Hi i am Dr Ahmed Aly  
  thanks for using HealthcareMagic site ,
I had gone through your question and understand your concerns ..
    I hope you feel better soon , actually 
low back pain due to 
nerve compression or disc herniation is always a chronic neuropathic repetitive pain .
    It response very well with 
physiotherapy sessions with a good chiropractor , spinal straightening exercises , daily hot massages , decreasing your weight and avoidance of heavy lifting , bad sitting and sleeping postures . you have to maintain a healthy lifestyle with a good physical profile to decrease the need or chance of medical or surgical interventions .
   You mentioned taking 
hydrocodone 10 mg tabs for a long time it is fine with most of cases .
  For my patients i may recommend painkillers like 
advil tabs when needed , hot massages with topical anti-inflammatory gels , muscle relaxants , B12 supplementation and in some cases 
steroid injections may be needed .
  You may ask your doctor  or your orthopedic specialist for intra-articular steroid injections  if you could not withstand pain , if that treatment also failed for 6 consecutive month then i recommend a neurosurgeon point of view .
   Your 
neurologist may decide minor endoscopic interventions to free your nerve disc compression , nowadays endoscopic interventions are highly developed and gives good results in more severe cases spinal fixation with rods and plates may be recommended .
  So i think you have to maintain your physical profile , use medications when needed and you will feel better soon if not follow up with your neurologist for proper evaluation and management.
Please click and consider a 5 star rating with some positive feedback if the information was helpful. Wish you good health,
Any further clarifications feel free to ask.