People have found that it is best to be very open about how your back pain affects your work. Effective communication is essential, not only with your line-manager but you may also want to brief your colleagues so they know why you are doing the things you do. Your organisation may also employ health & safety professionals, occupational health providers or other qualified HR professionals. These people are there to assist you and your manager in reducing health risks and accommodating any reasonable needs you may have.
If you have any doubts about what you can and cannot do as a result of your back pain, you are recommended to visit your GP or occupational health professional. He or she will be in the best position to assess to what extent your health condition affects your functioning. However, he or she may not be familiar with your specific tasks at work so it is important that you give this information. Before you visit your GP write down your key activities and describe how your back pain affects these activities. You will see that if you go to your GP prepared you can get much more information out of a 10-minute consultation than if you go unprepared.