Lower back pain help?

I have a large herniated disc at L4/L5 which made normal things like getting out of a chair/bed or even tying my shoes a nightmare for months. What really helped me was physical therapy. A physical therapist can help you build up the right muscles to take the strain from your lower back and they also will do a kind of massage (this part always really hurt for me but felt much better when they were done) that can relieve the pain you get from straining different areas from not being able to walk right.