Pleas have in mind that I'm one of those people who desperately avoid the doctor despite constant worrying about health, so this is why it's a success story for me.

Not gonna go into too many details, but I'm pretty young and had some weird upper back / rib pain for years now. I was told it's nothing when I first checked it out a few years ago (completely freaked out about it even then), been given some medicine, but it eventually came back.

I don't mind the pain, but in the past year I had the c-word on my mind just because I read somewhere that can be kinda connected, and kept irrationally thinking that it would make sense in my case. It's a terribly low possibility all things considered, but in my mind it felt like it's already my fate, started thinking how these are my last happy days before I get diagnosed, but still didn't want to see a doctor.

I finally got triggered badly enough a few days ago after reading something on the internet, then I spent hours reading this subreddit (a lot of posts really made me feel better, but overall I just kept worrying and beating myself up, especially for not going to get it checked).

And it really was time to get over my fear. After consulting a [spine specialist, phys-? idk the word in English sorry], I got an MRI scan today and there is absolutely nothing serious. My spine is kinda curved and the pain would get worse if I didn't start resolving it with exercise, but that's pretty much it. I sit too much, I'm a little asymmetrical so the pain is stronger on one side... that's literally it. This constant feeling like I have something in my muscles and bones - that "something" is just pressure from my posture. Body just does strange things overall, it doesn't always mean "sickness".

The person who explained my results didn't even mention the thing I was worried about. There is nothing of it. I still have some "but what if they overlooked this..." thoughts, but I know it makes no sense. I don't know better than them. The internet list of symptoms does NOT know better than a real life doctor who saw me. And my anxious self-assesment certainly isn't to be trusted.

I don't know if my experience is in any way helpful, but I wanted to share something that turned out positive. I know my health anxiety isn't over with this, but after it I know I might need to seek some mental health help instead.