Chronic severe low back pain is best treated in a multidisciplinary manner that takes into account the specifics of how you experience the pain. Conservative measures for chronic back pain like regular exercise (especially swimming and pilates), use of heat and cold packs and deep heat creams can make a big difference. Formal physical therapy, or self-administered stretching and strengthening exercises are also useful. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has also been show to be effective in chronic non-Cancer pain management. Pain medications should focus on simple analgesics around the clock and long acting opiods if necessary. Short acting opiods, especially in combination with acetaminophen (like Vicodin), should be avoided except as a treatment for severe breakthrough pain as they often cause a rebound effect whereby you feel even worse pain when their effects wear off. I would recommend you seek the help of a multidisciplinary Pain Clinic in your area and collaborate with them to develop a structured plan for rehabilitation and for managing the pain.