My father suffered with this a lot and it left him unable to do a lot of things. I am sure that he would have been glad to have had this technology in his day.
NEW ARTIFICIAL DISCS MEAN LESS PAIN, FEWER PROBLEMS FOR BACK PATIENTS
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an artificial disc for back surgery, and shortly after, a Cottonwood Hospital surgeon implanted one in a patient.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...28508%2C00.html
My mother fell and hurt her back about two years ago. She was diagnosed with a slipped disc in her lower back as well. She has been on pain medication every since and told that it is not bad enough to do anything about it at the moment. I didn't find any information about who would qualify for the artificial disc replacement surgery, but I forwarded the article on to her. I'm sure that we are not to far from this type of thing being common.