I have a very bad back and I am only 24. I would not go under the knife unless you know you are paying the highest dollar for the best surgeon.

Otherwise look into chiropractic and physical therapy. i would suggest a pain manager phyisician and an inversion table for starters... Good spine worx. When I lay on this it works.

I fractured 2 verts last march. In 2001 I busted my humurus off into my chest snowboarding and to say the least the impact did a number to my spine.