According to a 2011 review published in the journal Hospital for Special Surgery, about 75 percent of radiculopathy cases can be diagnosed simply by the doctor taking a patient history. Your doctor will most likely recognize radiculopathy by its most common symptom, which is pain down one extremity or pins and needles that correspond to the area the affected nerve serve (the dermatome).

Just the same, many doctors administer a neurological exam and/or order tests such as MRI.

During your physical exam, the doctor will test for pain, loss of feeling, reflexes, and muscle strength in each of the zones. By identifying which dermatome(s) and myotome(s) are affected, she can determine which spinal nerve root(s) are damaged. The physical exam may include tests that reproduce your pain to help the doctor determine the nature of the nerve root damage. Diagnostic tests may help confirm findings from the physical exam, or further pinpoint the area from which your symptoms may be arising.