I have one that L3 that seems to be holding it's own now(knock on wood) for quite a number of years (like 20) and the more problematic discs are the ones that already had surgery on them (discectomies) at L4 and L5S1.
A good online resource for reading about annular tears and more is
ChiroGeek's Home Page
Good luck.. if the tear is a pain generator or one of the pain generators it can give some real grief...