Hi Cynthia, gailfaith here, or just Gail
As someone who has back problems since 1963, may I suggest a chiropractor, not just any chiropractor, but one who has had the additional training with the ART technique. ART stands for Active Release Technique. If you live in eastern PA, I can recommend 3, otherwise search the internet for one close to you. They can be few and far between. I use to work at J and J and during lunch once, they had a 'health fair', when various people presented health related helps. At one table, I was looking at the wares on the table and was trying to figure out what she was "selling". when she came up to me and asked if she could help me. She introduced herself and said she was a chiropractor. I immediately said , "thanks, but no thanks". She asked what my problems was and I told her that I had back problems and was trying to avoid surgery. I have spondalolethesis. She said I can do for you what surgery can do but without the surgery. That sounded like it was worth the try. It surely was. I have been to 3 different people all with the ART knowledge, and each one has their own way. However, one of them was not a chiropractor but a physical therapist. I use one now 3 miles away, but until I found him, I drove 70 miles each way to see her!

Because Active Release Technique (ART) was unknown to me, I googled it and found many articles and other references. Members reading this discussion may find them informative. Here's one of a number of similar descriptions:

"ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles."

I found nothing to explain how a massage technique that involves no special equipment could be patented or how much the owner of the patent is paid for leasing or licensing ART to a massage technician.

Here's a link to another reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4563290/ and an excerpt from this 2015 article:

"The active release technique (ART) is a manual therapy for the recovery of soft tissue function that involves the removal of scar tissue, which can cause pain, stiffness, muscle weakness, and abnormal sensations including mechanical dysfunction in the muscles, myofascia, and soft tissue. The effectiveness of ART has been reported for carpal tunnel syndrome, Achilles tendonitis, and tennis elbow, all of which involve soft tissue near joints in the distal parts of the body. ART is also effective at reducing pain and increasing ROM in patients with a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon (in the shoulder). Most patients with chronic neck pain experience pain and movement limitation as a result of soft tissue impairment in the neck."

The unique factors in this description are "soft tissue function" and "removal of scar tissue" usually attributable to "mechanical dysfunction in the muscles." There is no mention of bone or skeletal injury or disformation as targets of ART massage therapy.