iTripped

I have also suffered from non-bike related back pain and your symptoms sound a lot like what I dealt with. First off, do go see the doctor. The tests might be time consuming but consider the time wasted not riding your bike because your back hurts - this seems to be an even greater waste of time to me. Get over your ego and avail yourself of the resources at hand. It's even covered, for chrissakes!

Okay, enough preaching. I hurt my back badly (no disc damage, it was muscle) and eventually recovered. However, my body healed by compensating in some areas and training itself to not use the injured muscles. This eventually came back to haunt me, especially when I started biking again. I ended up going to physio to get help with teaching my body to use those neglected muscles again - they used that electic stimulator thing to contract the muscles in a controlled manner. Felt kind of weird at the time and I was wiped out for about 2 weeks after that. But it got my back started.

Overall, my recovery had me increase my physical activity, and I decided to include more biking into that routine. What I soon noticed was that I would bike, get a workout and within a day or two end up tweaking my back again. Or at least feeling a 'tiredness' in my back. It was the muscles that were compensating for my core back muscles again. The workout was getting them tired, but my regular day routine at the office was already enough to do that so the over exertion would lead to stress or further injury.

Your back injury is likely going to be with you the rest of your life. It will be manageable, but you will have to make adjustments in your daily routine to manage it better. The good news is it means you will likely still be able to ride, even competitively if you choose to do so. But do go see some doctors and get proper guidance, rather than just doing something the internet told you to do. Take advantage of professional opinions because it's the back you are going to have to live with.