Foot Drop: Difficulty Lifting the Front of the Foot

Lumbar Motor Deficit

Also called: foot drop, leg weakness from a pinched nerve

New or worsening leg or foot weakness, such as foot drop, caused by a compressed lumbar nerve root, and a signal that timely evaluation matters.

Lumbar Disc Herniation

Also called: slipped disc, sciatica, herniated disc in the lower back, ruptured disc

When part of a disc in the lower back displaces and presses on a nerve root, causing sciatica: pain, numbness, or weakness down the leg.

Lumbar Radiculopathy

Also called: pinched nerve in the lower back, sciatica, trapped nerve in the lower back, nerve pain down the leg

A pinched or inflamed nerve root in the lower back that sends sharp, burning, or electric pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness down the leg.

Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis

Also called: narrowed nerve exit in the lower back, pinched nerve where it leaves the spine

A narrowing of the bony exit channel through which a lumbar nerve root leaves the spine, causing sharp, radiating leg pain, numbness, and sometimes weakness.

Lumbar Lateral Recess Stenosis

A focal narrowing of the subarticular zone of the lumbar spine that compresses a traversing nerve root, producing leg pain, numbness, and sometimes weakness along a specific dermatomal pattern.

Cauda Equina Syndrome

Also called: cauda equina compression, nerve compression at the bottom of the spine

A spinal emergency caused by compression of the lumbar and sacral nerve roots, producing leg weakness, saddle numbness, and loss of bladder or bowel control that can become permanent without immediate treatment.

Peripheral Neuropathy as a Spine Mimic

Also called: nerve damage in the hands and feet, numbness and burning in the feet

A disorder of the peripheral nerves that produces numbness, tingling, burning pain, and weakness resembling a spinal pinched nerve or cord compression.