Hello, What I understand from the history is you had a fall over your back, by which now you are having pain in the back region? Right? Now, this can be a bony hurt, as while having a bony hurt there might be a pain while sneezing, coughing, deep breathing etc. There won t be any torn cartilage, because if it was the pain must be even while doing normal breathing. Your second doctor is right, as when there is no fracture noted in CT, there is no point doing an MRI for now. CT scan are good for bone scanning and MRI for the soft tissues. Your need to wait for week or two for pain to come down. If the pain comes down it will be bony or muscular hurt, using hot water fermentation and doing slow deep breathing will be useful in such cases. In case, if the pain does not come down, then you can opt for an MRI to look out for any soft tissue injury like the intervertebral disc. But I think it won t be there as there are no other neuropathic symptoms. Just follow hot water fermentation and do a slow deep breathing exercise. I think you should be fine by the end of the second week. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Jay Indravadan Patel, Physical Therapist or Physiotherapist