Last week I was digging an ancient shrub out of my yard. In hindsight, I should have left the job to someone with bigger muscles. The activity left me with serious pain in my neck and back and I've spent much of this week working to relieve it.

Yesterday I was sitting in my massage chair, buried under hot packs and watching television when an infomercial came on for a device called "True Back." It promised to relieve any sort of back pain instantly and all sorts of people were on hand to declare that it had quickly and easily saved them from excruciating back pain.

Even though I already own two similar devices, it took all the self-control I have to keep myself from picking up the phone and ordering the True Back.

What I found so compelling was the promise of immediate relief. One of the women testifying on the infomercial told of recurring back pain so severe she was literally crawling on hands and knees, but 30 minutes after using the True Back she felt so fine she went out and played 18 holes of golf.

That's what I wanted-sweet, instant relief!

I was able to resist because I have a closet full-literally a closet full of physical therapy equipment and devices all aimed at relieving pain in one way or another. Most of this was purchased following a serious auto accident in 1989. I was bedridden by pain for two full years, and during that time, I was glued to the TV and the phone, ordering anything that promised relief.

I've got tens units, magnets, lumbar supports, wedge cushions, a $500 "chi" machine and a variety of electric massage devices that would put most therapy centers to shame. If it promised pain relief, I bought it.

I'm grateful I didn't have internet access at that time. With all the "pain relieving" items being flogged on the web, I'd surely have ended in ruin.

When you're in pain, television advertisements and internet sales pages offering immediate relief can be irresistibly seductive. They offer us the one thing we want most-immediate relief-and all it takes to get it is a credit card.

If you find yourself mesmerized by ads for items promising pain relief, let me tell you a few tricks for picking and choosing among them and even finding them at the best price.

First, picking and choosing. Almost anything that promises pain relief will bring pain relief---to at least some of the people that buy it. But not to everyone. Surgery and prescription medications don't work for everyone and neither do chiropractic care, Oriental herbs, tens devices, True Back or anything else.

Every person's pain is unique. That means there is no predicting what will bring YOU relief. Just because True Back brought one woman relief in 15 minuets doesn't mean it will do the same for you. ON the other hand, you might be lucky and end up as one of those glowing testimonials.

The only way to find out which devices, therapies or treatments will work for you is to try them.

But it can cost a fortune-I know all too well!-to try them all. So thank goodness for the internt, which allows us to research anything offering pain relief and find all sorts of information to help us make wise decisions.

Here's what I suggest you do when you find yourself seduced by an infomercial or advertisement.

First, make Google your friend.
No matter what any infomercial says, you don't have to order "in the next few minutes" to get that "discounted price" or "special offer." Every infomercial carries a web address. That address will take you to a sales page offering the "special price" you've seen advertised.

Make note of that address, and then take your time researching whatever is being offered. Ask Google to show you reviews and complaints by putting, for example "True Back + review" or "True Back + complaint" into the Google search bar.

This will bring you a list of web page containing information on people who've written reviews of whatever is being advertised as well as people complaining about what is being advertised.

Why search for complaints? Because it doesn't matter if the product is wonderful if the company handling payment processing, shipping and refunds is unreliable. You want to know the track record of the business you'll be trusting with your money.

When using Google, make it your habit to look past the first two pages of results. Often very important or relevant information can show up on page 3, page 5 or beyond.

Second, make Amazon.com your friend. Amazon is probably best known as a seller of books, but in fact Amazon.com sells everything and they often beat anyone else's price. When you're seduced by an ad for something promising pain relief, check Amazon.com first.

If Amazon sells the product you're interested in, their sales page for that item will contain a great deal of very valuable information. For instance, if you look up "True Back" at Amazon, the sales page will contain reviews-pro and con-by people who've already purchased and used the True Back. Unlike the people featured in the infomercial, the people writing reviews at Amazon are not being paid for their positive opinion.

People writing reviews at Amazon are people just like you and I-people who've spent their hard-earned money and want to state, usually quite bluntly, whether or not they think they got their money's worth.

Another feature you'll find at Amaozn.com is a listing of used items for sale. True Back is selling on its web site for $79.99. An infomercial is selling it for the "special price" of $59.99 plus shipping and handling. But I checked Amazon for True Back while writing this article and found one person selling "refurbished, like new" True Back devices for $44. plus shipping and handling for a total price of $59.

Another feature you'll find on the Amazon.com sales page is a list of "similar items." If you look up "True Back" on Amazon, you'll be directed to a list of similar items like Spine Worx, the Lumbar Extender, Back Magic and other devices all designed to stretch and realign the spine.

I have never used the True Back device so I can't speak to its qualities. But I do own both the Spine Worx and the Sacro Wedgy. Both of these devices work to realign the spine and for me, they've been worth every penny. In fact, I've been using them extensively this week as I recover from murdering that shrub!

(If I could only choose one, it would be the Sacro Wedgy. I find it easier to use because it comes in two sizes, one for men and one for women. The Back Worx is a "one size fits all" device that I consider best used by people accustomed to chiropractic care.)

I paid full price for the Sacro Wedgy through Amazon.com. I paid one third of the retail price for the Spine Worx by buying it through eBay.

EBay is an especially great place to look for items that are being sold through infomercials. Items that are returned cannot be resold as new-even though they are undamaged-so companies pass them on to resellers. Many of these resellers put their goods up for sale on eBay.

Checking today, I saw True Back devices described as "reconditioned," (but most likely they were just returned merchandise) being auctioned on eBay for an average price of $45 plus shipping. That's below True Backs' own lowest price of $59 plus shipping.

Keep in mind that eBay sellers may not offer any option to return an unwanted or defective item. Balance that against the fact that a Google search for True Back shows a number of people complaining that True Back refused to honor its claim of "return it for your money back." You pays your money-you takes your chances.

Here's one last trick for shopping on eBay. You can save the cost of shipping by shopping for items you can pick up in your own driving area. Items that are especially heavy to ship often go for pennies on the dollar because the seller has to specify either "no shipping, local pickup only" or let bidders know what the real-and likely high-shipping cost will be.

For example, last month I saw a seller offering a medical-quality massage chair. He'd originally paid $3,500, for the chair. It was one year old and virtually unused. IT was also spectacularly heavy, so he had to offer it "for local pickup only."

The winning bid on this chair was $250. Someone walked away with a stupendous bargain because they were within driving distance of this massage chair.

How do you find items selling within your driving distance? When you search on eBay. Look for the little line that says "advanced search." It's next to the box where you type in what you're looking for.

Click on "advanced search" and you'll be taken to a page that lets you specify the particular parameters you want. For instance, you can direct eBay to search only within your zip code or even your actual home address, then further specify that you only want to see item within 20, 50, or more miles of your address.

There's a ton of choices you can make from within "advanced search," so be prepared to take five or ten minutes to read through the options and get used to it.

It's easy to sue advanced search if you know exactly what you're looking for, like a massage chair, for instance. But how about if you just want to know everything that's being sold in your area?

One of the tricks I use to find things in my local area is to choose a heading-I'll use "Furniture" as an example, and put the word "the" into the search bar. Then I check the box that says, "search in both titles and listings." After that, I check the box that says, "search within 20 miles of my zip code or address,"

EBay then shows me every auction listed under Furniture that has the word "the" in the tile or the listing that describes the item.

Because it's pretty hard to write a listing without using the word "the" (other words I use are "a" and "with") I get to see almost anything that's being sold in the Furniture category within 20 miles of my home.

After I search Furniture, I might search other categories, or I might do a general search for "pain relief" and see what turns up. It's amazing the things you can find and the money you can save!

That's how I happened to find the marvelous medical massage chair selling for a tiny fraction of its value. The only reason I didn't snatch it up is because it was soooo big, much bigger than my current model, that I didn't have a space for it.

I know how seductive advertisements can be when they offer "immediate relief." But restrain yourself. Experience tells me that when pain is the problem, complete relief is rarely immediate.

So take your time to use the internet to shop around and shop wisely. Look for reviews. Look to see what kind of record the company has for keeping their promises. And look for the very best prices, used or new. That way, you'll relieve pain to your body as well as pain to your pocket book!