before my first surgory at levels 5/6 6/7 i to was recommended and had the discogram prosedure as my docotor told me it would show any and EXACTLY what discs needed to be adressed to answer your ? it was painful the first 3 needles at the 3 levels weren't that bad 6/7 there were difficulties and after 4 tries were not successful inserting the needles were it needed to be but the prosedure does help the surgone pinpoint problematic areas...........good luck