--is definitely caused by spinal problems, it is more correctly termed a radiculopathy--a difficulty with the nerve roots that connect to the spinal cord. ("Radic" = "root" in Latin.)

Nerve roots contain both motor and sensory tracts, so one can have motor or sensory neuropathy from their compression (often both). Generally, in a major nerve trunk, the sensory fibers are on the outside--the farther periphery of the nerve cable--and the motor neurons lie deeper within the cylinder. Superficial compression tends to produce sensory symptoms; greater compression brings the motor fibers into the situation.

When the spinal cord itself is compromised, one has central nervous system disease, not peripheral neuropathy (technically).

Still, one can have more than one process going on--the "double crush hypothesis" postulates that a nerve compromised from some other cause, such as metabolic or autoimmune, that is then compressed will produce symptoms greater than what one would expect from "adding" each set of symptoms together.