19/04/2026
🩻Your MRI shows a herniated disc. Your doctor says that’s the cause of your sciatica.
But here’s what that scan doesn’t tell you:
Is your nerve irritated? Or is it actually damaged?
Because those are two completely different things.
⚡️RADICULAR PAIN = nerve root is chemically irritated. Ectopic signals fire from the wrong place. You
get electric, shooting, lancinating pain. But the nerve itself is still working. No damage.
⚡️RADICULOPATHY = nerve root conduction is blocked. You get real neurological deficits: a patch of
numbness, muscle weakness, a reflex that’s reduced or gone.
A disc herniation can cause one, the other, both — or neither.
And bigger disc on MRI doesn’t mean more damage.
Chemical irritation is often the bigger driver than physical size.
Follow to catch it. Save this for the next time someone shows you their MRI report.
— Physio Gino | PT, MSc., CSCS #กายภาพบำบัด
