Back pain is a thief. It can rob you of a good night's sleep, an honest day's work or the ability to give your child a piggyback ride.

An estimated 50 percent to 80 percent of American adults will have back pain at some point. For some, it will set up shop slowly. For others, it will come on suddenly and with great force.

Back pain can be crafty, using many circumstances to get into your life - a traumatic accident, a simple sprain or strain, fibromyalgia, arthritis of the spine, a fractured vertebra or ruptured disc.

Fortunately, no matter the cause, you can fight back pain and, in many cases, keep it from returning.

Sometimes, fighting back pain requires acting quickly and aggressively. If you have an infection, tumor of the spine or a condition called cauda equina syndrome (in which the nerve roots that supply the bladder and bowel are compressed) you may need surgery right away to get better. But in most cases, you have time to try different options.

"About half the time, back pain gets better within two weeks," says David Borenstein, MD, clinical professor of medicine at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "About 80 percent of the time it improves within two months."

Whether you've been in pain just a few days or beyond the two-month point, the following suggestions may help you ease your pain.

Try a few of these 15 options to get back at back pain. As the old saying goes, "Living well is the best revenge."