I absolutely vouch for yoga and specific stretching exercises. Call me a hippie all ya want, I'll happily smile back at you pain and medication free.
I hardly ever have back trouble anymore, because between the yoga and just piddling around the farm, plus having a stand up desk where I do a lot of stuff, I don't put my back in bad situations. For a while there when I was working, between being a big guy in a cramped tiny cockpit, and sitting at the desk a lot when I was in the office, then zoning in the recliner when I got home, I was having really bad lower back issues. That's when my doctor at the time first got me into yoga and gave me a stretching regime designed for the back. I actually started to see improvement within a couple of weeks.
Depending on the yoga, it can be hard. I started with the Budokan regime. I thought all yoga was sissy stuff, but the yoga portion of Budokan kicked my butt harder than the martial arts part when I first started, mostly from the strength side. I couldn't even finish the beginner regime the first couple of times.
I have a DVD called "Yoga for Inflexible People". Takes you through some of the same general exercises as Budokan, plus a lot more, but in a much easier fashion. Highly recommended for anyone that wants to try yoga out but wants to start slow. It's more focused on stretching than on strength. I think Netflix has a bunch of beginner stuff on streaming.