besmith57, I hope you have luck with the pain specialist.
There are so many procedures that can address the pressure on your nerves that causes your pain.
It may be the disc bulge squeezing nerves in the foramen.
They may start with injection to reduce swelling impinging on the nerve. It helps locate the exact source of pain and can provide relief.
The goal is to increase the space so the nerves can exit freely.
They can reduce swelling, remove the extruding part of the disc, reduce ligament size, remove a tiny part of the foramenal bone. Sometimes they ablate the medial branch nerve that sends pain signals.
After you see your pain specialist post their suggestions. And we will weigh in.
If you create a new post, you'll get more responses.