Radicular symptoms

Radicular pain is also described as projected pain and its origin is based on the injury pressure of nerve roots in the area of the lumbar spine. This may be caused by a herniated disc in the lumbar spine. The pain is therefore localized on the back, but also radiates into the area supplied by the damaged nerve.

The pain can radiate from the back to the lower leg. This is, among other things, a differentiation criterion for pseudo-radicular pain, the radiating character of which is usually limited to the thigh and cannot be clearly assigned to the supply area of a nerve of the lumbar spine. or symptoms in the leg in the case of a herniated disc in the lumbar spine It is also important for understanding these two types of pain that the cause of radicular pain lies in the lesion of a nerve or its root.

Because of this nervous component, we also speak of neuropathic pain. As the name “radicular” suggests, pain is usually triggered by irritation of the nerve root (root = “radix”). This nerve irritation can be caused by a slipped disc in the lumbar spine.

The prolapsed disc presses on the nerve root of a nerve exiting the spinal canal at this point of the spine. This is accompanied by strong, stabbing pain. The radicular pain in a so-called “nerve root syndrome”, which falls within the symptom complex of the lumbar spine syndrome, can then pull the entire leg along the corresponding nerve path.

Often our thickest nerve, the sciatic nerve, is affected.In addition to the radiating pain, depending on the degree of lesion of the nerve, sensory disturbances in the form of tingling or numbness may also occur. In the worst case, this can even lead to sensory and motor deficits. The reflexes can also be reduced or even fail completely due to a lumbar spinal syndrome with radicular pain.

Depending on the damaged nerve, affected persons can also have problems with digestion or urination. Radicular pain also has a tendency to become chronic pain. Prolonged standing but also strong coughing and pressing usually intensifies the radicular pain through increased pressure on the nerve root. Many patients feel a slight reduction in pain when they lie down or adopt a relieving posture, as this relieves the intervertebral discs. If one suffers from a lumbar spine syndrome with radicular pain, one can ultimately be very severely restricted in one’s mobility and smallest everyday activities.