I think if you are having quite a bit of pain in those other areas the drs should investigate those also.
At the very least, an evaluation and maybe xrays too.
A good dr or PT should be able to do diagnostic testing and evaluation for disk problems. Then from there they should do MRI or more detailed scanning if needed.

You might post on our Spinal forum with descriptions of the mid/low pain and see if they have some ideas.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

Herniated and Bulging Discs
http://www.spineuniverse.com/display...rticle437.html