There is no way that a chiropractor would treat you without an exam to see what he needed to do. They are not a PT who takes orders from another doc. They are doc's and have mal-practice just like any other doc.
They would not be doing a very good job if they let someone come in and say I just want you to do this, this, and this. What if "that" hurt you? They would be liable for your injury.
That's why they would want to examine you and see all the information from the other docs before laying a hand on you.
Plus, with the degenerative disk disease there is always the risk of injury if your back is not handled just right.
I think that if the doc you're going to would just order a PT to do some massage and maybe ice therapy you'd have less pain. They can also do the water jets too.
My daughter had a hand injury that was quite serious. She went to PT for all her bandage changes and they also did the water therapy on it to remove the debris from her skin. That water therapy was done in the actual hospital but the PT building is on the same property but not inside the hospital. So we went to 2 different buildings for her treatment.