I had some lower back pain, to put it mildly, I thought about checking myself into the VA Hospital it was so bad. I have since found out in the last year that there is a "back racket" My doctors' have made so much money off of me that I know one of them is considering naming his new boat after me.
Go to the doctor
Get an MRI
I sufferend for months with 3 herniated discs untill I had a proper picture of what was wrong. Not that knowing made it any better, but it did let me know what I was dealing with, and then how to handle it.
Go to the doctor, but don't fall into the back racket, they will take you for every penny