Question: Hi Doctor, it has been a few weeks since we chatted; I hope this communication finds you happy and well. I wanted to provide you with an update of my situation and then ask a follow-up question. First the update, the pain in my neck, in relation to the pain I had 2 months ago is virtually gone. The pain in my deltoid is only intermittent and when I do have it, it is greatly reduced. There is no comparison between the pain I was having before and now. I have continued to swim and that, plus my neck exercises and getting reasonable sleep helps. I still have no motor function symptoms of myelopathy. My pain/rehabilitation MD., does believe I have slight symptoms of myelopathy such as a slightly positive Hoffman's, strength of a 4 in some areas and very slight hyper reflexes. I honestly wonder if I may have had all that for years? Whatever the case, there are still no issues with my hands, or leg/foot movement at all. In fact, I am very quick and agile for my age. During my last visit to my pain/rehabilitation physician I asked him if it was possible to establish a baseline of neurological function that we could then compare to in the future and he then scheduled an EMG exam that we will do in a week, or so. He also said the Neurosurgeon suggested a follow-up MRI in 4 months. My only concern is that recently, even with the pain going almost completely away, I am having tingling sensations in my muscles, calves, feet and hands in the last couple of days. I swam 2 miles three days in a row after taking a few days off, so I do not know if these sensations are just normal muscular reactions to fairly intense exercise, or something more. Up until two months ago, I would not have given it a second thought, I would have concluded they were normal muscle pains after a workout, now I find myself questioning various sensations I have as possible symptoms of cord compression. I told a friend of mine today, "until I have some small sign of impaired function I am just not going to dwell on this" and he agreed saying "if I sit still for 20 minutes I have tingling etc." My question is how do I know the difference between a sensation I should be concerned about and one I should disregard? Secondly, since we know I do have cord compression with an abnormal signal are there any other tests you would recommend to try and really pin point the effect this compression may, or may not be having? Thirdly, I am considering a second opinion from physicians ether at the Mayo clinic, or the Cleveland clinic. Would you recommend one of these facilities over the other and how could I insure I am getting the best physicians at ether of these institutions if I do proceed. Finally, I have not seen a Neurologist only a Neurosurgeon and my pain/rehabilitation spine center physician. Should I see a Neurologist to evaluate my numerological function?