"Travelling" back pain and nerve tingling. Injury or disease?

HI.  i haven't been experiencing all of the same symptoms as you, but some.  I was jogging when I tripped.  Although I didn't fall, in trying to catch my balance, I felt a tweak in my back.  For the rest of the day, I was fine.  The next day, however, was a different story.  I discovered that when bending over I felt an intense tightness in my back, toward the lower end, and to the right of my spine.  When I stood up, oh boy, did it hurt.  It went on like this for months.  Eventually, as standing back up from a seated position or any hip flexion position became easier, the trouble traveled south.  It seemed to have move into my right glute, giving me a pins and needles sensation down the back of my right leg.  It ached constantly, for months more.  It interfered with working out, jogging, and every day activities.  I finally saw a my doctor, who also wanted me to go through PT before imaging.  It has helped somewhat, but when I perform any kind of hip extension, it triggers the symptoms all over again.  I had a massage and the masseuse noticed that my hips were out of alignment (the right side was higher that the left).  Ice and Aleve help, but once they've worn off the discomfort is back.  I noticed that in the area I first felt the original injury, to the right of my spine, I can press my thumb deep into the muscles and find a very tender spot that I believe is the  culprit to all of my problems.  When I press on it hard, I can perform hip flexion with no discomfort.  In fact, when my PT would apply pressure to the general area, my symptoms would disappear, only while pressure is being applied.  It's been suggested that my L2 has shifted.  That's my round about way of saying that I think my sciatic nerve is being compressed by the shift of my vertebrae.  I believe PT may be the only way to fix it - and it won't be overnight.  Perhaps you can bring up with your chiropractor some of what I've learned and ask if any of it might apply to you.  Good luck to you.  

I want you to high tail it to a neurosurgeon! I cannot believe that your doctor does not want to check things in your back to see what's going on before you go through physical therapy. The therapist is going to want to know what's wrong for crying out loud. The neurosurgeon is the kind of doctor that does surgery on backs and more as long as it relates to the back. He will order an MRI and he will be able to help you so much more than your GP is.

BTW you mentioned that you are fit and in shape which makes me believe you probably work out at the gym. Have you stopped working out since you're back pain? If you continue to workout make sure that you stretch your back well afterwards and if you lift weights try lighter weights for now.

Having back pain in the thoracic is not very common so I suspect it was the accident that's causing it. all the more reason to go see a neurologist. You seriously need to get some imaging at least to rule out serious problems. Please for the sake of your back deal with it now.

?You must live in the US because it has come to the point here where most doctors including ER doctors think everyone is an addict, especially if they ask for some kind of pain relief. the "opiate crisis" has totally hurt the chronic pain patient by forcing doctors to abandon their patients for fear of losing their license or worst, go to jail. I could go on but I'll save you from my soap box speech.  LOL

?I hope that you haven't screwed up your back so much that it will hurt for the rest of your life. I've been a chronic pain patient for 13 years. I've had every treatment available for lower back pain except surgery. So now my back pain is so bad that I have to take opiates or else I would be writhing in pain and that's no way to live.