10000000000% I could talk all day about my back pain (so I'll just go on ahead and do that a bit here) and the journey I've been on to fix it. It's awful. I've been dealing with 2-4 bulging discs and all the back pain symptoms you could dream of. The back issues that I have had have gone from the hamstrings all the way up to the ears - and seems to be different every week.

If you do not address your back pain, you will go down hill and it's not a fun place to be. Chronic pain leads to suffering and leads to depression. If you don't address it, the pain is going to break you. It will become the first thing you think about in the morning and before going to sleep. Take care of yourself!

I'm going to buy and read the 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back book - here are some things that have helped me

MASSAGE THERAPY HELPS. MUSCLE RELAXERS HELP.
Especially with bulging discs you are likely to experience muscle stiffness (a somewhat natural reaction of the body. Stiff muscles offload weight from the spine... but not a long term solution) The stiffness can be so severe that you will be unable to stretch it or relax it away. Heating pads and ice will not work. I've had erector spinae muscles so stiff that you'd honestly believe that they're bones. You could rub your thumb along them and hear them pop and crack while the tight fibers rub against one another.

I was on muscle relaxers for weeks (3x a day, every 8 hours), and those also helped loosen up the muscles, but never fixed the pain. I stopped taking them because their effectiveness was wearing off as I took them longer.

Massage therapy has been fantastic to help loosen these up so that I can do other exercises and stretches more effectively. I actually got sick from my first 1 hour session - mild rhabdomyolysis) A good massage therapist will give you tips on how to loosen up and stretch things, as well.

I've been able to manage my lower back pain pretty well for a few months now, and recently had a breakthrough with my upper/thoracic pain:

Lower Back:

- Mackenzie method exercises

- Hamstring stretches (hamstrings become over developed and tight from sitting)

- Glute exercises (strong hamstrings cause weak glutes, and cause the glutes and hamstrings to fire out of order. You need to target the glutes specifically to build them up, relieve the hamstrings and reduce pressure on the back muscles)

- I need to find and do more glute/hip exercises. I've recently discovered this as a cause.

- Hanging from a pull-up bar (spinal decompression)

Thoracic:

- Foam roller

- Upper cross syndrome (any stretch to help this will help)

- recent breakthrough: MY THORACIC MIRACLE STRETCH! I recently discovered this and have been doing it a few days. I woke up without thoracic pain for the first time in months https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcV1Qdt686E&list=LL1B0cQt6-g... Watch the entire video before doing. There's a lot of proper form to account for.

- I found chiropractor visits to be somewhat helpful for the upper back, but chiro's can be hit-or-miss

I could go on forever about this crap. Back pain is awful. There are likely dozens of exercises I will be doing regularly within the next year that I don't even know about yet.