I have had back trouble since I was 35; that is 43 years. It is ruptured or bugling disc. Several doctors have suggested surgery, but I have always dealt with it conservatively -- meaning pain killers, massages, exercises, and just going to a swimming pool to wade in water that is about to my shoulders. Generally, the pain lasts from one to three months and then goes away for perhaps several years.

The last two times I've had pain, my doctor prescribed what is known as a 5-4-3-2-1 medication. It is a steroid which somehow reduces the swelling in the disc. It is very cheap (about $10) but very good. My insurance would allow much more expensive prescriptions. It has been effective both times I have used it. The pain pretty much went away within a week. Aleve has also been a pretty good over the counter medication.

I have been pain free for about 5 years; I am very careful. I sit in straight back chairs; I sleep on a hard mattress; I avoid lifting things that are heavy and try to walk with an even load so that one side of my body does not carry more than the other; and am careful generally to avoid hits on my body. (One time I had a recurrence of really bad pain for about two months just because I carried a wet (rained on) 20 pound briefcase away from my body so that it would not rub against a newly cleaned suit.)

I have received prescriptions for very powerful pain medications and have used them only when the pain has been unbearable. I have never gotten more than 10 or 12 pills at a time and have never used a full prescription or gotten a refill. These pills are addictive and can cause more problems than you have with your back. If you get them, use them only when the pain is truly unbearable.

You should go to a doctor. He or she will arrange for x-rays and probably an MRI. He will give you a plan for recovery. I would suggest that you ask for conservative treatment that avoids surgery.

The reason I suggest conservative treatment is that I worked for 35 years in a law office that handled appeals for a large city. I handled one or two police or firefighters disability retirement case most of those years and supervised the office for the five years before I retired and supervised 15 or 20 of those cases each of those years. Forty to fifty percent of those cases involved back injuries to police and firefighters who were generally young and fit before their injuries. Almost all had had surgeries (some two or more time) and most were worse off (or no better) after the surgeries than before. I have done everything thing I could do to avoid surgery and think it was a wise course.