The Healing Process - pain & numbness

[theBadCormorant]

I had a herniation about 5 years ago that involved motor loss, sensory change (numbness) and pain (vast quantities of it).

The injury started off with just pain, the sensory changes arrived after about a week, and the motor loss did not become apparent for several weeks. I guess this was the ruptured disc slowly leaking its nucleus - and as pressure built up on the nerve, the symptoms of nerve damage became more pronounced.

When I recovered, the pain and motor loss were the first to recover (pain free after about 6 months) , however the sensory changes persisted for several years, sometimes disappearing for months then returning for days or weeks.

My findings do seem to be in keeping with others who have had spinal problems. Pain is first to arrive followed by sensory changes, and on recovery - pain goes first and numbness can persist for quite some time. I am thinking - If the nerve has minimal pressure it produces pain, a bit more pressure it produces sensory changes, a lot more pressure and motor loss arrives.

So finally to my question; So as pressure comes off the nerve, why does pain vanish before sensory problems.? logic tells me it should be the other way around.