Sciatica is a buttock pain radiating down the back of the thigh and leg and possibly into the calf or foot. Other characteristics of sciatica include varying degrees of weakness in the leg muscles and numbness and/or tingling that radiates down the leg. These symptoms occur because of compression and/or irritation of the sciatic nerve or nerve roots which are forming the sciatic nerve. The areas in the buttock and leg affected by this compression are the areas that the sciatic nerve supplies with messages for normal function. There are many other names for sciatica including lumbosacral radicular syndrome, radiating low back pain, nerve root pain, and nerve root entrapment.
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