No working on cars, bending over in the garden, helping friends move to a new house, etc, etc. I spent most of this time on my left side, fearful of aggravating the damaged right side. This resulted in sciatica on my left side. In the subsequent weeks and months, I experimented with sleeping consistently on the same side each night for weeks at a time. I've found that I can shift the sciatica from the left side to the right side.
Heat brings short-term relief, followed by increased swelling in the area.
Abdominal and lumbar areas are very closely coupled for me. In fact, a number of pain-relieving drugs can result in constipation, which exacerbated the problems I was having. Another problem is with respiratory illness. I try very hard to avoid getting an illness that makes me cough for any length of time. I experience a steady increase in pain for each day I cough.