Talk to your doctor if you suffer from lumbar radiculopathy and are interested in a nerve conduction study. There is contrasting evidence concerning the use of this test in patients with this condition. Only through a thorough analysis of your symptoms and situation can you and your doctor decide what’s best. Radicular pain is most commonly secondary to inflammation or compression of a spinal nerve. Pain that radiates down the back of the leg to end at the calf or foot is generally described as sciatica. This pain is usually deep and steady. It can generally be reproduced with particular activities or positions, including sitting or walking.

Radicular pain can also come with numbness, muscle weakness, and tingling. A patient has “radiculopathy” when an actual nerve dysfunction is noted. Radilcular pain generally spreads to the thigh, calf, and sometimes the foot. It travels along the course of a specific spinal nerve root. With this condition, the leg pain is usually worse than the low back pain.

There are many causes for lumbar radiculopathy.

All are products of compression, inflammation, and/or an injury to a spinal nerve root that’s located in the low back. The most common cause of radiculopathy is a herniated disc with nerve compression. Other causes include foraminal stenosis, diabetes, nerve root injuries, or scar tissue from a previous spinal surgery affecting the nerve root. Keep in mind that sciatica is a term used to describe where the pain is felt, but is not an actual diagnosis. A physical exam, imaging studies, and possibly a nerve conduction study including EMG and NCS tests are used to make a diagnosis.

It’s recommended that a course of nonsurgical treatments is used for six to eight weeks to relieve pain. These treatments include medications, physical therapy, selective spinal injections, and others. If this treatment doesn’t help, then surgical options can be discussed.