Also, you should consider finding a neuro surgeon at a major teaching hospital in a major city if you do intend to seriously consider surgery. Depends on your condition and how much of the disc has extruded into the spinal canal. The surgery is pretty good at removing all the disc fragments. You should talk to some of their patients and ask them what their success rate is. Sorry, I dont have hard stats.
Every case is different.
In some cases, the disc material will shrink on its own over time and is absorbed by the body. I am still searching for an answer on exactly how this happens, but I have heard amd read this in quite a few places. If you have no neurological deficits, and your doc says you are not in danger by waiting a while, see what happens. The PT and body mechanics helped me a lot. I adjusted my environment to fit my condtion to help reduce the stress.