I broke my back and it's full of rods and screws.
Kevin is right, core strengthening is the best way to keep it from tweaking. Since I do little of that other than staying active, I sometimes have to doctor it.
Muscle relaxers will loosen things up, but that's a beginning. Then I manage the swelling that's aggravating the nerve. Ice and lots of ibuprofen will do that. Make a big ice pack from 4 or 5 1-gallon ziplocks placed one inside the other (the first filled with ice).
Stay on it until you've just about got frostbite, take a break, and get back on it.
Once you have your back tamed down, continue for a few days afterward until it's all healed up.
Kevin is right, you need to know if the problem is mechanical or nerve related in order to treat it correctly. If you hit the ice and ibuprofen, you'll soon be good to go. You need to keep treating it after it's under control, and then get more active if you don't want to blow it out every time you shovel snow.
