Very good advice! I had a herniated disc and put the surgery off for approximately a year while suffering severely with back pain and not able to sleep. The first doctor I took the MRI results to, told me that I would be off work for 6 weeks, be in a back brace, couldn't drive for 6 weeks, and would have a 6 inch incision with bandages that would need to be changed 3 times daily and to expect a 2 day hospital stay. I was horrified! Thank goodness I went for a second opinion. I had a lumbar discectomy (L4) done as an OUTPATIENT, 3 inch incision - bandage for 24 hours - then told to remove - no pain killers, and best of all, no more pain and I returned to work after 2 weeks. As I said in my earlier post, at your age, I think this will subside. My daughter (21 years of age) has lower back pain as I do and hers seems to always subside with the help of ibuprofen.