I've been given a set of exercises I have to do every four hours, and I'm also going in for half-hour sessions with the physical therapist once a week for a month.
The biggest surprise for me in all this was the relationship they showed me between my hips and lower back. My flexibility isn't all that great, so walking and working out make my lower back worse because I don't have the freedom of movement necessary and it makes my hips swivel, which twists my lower back.
It won't be required to keep up this frequency, but I'll have to do these exercises for my whole life, assuming I want the pain to stay away.