Radicular pain is a type of pain that spreads from your back or neck along a spinal nerve. Spinal nerves are nerves that leave the spinal cord and go to the muscles. Radicular pain occurs when one of these nerves becomes irritated or compressed. Radicular pain is sometimes called radiculopathy, radiculitis, or a pinched nerve. When you have this type of pain, you may also have weakness, numbness, or tingling in the area of the body supplied by the nerve. The pain may feel sharp and burning.
Spinal nerves leave the spinal cord through openings between the 24 bones (vertebrae) that make up the spine. Radicular pain is often caused by a vertebra or one of the round cushions between vertebrae (intervertebral disks) pushing on a