Back pain

I am 23 years old and a few months ago was diagnosed with a herniated disk in my lower back. After 2 months of physical therapy my doctor finally ordered an MRI of my spine. The MRI showed that I have signifiant degenerative disk disease at the L5 S1 disk and a disk protrusion or fragment that is pinching the nerves to both legs. I keep trying to tell my doctor that I'm having a diffiult time keeping my pain under control with the over the counter meds she told me to take. My question is what are my options to repair the disk protrusion/ fragment? Is surgery the only way? With how young I am I would hate to have to resort to major surgery to fix this problem. Thanks for any help!!