Comment by jnellis

My situation is similar to you. Additionally I can't take NSAIDs. I've been doing RF ablation sessions every 3-4 months (along with steroid shot occasionally.) After a year it's much improved on the pain side but as you know, it's like there's a limited amount of activity you can do and once you go over it, you're stealing from tomorrow, the next day and so on (which means rest on those days.)

Inversion table for 15min a morning also helps just to unload the spine. You can try to do the start of an abdominal crunch to build stomach muscle there while unloaded.