How bad can degenerative disc disorder get, if not treated? and can bulging, non impacting, discs affect nerves in legs?

It varies: All degenerating disks are not painful. When they are, the amount of pain does not always correlate with the degree of degeneration. A bulging disk often has little effect of the nerves to and from the legs, but if the degeneration has inflammation in the area, there can be leg symptoms. That could happen if the disk tears without herniating (rupture), leaking irritating chemicals.