Remote Controls, they are everywhere but.....

[Bear]

Be careful with back issues.
There is definately an emotional component to the stress/pain issue (IMPO). Stress = tension = clenching = misalignment = compensating = pain.
I saw the show about how often times back pain can be caused by nerve memory ( I think that's what they called it) and there was a workshop where people would go to work through the pain and re-train thier bodies to not experience the pain "memory" with certain movements.
I tried working through the pain but it didn't work for me. When I got an MRI, the dr. refered to it as a "honking" big bulge of a disk. I DID need the surgery and felt better within hours than I had in 3 years. BTW, I don't think disk issues show up on x-rays. You may be able to see if there is less space between the vertebrae than there should be (which could indicate a bulging or ruptured disk) but it won't show the actual disk.
There was definately a stigma attached to the surgery though. It seemed that people would get a twinge of pain and think they were experiencing the same thing I was. I felt like people were judging me as a wimp. It was when I could no longer walk, sit, stand, sleep, lay down without being in terrible pain (also pain shooting down my leg and numbness in my foot) that I finally had the surgery. My only regret was not having it sooner!
Anyway, good luck with your back. Steady doses of ibuprophen and ice it for 20 minutes every hour.

Bear