Thanks for that bit Glaxony. I'm going to look into the viral/pathogen possibility. I took some magnesium and it helped a bit. Painkiller actually made it worse.
I have some licorice root here and that is supposed to work somewhat against herpes viruses so that will be something also to try out as well as colloidal silver. I have taken silver very sporadically in the past and never felt it do anythng, but I was not looking for back pain relief then.