I have had severe boughts with upper and middle back pain for years and during this last episode which worsened over a months time to the point of near intolerance I had x-rays taken of my neck and upper back. As the nurse practitioner suspected it was discs 5 & 6 in my neck that are showing slight degeneration, no problems showed in my back x-rays. Everything i've read so far about ddd suggest that pain will be felt in the lower back and that an mri is needed for evaluation. Is this diagnosis accurate? I am told that it's only a slight degeneration and that with medicine to improve my joints, muscle relaxers at night and an anti-inflamatory I should be pain free soon and also help keep this problem from increasing. (i am 45 by the way, not overweight, active, healthy, no other medical problems)