One of the most aggravating activities for those with a lower back injury is vacuuming, or similar activities like raking, mopping, digging. This is because most people have one dominant leg in front and rock back and forth while they vacuum. This causes excessive loading on one side of the pelvis and back, and distributes the load unevenly.
One good solution is to change your front leg every third “Push” of the vacuum or rake. It takes a minute to get used to changing hands and front feet when you’re not used to it, but you’ll find you don’t get anywhere near as sore when you’re all done.