Radicular Pain (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Radicular pain, or radiculitis, is pain "radiated" along the dermatome (sensory distribution) of a nerve due to inflammation or other irritation of the nerve root (radiculopathy) at its connection to the spinal column. A common form of radiculitis is sciatica, or radicular pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve from the lower spine to the lower back, gluteal muscles, back of the upper thigh, calf, and foot as often secondary to nerve root irritation from a spinal disc herniation or from osteophytes in the lumbar region of the spine.The symptoms of radiculitis may change from one patient to the next, depending on which nerve root is affected. For example, if the L5 nerve root (in the L5-S1 lumbar region) is compromised, a classic symptom is numbness in the big toe (and on the big toe's side of the foot). Moving up the leg, the outside of the calf may feel like it is ready to explode (feels like internal pressure or fire) and the hip flexor may be so painful that it's difficult to move the leg. These are all regions that the sciatic nerve (connected to L5) runs through.