I agree with Harrisson
The disc can look dark from regular aging...What I would want to see is the view looking down through the top of your spine to see if any nerves coming off the spine are infringed. I have heard that discography aren't always conclusive, but for insurance purposes it may be the first step in proving necessity for any surgery. Then some may want to do a CT mylogram. They may consider doing micro discectomy before disc replacement. Surgeons here with exception  of a few will only do fusion. Although some ADR surgeons feel that M.D.'s only prolong what really needs to be done. Keep updating and I pray you find your answer.
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54 yr old female 5'7" 147 lbs. non-smoker conservative treatments failed
2007 fusion @ C4-6 peek cages, failed due to long term use of cox-2 inhibitor
2008 revised C4-6 donor bone, plate & screws
2009 fusion with Roi-C @ C3-4
2015 MRI & CT mjr ddd @ C6-7, segmental kyphosis at C7-T1, 2-level M6-C prosthesis by Dr. Clavel Barcelona Spain
2019 H.O. formed behind M6-C @ C6-7 left nerve rt & in spinal canal.
2020 Revision C6-7 to a CP-ESP prosthesis by Dr. Schmitz Dusseldorf Germany
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