I hope you are now better informed about your current situation and management options. Since none of us have seen you clinically nor look at any of your studies we can only speculate on what we would recommend. But as I have said prior always try conservative treatment until it fails.

As in regards to alternative/non surgical options, by all means try them and see what happens. Just realized that there are many comfounding variables to the effectiveness of the treatment. Because most people with acute disk herniation will get better on their own, so if they got some sort of physical therapy/chiro its hard to say what really helped. Also after getting treatment for one hour of course everyone feels better. I have never gone to a chiro, but i sure do feel better after a massage.

I do not see many agreement when it comes to opinion by the cutters versus chriopractors. I must admit I pretty much know next to nothing on their practice. But chiro/spinal manipulation is not as benign as people think it is. For example the literature has extensive series about cartoid/veterbral dissection with c-spine manipulation and I have taken care of a vert dissection after manipulation. I am one that do not think there is a chiropractic solution to everything, unless one can tell me they can fix a grade 3 spondy

Hope all this helps