine therapist Angelo DiMaggio.  We spend our days systematically reducing and often abolishing patients’ symptoms, typically on the first visit.  Over 5 years and 1,800 patients have taught us that the vast majority of headache and facial pain patients have underlying cervical pathology.  Our patients have been able to capitalize on the life-changing opportunity this new system affords”.
Nasha Holt, MD            
Headache Institute of Texas  
400 N. Loop 1604  Ste. 345                  
San Antonio, Tx.   78232
(210) 402-2920

To read more letters CLICK HERE for “Professional Testimonials”.
You may call on any of the practitioners authoring these comments to validate their reports.  

DEVELOPING TREATMENT CENTERS

In the past, Mr. DiMaggio’s intense passion 
for helping  those who  suffer  from 
severe, head, neck, and facial
pain  was  seen  by  his 
willingness  to  train  other 
medical professionals. Now, he is 
committed to the creation of treat-
ment  centers which  utilize his highly 
specialized, scientifically-based treatment system.  
Welcome to the, 

American Headache Institute
Head, Neck, & Facial Pain Treatment Centers
BASED ON THE RESEARCH, WHAT SYMPTOMS CAN THE NECK PRODUCE?
P. Rothbart, MD,  Medical Director, Rothbart Pain Management Clinic, Toronto, Ontario.
“In the past 25 years, a small number of medical scientists began to suspect that damaged neck structures could cause headaches.  This body of knowledge has now grown, thanks largely to the work of doctors Bogduk and Sjaastad”.
.
“Approximately 800 new headache patients per year are examined at our clinic.  An estimated 80% of these patients are diagnosed with cervicogenic headache.  Of these patients almost none are referred with this diagnosis”.
.
“Physicians are not taught to consider or explore neck structures when investigating headaches.  This results in a rarely diagnosed but common condition”, says Dr. Rothbart,
Cervicogenic Headache.


TREATMENT CENTERS BUILT ON CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH
N. Bogduk, PhD.  “Cervicogenic headache is characterized by pain referred to the head from the cervical spine. Muscles, joints and ligaments of the upper 3 cervical segments have been shown to be capable of causing headache. The International Headache Institute recognises this type of headache as a distinct disorder”.


P. J. Goadsby, MD, PhD. Editor and Chief of the journal Cephalalagia, “Upper neck muscles, joints, ligaments, and discs are established sources of pain referred to the head, face, and mandible (jaw).  Headache of cervical origin and migraine types often show similar clinical presentations”.


P. Rothbart, MD.  “Approximately 800 new headache 
patients per year are examined at our clinic (Rothbart Pain Management Clinic, Toronto, Ontario).  An estimated 80% of these patients are diagnosed with cervicogenic headache.  One of the confusing phenomena about the cervicogenic headache is that its symptoms can present as migraine headaches, tension-type headaches, or even cluster headaches”.


B. Mark, DDS. “The cervical spine appears to be a major source of pain to the head, face, and mandible (jaw).  The cervical spine must be evaluated to rule out cervical spine dysfunction.  Any imbalance in the upper cervical spine can give rise to problems in the head or face”.


S. Haldeman MD, PhD, DC.  President, Neck Task Force Report 
 The largest review of cervical research ever conducted (>31,000 studies).
“Treatment involving exercise, manual therapy, educational 
interventions, and patient self-efficacy are more 
effective than alternative strategies for
patients with neck pain”.

Education & Self-Efficacy
Manual Therapy
Exercise
Following the Research,
Our Treatment
Approach
is...

The American Headache Institute uses examination and
treatment methods for the cervical spine recommended 
by the Neck Task Force Report. (The most respected scientific review)


The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders
Neck Pain Task Force Committee – comprised of over 50 members, 9 countries, 14 scientific disciplines, 8 universities, 6 years to complete, examined more than 31,000 studies on the cervical spine (the largest review of the evidence on neck pain ever conducted), and produced a 21 chapter, 220 page systematic review and best evidence synthesis 
(Spine 2008;33:4S,S1-S220).

Neck 
Pain Task 
Force Report 
Members Key Findings:

Haldeman – “One thing that became very clear 
  to us is that the classic model we use in clinical prac-
  tice doesn’t work. We tend as clinicians to see a person 
  with neck pain, try to diagnose the cause of the problem, 
  prescribe treatment, and hope the patient has no more pain.  
  What we found is that this model just doesn’t fit the evidence”.  
  (The BackLetter, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2008)

 Haldeman – Executive Summary: “In the workplace, sedentary work 
  position and repetitive work increased the risk of neck pain. A number of 
  nonsurgical treatments appeared to be more beneficial than usual care, sham, 
  or alternative interventions. These were educational videos, mobilization, manual 
  therapy, and exercises appear to have some benefit”.

 Nordin – Assessment of Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders: (359 articles reviewed, 
  95 admissible) “There was no evidence that specific MRI findings are associated with neck 
  pain, cervicogenic headache, or whiplash exposure. No evidence supports using cervical pro-
  vocative discography, anesthetic facet, or medial branch blocks in evaluating neck pain. There is 
  scientific support for subjective self-report assessment in monitoring patients’ course and response 
  to treatment”. 

 Hurwitz – Treatment of Neck Pain: Noninvasive Interventions: (359 articles reviewed, 170 admissible)  
“Our best evidence synthesis suggests that therapies involving manual therapy and exercise are more effective than alternative strategies for patients with neck pain; this was also true of therapies which included educational interventions addressing self-efficacy”.

 Haldeman – The Empowerment of People With Neck Pain: Introduction: The World Health Organization proclaimed that the years 2000-2010 would be the Decade of the Bone and Joint. This global initiative, involving the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the governments of 60 countries, aims to achieve several goals. With the person with neck pain firmly in mind, members of the Neck Pain Task Force chose to focus on the second stated goal: “To empower individuals to participate in their own care”. They believe this type of patient-focused approach would yield the greatest positive impact on neck pain among the broadest array of stakeholders.

Carragee – Research Recommendations: “Given the gaps in - and problems with 
the current nonsurgical neck-pain intervention literature, we suggest more high
quality experimental and observational research be done in the following five areas”.
 Neck Task Force – Research Recommendations:
  • Self-care approaches in the treatment of neck disorders
  • Strategies designed for prevention of recurrent neck pain
  • Treatment for neck pain with radiculopathy
  • Interventions for cervicogenic headache
  • Clinically homogenous subgroups

The American Headache Institute follows all of the research recommendations of the 
Neck Task Force Report.  
  • We use only patient self-care.
  • A self-care approach makes prevention possible by empowering the patient with the ability to relieve recurring symptoms.
  • We routinely treat cervical radiculopathy (symptoms in the arm & hand).
  • Our mission is the treatment of cervicogenic headache.