Back Pain Sufferers: Quit Being Lazy!

Now this one has me perplexed a bit because I suffer from neck pain, as I have said here many times before. I have something called Degenerative Disc Disease, which is basically where the stuff between the vertebrae is breaking down, meaning that my vertebrae are slowly coming to rest on one another - bone on bone without cushion. It is very painful and even on the days when my neck itself is not hurting that bad, it causes all sorts of other complications, including headaches, pains in my right jaw, pains in my shoulders, shooting pains in my arms and hands, and more.

But now experts are suggesting that those with back pain and the like need to go to work as much as possible - that the work is actually therapeutic in that "use it or lose it" sort of way. I suppose I can see the logic in this if your job happens to be something where you walk around a lot or get some other form of similar exercise and it doesn't involve a lot of lifting or the like.

But in my case, and likely many others', my problems are almost certainly work-related, as I have sat in this, and other, chair(s) for over 10 years now. Before that, I played drums for several speed-metal bands which not only involved a lot of sitting but also a lot of head-banging. Either way it goes, all this sitting and typing and head-banging simply can't be good for my condition!

However, I understand the basic notion behind this line of thinking, I'm just not sure that it's a one-size-fits-all prescription.