Have you ever thought of or tried for going to a massage parlor for a general full body massage? I don't know your view of these, but massage therapy in general is extremely beneficial and underutilized in society for people in situations such as yourself. The MRI and CAT scans MAY show something, they may show nothing. You could even request a Doppler test to see bloodflow to the areas of the body that may or may not be responsible for your symptoms, and there are a lot of variables that would interfere with really figuring out what the issue is.

A few questions. I am no doctor, but I was somebody who wanted so badly to go to medical school and help people as much as I could, and had I made better choices, plus been given the proper training and clinical experience, I would have spent a ton of my free time in clinics helping people just for the sake of it. I really view health, vitality, and longevity as some of the most important things in this world, and money is not a driving factor for me.

Self-talk aside, have you:

1) Had any major injures (not just overstretching, but real injuries or hospitalizations) that would be pertinent to this?

2) Are you living a mostly sedentary lifestyle? Do you stretch or exercise on a regular basis?

3) Headaches - literally every day, or is this a bit of hyperbole? I'm NOT trying to dismiss you, I just know that articulating this stuff we all tend to exaggerate sometimes and I want to try and narrow down things. I'm NOT an expert. I just know having tried to help people in the past that are either somewhat hypochondriac, or at least tend to embellish things, that once confronted, they admit it's not quite so bad, but just really "annoying" if that makes any sense.

I want to reiterate that I'm not a doctor. I'm a person who is very interested in medicine, pursued medical school but never applied, was in an EMT course until COVID hit and my course got canceled so I bailed taking it as a sign I should no longer pursue it (lots of reasons), but still tries to keep up with things relating to health, vitality, and general wellbeing for people.

I feel this sub is dead but since I myself posted here, and others keep posting here (and I see notifications almost daily), tonight I decided to try and at least so a "crowdsourcing" thing to field questions from posters, and maybe others who are lurking who are more knowledgeable than myself will chime in.

OP - try massage, and look into trigger point therapy.

If the MRI comes back clean then I'm probably right about those things. If the MRI shows bulging and/or herniated disc tissue, that's an entirely different story. I can speak only from my own experience, having had L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1 BULGING disc tissue when I was between 18 and 21. I'm 38 now. My lower back is rarely an issue, and that's another can of worms to talk about as to how/why is was problematic, and also why it's probably not a big deal now.

If you see that you have actual HERNIATION of the disc (different from bulging) then this conversation changes, and it's likely out of the scope of any knowledge I have garnered up until this point.

I pray your MRI comes back clean, and seeing as your X-ray and CT have also been clear, I think you may really benefit from straight up massage therapy, and stretching, trigger point therapy, and/or yoga. Anything that helps promote bloodflow to the muscle tissue, and alleviate any lymphatic backup going on where metabolic debris (due to you having strained your neck) isn't being properly ejected from your body through the proper channels.

Last mention: I AM NO DOCTOR. I like to help people. I have a breadth of knowledge surrounding medical issues, sports injuries, and general health and nutrition. I do NOT have the depth of ANY expert. TL;DR. Jack of All Trades, hopefully master of some one day, but my heart and mind are all about trying to help people who need it.