Thanks for all the great advice. Fortunately (or not), this is a recurring injury, and I have previously run the gamut on visiting orthopedists and doing PT and shots and meds and such. At one point the Ortho was inclined to recommend surgery, and I put the kybosh on that idea. I have too many acquaintances who've had back surgery and ended up permanently crippled.

My physician usually recommends flexeril and bedrest for 24 hours, which if I take flexeril pretty much ensures I am going to be in bed that long. It is a great muscle relaxant; turns me into the jelly man for at least half a day and I get some of the best sleep I've ever had that way. After the bedrest, I am usually referred to PT, with mixed results. If I don't want to go the Flexeril route, then it is heat and cold packs, anti-inflammatories, and a visit to the Chiropractor. I've found that a series of adjustments combined with some electrical stim similar to what I've received in PT work wonders. Apparently once I've tweaked the back, the muscles start to spasm and seize, creating the alignment issue, which then aggravates the nerve bundle going from my spine, which then exacerbates the muscle issues, which compounds the whole thing into a big ball of pain and posture issues. Getting the muscles out of spasm while also getting the spine to realign seems to be the objective. About once a year or so I get this happen to me, usually as a result of changing my daily ergonomics ( as with moving to Denver, working in a new office with a new office chair etc). Things shift, and before they can accommodate the changes, something in the lower back gives way, and so I have an "episode". No matter which path I take, whether meds or PT or Chiro or a combination, I eventually recover in a couple weeks to a month, and then I am back to my old self again.

The first time I did this was about 15 years ago. I was climbing around on a roof and tried to come in through a window while holding onto some equipment. I twisted just right, and about wet myself when the pain hit me right below my kidney (almost like being kidney punched). That was my first introduction to Flexeril.

Gimme a couple weeks and I should be right as rain. For now, it is all about letting the muscles settle down and back into place.

I've not heard of McKenzie PT before. The PT I've gone through has run the gamut from massage to infrared to EMS to traction to heat and cold therapy to conditioning, some of it works, some of it only made it hurt. I guess after a while you learn what works and what doesn't and go with it. We'll see if the Chiro and the ibuprofren helps.

BTW, good advice about the Nsaids. I try not to take them on a continous basis. My ER doctor friend says they are really bad for the heart as well. Today I opted for topical analgesics instead.