What is radiculopathy (sciatica for lower limbs)?
This section explains the previous section. See ‘Indicators for nerve root problems’ (above). Structure of disc and surrounding structures has been outlined ยป Background Information. Nerve roots come through the space present between vertebrae. These roots are termed according to the vertebral level of their exit from our spine. Roots that supply legs are L1 to L5 and S1 to S5. Each nerve root supplies a particular part of our skin called dermatome. See the figure on the left for the details of dermatomes supplied by these roots. To know more about dermatomes go to this Wikipedia article. Damage to the roots can occur due to many causes. We call it radiculopathy. Radiculopathy is recognized by a set of peculiar symptoms that it produces. In lower limbs the symptoms of radiculopathy are called sciatica. When a particular nerve root is affected the symptoms are confined to that particular dermatome. Since L4, L5 and S1 roots are more commonly affected roots symptoms often occur in lower
