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I had a very short, intense encounter with severe debilitating back pain when I was 62. I ruptured a disk (L4/L5) and the sciatic pain was the worst thing I had ever encountered. While evaluating alternatives I sampled the online information. So much bogus information about stretching exercises, dietary changes, etc. After several months of waiting (i.e., naively hoping it would go away by itself), I went with a robotic-assisted microsurgery that pared back the exploded portion of the disc. 5 years later, absolutely no problems. (Dr. Faris Fakhoury of Wellington FL, Thank You, Very, Very Much!) While waiting for the surgery, Gabapentin was quite helpful. That was my only experience with a back injury and my only lifetime surgery. I realize now that for years I was not properly sympathetic to people with back pain. I had no idea how bad it could be.

Until you’ve experienced it yourself, most people don’t have any idea what a struggle every day is with back pain. And why it’s easy to get addicted to pain killers.