OK, so I'm an old fart now, but I have always had back problems. I was born with scoliosis. It wasn't severe but bad enough that my back was more likely to go out and spasm. When I was skiing, competing and jumping a lot, I spent an entire season popping vicodin like Altoids. Not good! If I didn't take it, I couldn't get out of bed.
A few years ago I found this website:
http://www.trueback.com
I was too cheap to buy one so I just made my own.
This works great. When my back goes out, seeing a chiro is a waste of time until I can get my muscles out of spasm. This relaxes the muscles that run along my spine and then gravity does the rest. All the vertebrae move to the center of the channel in the middle. I try to lay on it for like 20 minutes a night while I'm watching TV. It's actually correcting the scoliosis (curve) in my spine.
I don't have any problem with Chiropractors, but it is a fact that, if you get manipulated too much, your back will go out easier. I prefer acupuncture when my back is in severe spasm because it gets the muscles to release.
Both chiropractic and acupuncture are expensive, and it sucks when you're in pain to have to wait for your appointment and gimp your way to the office. The trueback basically does the same thing for about the same cost as one visit to the chiropractor or acupuncturist. Still, if anyone is too cheap to buy it, PM me and I will give you dimensions to build your own.