Locating Sciatic Nerve

The sciatic nerve is a large nerve in humans. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body going from the top of the leg to the foot on the posterior aspect. The sciatic supplies nearly the whole of the skin of the leg, the muscles of the back of the thigh, and those of the leg and foot. It is derived from spinal nerves L4 through S3. It contains fibres from both the anterior and posterior divisions of the lumbosacral plexus.

Pain caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve by a problem in the lower back is called sciatica. Common causes of sciatica include the following lower back and hip conditions: spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and piriformis syndrome.

Done