I can talk to MY doctor about folksongs, he's a phoakie.

But the thing is this, as I understand these things (I've had 2 laminectomies, Spaw!) - The old idea of rest and drug is apparently very bad for you. Drugs keep you from knowing when you ought NOT to move... but you do want to keep moving. Two details: don't rock-stretch (stretch-unstretch-stretch-unstretch): get into the stretch and hold it for a count of 10-15, while you keep breathing gently and move slowly farther and farther into the stretch. If it starts to hurt (in contrast to being able to feel the pull), relax on the stretch but keep it where you can for the full count. Let it out slowly, unstretching over a count of about 3-5. Breathe, repeat twice (more, for a total of 3). Do stretches on one side then the other, then back, then the other, rather than trying to stretch both sides at the same time. Another trick with low back stuff that radiates down the leg is to do everything with your BUTT clenched, so as to pull DOWN on the base of the spine with your own muscles. That will relieve pressure on any compressed areas without having to have your head lifted for you. Do that as you steady your abdominal muscles so that anything you do with your back, you're really doing with your butt and stomach. You'll need to get in the habit of doing that automatically. And with HMOs and all, my doc has to try drugs first even though he's going to send me to PT when (not if) they don't work, so I just take the Rx, don't fill it, and then tell him they didn't work, then I get into PT where you really need to be. You want to avoid taking pain killers that will allow you to move in ways that worsen the compression. And if the problem is (as is mine) that your musculature isn't holding your bones where they ought to be, then muscle relaxants can really be very bad for you. They are very bad for me, as they counter all my efforts to use my butt to control my lower back. But I *like* codeine... I just don't use it therapeutically!