Stretching the leg muscles, sitting on a yoga ball instead of a chair, and an inversion table. If I had to go with just one, I’d pick the inversion table, as it made the most difference. Just five minutes 2-3 tiems per week keeps me largely pain free.
lower back pain is not a single solution problem for me.
In no particular order:
- Glucosamine/chondroitin tablets as needed
- basic back exercises
- yoga
- inclined table to help stretch it
- practice good posture when sitting
- Chiropractic manipulation
What surprised me was the practice of good posture. It took a therapist to point this out. I spent all day sitting in front of a computer and then driving 2 hrs a day and the more my back hurt the more I slouched. It was a feedback loop.
I also discovered that the chairs at my former job were crap. I ended up buying an insert.
If my back hurts and I lay down (another feedback loop) then I try to do basic exercises such as lifting my back with my legs. That strengthens the muscles and pushes thing into alignment.
Stop wearing belts and pants that are too tight. This is something that gets in the way as a young man starts to become older and fatter. Drink lots of water, keep moving around all day. See a chiropractor regularly.
For me, it’s been a mix of:
Inversion table.
Not sitting for too long.
L5-S1 diskectomy. (Looks like I may be the only one here that needed the nuclear option.)
You can get an inversion table at Amazon for anywhere from about $100 to several hundred. I’ve got a cheap one and it works just fine. Only caution is that you get one that can hold your weight. Some of the really cheap ones have child-sized weight limits.
I try to remember to get up at least once an hour and walk around. In addition to that, a good chair is priceless. There are so many “ergonomic” designs available now that picking one is a daunting task. Fifteen years ago, it was almost guaranteed that the dot-com darling Aeron was going to be worlds better than your existing chair, but now, they’re just one of dozens of options that are probably better than what you’ve parked your butt on now.
Surgery is a last option. Most back surgeries fail to have the desired effect and make things worse.
Someone above suggested a new mattress. That might help, especially if you have a soft or saggy one, but your sleep posture is just as important. You spend about a third of your life in bed, so you need to keep good posture while there. And it’s really simple: lay on your back or stomach – avoid laying on your side. This sounds easy, but if (like me) your natural inclination is to lay on your side, it will take quite a bit of retraining to automatically lay on your back. It’s been 15 years since I switched to my back and in my lazier moments, I will still sometimes lay on my side.
Flexibility exercises: good idea. The other cause of back pain I have is that I have trouble remembering to maintain good posture while bicycling. So I do the following, preferably both before and after riding, as well as whenever my back is giving me problems.
Start in a prone position, i.e. flat on your stomach. Push your upper body up while keeping your lower body flat on the floor (it helps to have a relatively soft surface to do this on – a padded carpet is sufficient). Remember to keep your entire lower body, from your hips on down, flat. Keep your upper back straight too. Bend only at the lower back. Hold the position as long as you can. Repeat several times.
Note: this may not be something that will help you. It’s probably only good if your back pain is from muscular problems caused by bad posture. It may make things worse if your pain is from skeletal problems. (This warning probably applies to several of the other suggestions in this thread, too.)
I read somewhere that the #1 root cause of lower back pain is weak back muscles. You should exercise your back muscles (using safe and approved routines) on a routine basis.
With regard to posture: I often see elastic waist bands and bra’s for women advertised as improving posture. Would these help enough to be of any use in people with back pain due to bad posture?
My lower back formerly went “out” every few months. I wouldn’t be able to stand up for a day or two and my spine would be twisted into an ‘S’ shape for several days. That has happened only once, and not nearly so severely, during the several years since I stopped using a waterbed.
The waist band should, they give a small amount of support but mostly because of the way they fit, they feel most comfortable when you maintain good posture so they act as more of a reminder.
I used to wear one of these on previous jobs.
I can’t find the site I found this from, and I believe it’s specifically for sciatica, but this exercise definitely helped me…
Begin on all fours (hands & knees), then cross one leg over the other sliding your foot back so that your legs are resting against each other (almost) parallel. Lower yourself gently to your arms/elbows and hold the position for a minute or two. Repeat crossing the other leg over.
I think that’s the “pigeon” position in Yoga.
What “works” will largely be dependent on what’s wrong with your back. I went to a physical therapist for some minor back pain that turned out to be cause by being out of alignment. A combination of stretches (including the one above) seemed to do the trick.
Not quite, but I’m sure it accomplishes the same thing.
In the position I described, your knees are on the ground, but your pelvis is raised (yes, the pillow-biting position :D) Consequently, when you cross your legs, you’re able to get them to lie almost entirely next to each other.
My first thought is to look at your shoes. If you have uneven wear on the heels, that can cause back (and knee) pain.
Then come all the other ideas about posture, chairs, exercise, mattresses, kidneys, etc.
I have lower back issues (spondolystesis) and have had a couple of herniated discs. Painful stuff. The things that work for me are yoga, walks, and stretching. Hot baths have helped, and I take Tramadol every single day (probably not the best idea, but it sure helps me).
I’ve always found that bending over at the waist to pick up heavy loads is pretty effective.
Wait, did you mean to cure it? Sorry, never mind. I guess I better read the thread and see if it has anything more useful than “suck it up,” which is what I usually have to do. 
I presume you meant to say “…have had only one bad episode…”
Anyway, why would we throw brickbats at someone who suggests a chiropractor can help with back pain? Those are for people who suggest that chiropractic can cure cancer, restore lost teeth and re-grow limbs.
My back pain went away when I successfully treated my depression and anxiety disorder. Obviously this will only work for people who have back pain caused in part by mental issues… not sure if that’s the case for you.
I find the Back Extension exercise works great for strengthening the lower back muscles:
Walking. When I walk one hour per day (2-3 miles), at least four days a week, I don’t get the lower back pain. My pain is muscle spasms though, I don’t have any disc or nerve pain, so my regimen may not work for that kind of back pain.