Finally...

[Maria]

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...