I also have degenerative disc disease (probably everyone over 50 does I hear)... but I've tried all things, except surgery. Nothing helped. Then my cousin (who is an MD suggested I try one of those inversion tables. He said he's had patients rave about how much better they were after using them. So, I checked with my doctor and got the OK. I bought one.
I use it 10 minutes at a time, twice a day. After 3 days I noticed an improvement. After a week of this routine, I was impressed! My back pain isn't gone entirely, but it's a good 75% better! I guess hanging upside down allows the discs to get some relief. By golly, it works! I sit all day at my job. Hard to do with a low back ache. This table has helped me so much. It was about $200, and worth it. (or you can go to a chiropractor and use their machine which they have a fancy name for... it does the same thing, and each time you pay! Ha. Better to buy one.