New. Hi everyone!

[Jim M2]

Neurologist vs neurosurgeon? My guess would be a neurosurgeon is better for your situation. A neurosurgeon probably knows the orthopedic side of your problem better and this is the root cause of our issues. Your best bet for finding a good doctor is to use your network of family, friend and coworkers. There are a zillion ratings websites which I don't particularly trust but I would expect my choice of a doctor to at least not have a bad rating.

There's no way anyone here can answer the surgery question. I'll simply point out that symptoms do not always align well with pathologies seen in the imaging. With that said the primary factors for surgery are how much pain you are in and how restricted your lifestyle has become. In many cases we can't be fixed by surgery we just have to learn how to deal with it. This is especially true for back problems.