Hello All,

Sorry my first post on this board is for advice, but I promise to try and return the favor. I also apologize for the length...

I have spent hours googling back pain, and I still am not sure what is wrong with my lower back.

History:
I'm a 39 yo man. I have had a few minor "strain" type lower back injuries over the years, but it is usually better after a day or two. Back in September of 07, I decided to lose weight. I have gone from 270 to 225lbs since then (maybe my back is compensating for losing the gut it had to support for so many years?)

My back was great, and then about 7 weeks ago, I exercised 5 days in a row, (mostly stationary bike) and the last day was a 2 mile run on concrete after not having run that far in years. The next morning I could barely walk. I walked hunched over all day. After about 3 days, the pain lessened and I felt better. But, everytime I do something physical (last week it was clean out the garage) the pain returns the next day.

Right now, I really am addicted to exercise as it gives me a great energy boost at work. (I also sit at a desk for probably 6 hours of the day!) So, I jog on my treadmill, have pain for 2 days, jog again, pain, jog, etc. It's a terrible cycle.

As a side note, I went to a massage therapist a few days back, and she said she was astounded at the number of "knots" in my back. In her opinion, they were not trigger points.

Symptoms:

Lower left back pain that leaves me feeling stiff. It radiates down to my left hip, and occasionally my left buttock the day after a run. On very rare occasions, I can feel it just a small way down the side of my left leg but not far. Stretching seems to aggravate it, but ibuprofen (600mg) really takes the edge off. The pain is not terrible, but I get the feeling that one wrong move, and bang, I'm back to walking hunched over for a while.

I guess my question is, does this sound like a "mechanical" strain, that will get better with rest? Or could a disk problem? Or trigger points? I really can't seem to figure it out. Hopefully it's just overuse.

I know that no one will be able to say definitively, I'm just looking for an educated guess. Sorry for being so long winded, but I'm desperate here. Thanks for any help!