Found this while researching a diagnosis given by my neurologist, thought others with DDD would find it of interest:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1265453-overview
When you have a degenerative disc disease in the neck that results in a herniated disc, you can feel the pain in the neck, along the medial border of one of the shoulder blades, in the shoulder and outer side of an upper arm. You can also have tingling in the hand and little and ring finger. If it is only disc degeneration or if you have arthritis in the neck without a herniated disc, you can feel the pain in the neck but not likely down the arm.
A disc herniation can develop due to constant bending of the neck, forward neck posture or injury...
Here (http://www.ehealthstar.com/conditions/bulging-herniated-disc) is an overview of treatment options: collar neck for few days, but then mainly prevention...or surgery. Physiotherapy may not be that successful.