Radicular Lumbar Pain is often secondary to compression or inflammation of a spinal nerve. When the pain radiates down the back of the leg to the calf or foot, it would in lay terms be described as sciatica. This type of pain is often deep and steady, and can usually be reproduced with certain activities and positions, such as sitting or walking.
The pain usually follows the involved dermatome in the leg – the area of distribution of the leg covered by the specific nerve. When a nerve at the L4-5 or L5-S1 level is affected (bottom two levels), this dermatome is usually the sciatic nerve, which runs down the back of each leg to the foot.
Cervical radiculopathy is the clinical description of pain and neurological symptoms resulting from any type of condition that irritates a nerve in the cervical spine (neck).
Cervical nerves exit the cervical spine (neck) at each level, C1 – C7. Nerves in the neck exit above the designated vertebral level at all levels except the last one (C8 exits below the C7 vertebra), and then branch out to supply muscles that enable the shoulders, arms, hands and fingers to function. They also carry sensory fibers to the skin and muscles that provide sensation.
When any nerve root in the cervical spine is irritated through compression or inflammation, the symptoms can radiate along that nerve’s pathway into the arm and hand.
The patient’s specific cervical radiculopathy symptoms will depend primarily on which nerve is affected. The symptoms may also be referred to as radicular pain.