Gotta add my Nickle's worth. I've always been athletic. And big. Too big. Weigh between 220 and 280 most of my adult life. I sink like a rock in water. Pretty solid. I've done adventure sports my whole life, and I really effed off my back mountain biking and--kayaking. Dropping off a cliff or waterfall in a kayak can be like dropping off a 30 foot roof and landing on your butt. The pain progressed as I aged till I tried massage, chiropractics, inversion table, pills, steroid injections, and nothing worked. Finally referred to a surgeon as I could no longer walk more than a few paces without leaning on something. Turns out two discs between L3, L4, and L5 had blown and dessicated decades earlier, and my body responded by sending so much calcium to the area to repair the eroded bone, that the passage for the spinal cord had shrunk to the point that the spinal cord was very compressed. Surgery helped immensely, and just now, three years later I'm getting pain again. My FIRST step should have been an MRI to see WHAT was wrong before spending years in pain chasing symptoms instead of cause. That will certainly be my first step again.
Btw, massage was the only thing that provided any relief. If you DO try massage, find one that has a lot of doctors as clients. There are VERY few massage therapists that really know the relationship between the pain you experience and the why.