Hi Sonj,
I have recently joined this forum and only skimmed through the thread. I am not sure whether the original question on natural resolution of a disc prolapse has been dealt with. I have always advised patients that natural resolution does occur and surgery is simply a means to alleviate present symptom levels. Patients often feel they should have surgery to stop them having problems in the future but having spinal surgery now actually makes you more likely to require surgery in the future. Of course there are cases where surgery has to be performed but if symptoms are resolving then leave to a natural recovery.
I have Wikipedia reference-linkMRI scans of patients with large disc prolapses who have had repeat scans a year later and the disc prolapse has shrunk to a small bulge. The way I usually explain this is in laymans terms: when the disc first prolapses it is full of fluid, like a grape, with time it loses its water content and becomes more like a raisin (due to proteoglycan deterioration and dehydration).
So yes disc prolapses do resolve but disc degeneration will remain.
The problem is there is poor correlation between size of disc prolapse and symptoms and virtually no correlation between disc degeneration and symptoms.
The good news is that a huge proportion of the elderly population are walking around with severely degenerate discs which are not causing them any problems. This is why the epidural is useful, very often the symptoms are due to chemical rather than mechanical factors.
The best evidence for self care is try and gradually return to normal activity, try not to worry. Fear of re injury is a big barrier to recovery.
Good luck with your shoulder, I can't help you with this, except being a spinal specialist I would probably put it down to a C5 nerve root problem.