re: Shoes for chronic back pain?

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Have you tried some kind of activity that requires stretching like yoga, martial arts, etc?

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I stretch in the morning and throughout the day. I know I should get back in the gym but it's just so damn hard these days. At work, it's a minimum 84 hours a week. That leaves just enough time to eat, shower and get in bed. At home, it's the boys sports, side work(operating heavy equipment - I know this doesn't help)and just trying to spend quality time with my wife and kids. Excuses, excuses, I know. We are just too damn busy these days. It's our own fault. I buy the thick socks and my latest pair of shoes were the NB 481. Comfortable at first but wore down quickly.

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It's interesting that you're concentrating your efforts on shoes in light of your work environment.

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Hell, I've tried so many different things, I figured maybe my feet are the problem now. I don't know. I may go get the referral for another MRI or even try a damn chiropractor. Anything to improve the quality of my life. I just want to keep up with my boys and be able to get some rest at night.

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I could be in better shape

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Weak abdominal muscles cause most back pain. Strengthen them and you will feel better. Do stretching, leg lifts, sit ups and planks.

I have degenerative disk disease in L 4 & 5. Even though my condition is serious, as long as I keep in shape, my condition stays manageable.

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Weak abdominal muscles cause most back pain. Strengthen them and you will feel better. Do stretching, leg lifts, sit ups and planks.

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Honestly, the only thing that's helped my back problems (probably the result of weak core muscles and a sedentary home life--not nearly as serious as your condition seems to be) was jiu-jitsu, which develops and uses core body muscles unlike any other activity I've ever been involved in. Like you, I stay busy with work and family during the week and weekend, but I try to schedule at least two nights a week for many reasons--one being back health.

ETA: This is assuming that your back troubles are truly muscular in nature.

You might have a stump leg and need one of these bad mammer jammers

Get the MRI so you know what is going on. I do the exercises in the pic below. The main one is laying on your stomach and pushing up to arch your back. I hold for a 10 count then relax for a few seconds and back up. I do at least 10 of these. The other one I do before as a warmup is knees to chest. Hold for a 30 count and I do this 2 or 3 times. It only takes 5 minutes to do these. then I do very small crunches concentrating on keeping my spine touching the floor. And then do some pushups. I recently recommended these to a friend having back issues and they helped him.