Quote Originally Posted by stovens View Post
...Amazing what the power of persuasion can do to motivate your medical professional!


Ain't it the truth, Steve, ain't it the truth.
Mellow,
You've received lots of free advice here, and you can see that different people have had different experiences, especially with bone crackers. I opened my response telling you what has worked for me, and not giving you any advice on a course of action that you need to take. I knew what had caused my lower back strain initially (helping 3 other guys lift a USN airplane tri-blade propellor from deck to stand instead of going to get the cherry picker, and one guy slipped when it was above shoulder level ) and that it was a chronic strain, not a rupture. On that basis chiropractic adjustments helped me deal with the pain for several years whenever I overdid on manual labor or bent over a fender too long. Along the way I had an old Quack Osteopath explain to me how I could pop my back by myself - it didn't work, but he gave me enough info to look at the physics and figure out how to do it my own way and that, plus buying my inversion table seven years ago all but eliminated the pain for me. I am fortunate.

In my experience a PC physician is going to be very, very conservative in apporoach, generally taking months to try paths of least action because the insurance companies pressure them (my opinion). If muscle relaxants do it for you then everyone wins. If not, and if your insurance allows you to go to a specialist without a PCP referral then a good sports medicine doc or, as Steve suggests, a good neurologist will probably take action and get to the root of the pain sooner. All in all, it's your body and your pain, and the right path is what's right for you in your situation. I hope you find a good doc that listens and understands.