Back pain in Spain: four months turn into a year

Four months of back pain that ended up lasting a whole year

A man has suffered from severe back pain for four months, relying on anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants. The pain is not static: it radiates to the chest and abdomen in front, and to the buttocks and hips behind, covering almost the entire torso. There is a fixed, continuous point between the thoracic and cervical areas that he identifies as the possible origin of everything else. Spine X-rays and blood tests come back clean. He was diagnosed with dorsalgia (back pain) and advised to have patience. Meanwhile, he suspects something more serious.

The suspicion is not whimsical. Every time he carries weight—even just a couple of supermarket bags—he experiences back and shoulder pain that lasts for several days, appearing not during the effort but hours later. That detail, the delay, breaks his own pattern: it does not fit a tear or a blow, nor does it explain four months without improvement.

Why does back pain worsen at night?

According to his account, because the body stays in the same posture for hours, and in his case, that posture was the worst possible. Sleeping on his back, with his spine supported by the mattress, he wakes up devastated and remains in pain all day. Sleeping on his side, he wakes up quite well and endures the rest of the day better. He verified this and told his doctor.

He shared it hoping it would be a clue. The response was that it was impossible, that with such dorsalgia one can sleep in any position, and that these were just his imaginings. This anecdote summarizes a known problem: when the patient's narrative does not match the initial diagnosis, some professionals review the patient instead of revising the diagnosis.

The other domestic finding related to medication. A pill of diazepam, a muscle relaxant, before sleeping allowed him to wake up pain-free the next day, regardless of how he slept. Since it is a benzodiazepine with dependency risks, the doctor forced him to stop taking it, rightly so. But the involuntary experiment left a hypothesis on the table: there was a muscular component and sustained tone during rest, not a visible structural injury.

Normal tests and pain that doesn't fit the diagnosis

The results showed nothing. Spine X-rays without findings, blood work without alterations. This is the limbo where many cases of dorsalgia land: there is no image to show, therefore no disease to treat, therefore the complainer is exaggerating. The affected person stated it clearly: he did not feel an injury, and he did not understand how trauma would still affect half his back four months later.

The discussion drifted, as usual, toward a catalog of miracle solutions. Physiotherapy via social security, chiropractor (about 200 euros, according to circulating estimates), private MRI around another 200 based on calculations in the thread, bone scan, yoga, a mattress topper, stretching, corsets with rods. And mixed with the above, some remedies without any basis: in health matters, it is worth stating plainly that not everything proposed online is harmless or backed by evidence.

The harshest warning came from the oncological angle. Several voices insisted on ruling out a vertebral tumor before accepting chronic dorsalgia, arguing that pain worsening at night is one of the signs cited in literature on spinal tumors. According to one participant, without fever, weight loss, or swollen lymph nodes, the suspicion is less likely, but requesting imaging is not unreasonable when pain persists and responds to nothing.

What really helped: corset and weight loss

During the peak pain phase, the orthopedic corset worked best, according to his own account. The problem is that the corset relieves while also deceiving: it immobilizes the area, removes pain, and allows normal life, but it does not fix the cause. Another participant warned that wearing it for many consecutive hours is not recommended.

Some argue in the thread that most back pain stems not from genetics but from lifestyle: sedentary habits, low muscle tone, poor work postures, and inflammatory diet. Hence the insistence on moving—stretching, adapted strength training, pull-ups, bodyweight squats—against the temptation to stay still. The counterargument is obvious: with the entire torso in pain, even touching your stomach feels bad, and the antiestéticar of moving becomes another symptom.

The end of the case: ten kilos less and sleeping on his side

The resolution did not come from any test. The pain lasted a full year and faded very gradually. What he identifies as key: getting used to sleeping on his side and losing weight. Ten kilos less, specifically, and he noticed it benefited him greatly. He still has some discomfort upon waking, but the condition that incapacitated him for work disappeared.

In between, an unforgettable episode: his primary care physician finally told him not to return to the office, that he had already given him a diagnosis, and that if it continued hurting, he should go to the emergency room.

Four months of pain turned into twelve. The solution that worked cost zero euros: changing sleeping posture and losing weight. No X-ray ever explained what was happening.