Everybody,s different. I prefer Lyrica or Neurontin to muscle relaxers. For me the best pain reliever is Ultracet; I like it better than Darvocet and it doesn't make me as sleepy as some of the others. I try to avoid muscle relaxers as they almost all make me too tired or give a brain fog effect. What I like to use instead of meds when I can are ice, my TENS unit, heat, breathwork and rest. I try to pay close attention to my body in order to try to avoid the pain before it gets too bad. I'm not worried about addicition but in my case I like to keep my brain as inconvienced as much as possible. I also use Lidoderm pain patches. Everyone's body is different and it's good to work with a good doctor if you can that will help you experiment to find what's best for you. Other than meds I also get a lot of benefit from being in warm water and doing slow motion movements in the water-things like yoga, ai chi, qigong...even doing leg movements only.

What about IcyHot or similar things that are applied to the skin? Has anyone gotten much benefit from any of these?