What Does This MRI Report Of Spine Indicate?

My husband has chronic lower back pain and was in a car accident in Sept of 2014. He now has upper back pain as well. An MRI done in Sept shows central disc protrusion at T12-L1. What exactly does this mean and is there anything he can do to alleviate the pain? He sees a pain management doctor and is on many pain killers currently which are not really helping the issue, only managing the pain.