Leg Pain and Numbness: What Might These Symptoms Mean?
Leg pain and foot pain is often caused by a condition in the lower back. Learn about the various leg pain symptoms and what they may mean .
Leg pain can range from a mild nuisance that comes and goes, to debilitating pain that makes it difficult to sleep, walk, or engage in simple everyday activities.
Leg pain and numbness can be experienced in many forms—some patients describe the pain as aching, searing, throbbing, or burning, or like standing in a bucket of ice water.
The pain can also be accompanied by neurological symptoms, such as a pins-and-needles sensation, numbness, or weakness. The weakness may be persistent, or it may come on suddenly or unpredictably, often described as the leg "giving out."
Leg pain may be caused by a problem in the leg, but often the root cause of the problem starts in the lower back, where the sciatic nerve originates, and then travels along the path of the nerve (called sciatica).
Or it could start at the L3-L4 level, where a nerve branches off from the lumbar spine and travels through the front of the thigh.
The medical term for leg pain that is caused by irritation of a lumbar nerve root is lumbar radiculopathy.
Because the lumbar nerves travel through various parts of the leg and foot, a diagnosis of anyone with leg pain, foot pain, and/or leg or ankle or foot weakness or numbness, should include an examination of the lower back.
