For the occasional "over-use" sort of pain, I rub a sports creme (Ben-Gay, Theragesic, or other smelly stuff) on it.

I already use Icy Hot or the equivalent, as well as a rotation of pain pills (Motrin 600 or Vicodin when it really hurts, regular Tylenol, Advil, or aspirin when it's less bad). Also use Skelaxin for a muscle relaxant. I avoid Naproxen because it upsets my stomach, even when taken with food and water. At first, I found Vicodin to work by far the best, but an unfortunate attribute of that medication is that it becomes less effective the more you use it. So that's why I try to rotate amongst pain relievers and not routinely use the same one.... and find something else that may work as well. Your body gets used to being hit with the same drug repeatedly and and stops responding, at least for some medications.

Michelle

I realized this week that for the first time in about 15 years, I haven't had a lower back attack in over a year. Before now, I had an attack about twice a year. Maybe the arthrotec works better than Vioxx did.

So, I've learned to pre-medicate as needed, which hasn't been too often.