Neck Pain and Orthopedic Surgeon Question

Hi
For the past few months I've been having pain in my neck. It's not so much pain as it is stiffness and a kind of tight feeling. I feel like my head is too heavy for my neck. My neck also almost always cracks whenever I turn it in any direction. I can also feel it in my shoulders. Part of me thinks it may be caused by stress/tension  but nothing I do for that seems to help and it's always there. I've had xrays/MRIs of my cervical spine but they found nothing. I am thinking about going in for me just in case. Any ideas?

Secondly, I have a herniated disc in my lower back. Possibly because of the herniation my legs get numb and tingle and it's usually more painful than the actual back pain. I did physical therapy for almost three months but the numbness and tingling only got worse so my PCP is sending me to see an Orthopedic Surgeon. The tingling is almost constant now and it gets worse when I lay down to go to bed. Is there anything i can do to deal with the pain until my appointment? I'm kind of nervous because no one seems to understand why the numbness etc. is increasing and my PCP thinks that surgery may be a good possibility. I'm relatively young [19] to be having back surgery. What should I expect from my appointment with the surgeon? TIA