Without meds, my back pain and hip are, to my surprise and delight, nearly pain free

Low back pain has dogged me since my mid-20s, moderate and annoying most days with the occasional must-lie-down-now episode that made me grumpy and ornery but got me out of yard works for a few days

In my late 30s, a dull ache emerged in my right hip, gradually growing worse and sharpen, until it became impossible to sleep on my right side, which made me snuggling with my wife problematic (our sides of the bed were too long ago set in stone and I'm disputably on the left).

I got used to starting each day stiff and sore, accostomed to carrying a certain level of background misery around most of the day, no matter of pillows made the couch comfortable. A long car trip required hourly stops to stretch and shake out the hurt.

But in the last few months, everything has changed

Both source of pain have shrunk to the point that on most days I barely notice them and on a "bad" day they generate a little discomfort that reminds me to deploy my new secret weapon against chronic pain ( I'll reveal it below but there's a story to tell here!!)

Here's how great I feel : on my 40th birthday recently I mountain biked 60 miles which happens to be my longest journey. The next morning I woke with all the expected good soreness and tighteness in my legs and arms, but no pain in my back or hip. This change has been surprising, remarkable, and joyous. Just ask my wife, I've been annoying ecstatic about it. And it came without painkillers, no drugs of any kind and no surgeries

Scientist who study chronic pain would not be all surprised.

The problem with pain medications

I've been popping ibuprofen on and off decades, it never did. Much if anything to. Curb my aches, other than maybe, maybe take the edge off the worst bouts.

Turns out there's no solid evidence that anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or aspirin do anything to alleviate chronic pain, they can be useful for acute pain, like a sprain or a cut, but "weather they do anything for Chronic pain is highly questionable" says George Muller PhD, who runs a pian clinic at northwestern University as an institution of Feinberg school of medicine.

For some decades it's been standard medicine practice to treat pain with anti-inflammatory drugs, but we found out that this short term could lead to longer term problems. Meanwhile, recent scientific discoveries have shown that when pain persists, the body and mind get used to it, pian signals become ingrained in the nervous system, whether the original source of the pain remains or not

So what fixed me up

I started doing yoga regularly about six months ago, and amid much hiking, biking and weightlifting, it's the only significant new physical activity I've undertaken in years. Yoga made me notably Stronger, way more flexible in every direction you can imagine, and it improved my balance and posture. I basically feel more capable. So, while anecdote are not science, I'm as certain as can be that Yoga is the chiefdriver of my dramatic improvement on the pain front,and there's plenty of science to support my claim

• Yoga has been the antidote to my chronic pain of low back or hip pain