[UConnJulie]

You need to see a physical therapist. He/she can teach you exercises to reduce your symptoms as well as better ways to move to reduce stress on the disk. Pain management in my opinion is sort of a last result for people who don't respond to conservative treatment and are not surgical candidates. If you have only seen your general practitioner for this, I highly recommend that you see a spine specialist (orthopedist or neurosurgeon ... but one who is very selective about whom he performs surgery on ... your case does not sound surgical to me, so if someone recommends surgery, get a second opinion). The spine specialist will hopefully have a qualified physical therapist to refer you to (ideally someone well versed in McKenzie exercises).
Best of luck ...