Is it Real Back Pain or Just Stress?

About a week ago I pulled a muscle or did something to my back while I was walking. Getting old sucks. I was just walking, not doing anything crazy like lifting 120 pounds over my head or chopping down a tree with an axe. I did it while I had a terrible cold so I was more concerned with breathing than with my back. Fast forward to today and my cold is gone, and now I really notice my back.
It hasn’t stopped me doing my tread mill work first thing in the morning, but I do look like a ninety year old woman the rest of the day as I shuffle along. Since I had a busy day today I was in and out of the car. Despite being almost a hundred degrees I ran my seat heater to help the soreness. It made my back feel better, but certainly heated up my butt to an uncomfortable temp.
Tonight Russ, Carter and I had our last dinner together before she leaves in the morning to go to Cheerio to work for the next six weeks. My back was hurting more than ever. I think the stress of her leaving was adding to the pain. I needed to do something to change the situation. I remembered that Carter had a Tens machine we got for her knee rehab after her meniscus surgery.
Since she had done a deep cleaning of her room and had packed for camp there was a good chance she might be able to find the expensive piece of equipment. Not only did she find it, she did it in record time. Now here I sit with the little pads stuck to either side of the painful area of my back. They are buzzing away in the most wonderful way and I have no pain at all. I don’t know how long the pain will stay away once I turn the thing off, but for now I am happy. God bless whomever invented this thing. Now if my back can just be convinced that Carter is going to her happy place and the rest of us will be fine.