I was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio, specifically The People's Pharmacy, and was fascinated by the discussion about chronic back pain in most cases not requiring surgery.  This is the opinion of one of the top orthopedic spine surgeons in the country, Dr. David Hanscom (www.drdavidhanscom.com).  Instead, he believes that the brain itself often creates pain, an aspect of "Mind Body Syndrome", so in many cases the problem has to be addressed at that level (brain/nervous system) to achieve resolution.  Thankfully, because of neuroplasticity (the ability to develop new nerve pathways in response to life events), this is possible.  How to develop new nerve pathways is apparently discussed in his book, "Back In Control".  If you have chronic back pain that hasn't responded to anything, consider reading this book.