Thank you so much Thebigturtle for your swift reply and expertise. On top of the trauma, the lack of medical guidance here and not being taken seriously after over a year of pain also led to a lot of anxiety and catastrophizing about the MRI. In your experience, is the inflamed Schmorls node very unusual and can they heal/become asymptomatic with time? From what I’ve read online they’re usually caused by an accident or fall, so I’m not sure how it occurred.

Thanks also for sharing your experience with psychological trauma/pain. The pattern and flare ups do seem to indicate some role and I’m seeing a therapist and trying to work on that as well.