Which clinical feature helps distinguish discogenic back pain from facetogenic pain?

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Centralization of pain with repeated movements is a telling sign of disc-related back pain. When you repeatedly move or position the spine, disc problems often cause the leg pain to migrate back toward the spine or disappear from the leg and appear more centralized in the back. This pattern—pain moving centrally with movement—is called the centralization phenomenon and is commonly seen with intradiscal pathology or nerve root irritation from a disc source. Facet joint pain, on the other hand, tends to stay localized to the low back and paraspinal area, and is typically aggravated by extension and rotation without migrating toward the spine. The other options don’t show this migratory, movement-induced centralization, so they’re less helpful for distinguishing discogenic from facetogenic pain.