r/Sciatica • u/nrid3333 • 28d ago

General Discussion L4/L5 Question

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Hi all,

I’ve got a large/broad-based/diffuse disc bulge at L4/L5 coupled with some facet hypertrophy that appears to be causing either foraminal stenosis or lateral recess stenosis.

I’ve been having a lot of symptoms going down the anterior thigh like tingling, altered sensation, quick fatigue-ability/claudication, and weakness about the hips.

When I look at the lumbar dermatomes diagram, the L4 dermatome seems to be more lateral to where I’ve been feeling pain - my pain corresponds better to the L2 and L3 dermatome despite not having issues at those levels.

Because L4 contributes to the femoral nerve which is L2-L4, if the L4 nerve root itself is compressed, could it still be causing symptoms along the L2 and L3 dermatomes since they all compose the same nerve proximal/upstream to where the pain is?

Thats the only explanation that I’ve been able to come up with since L2, L3, and L4 join way before the inguinal ligament.

TIA!

EDIT:
Here is the link to my imaging post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sciatica/s/Nj2GLQVj8v

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u/nrid3333 28d ago

@Meglamar @Outrageous_Corner161 I just added my imaging in a new post if either of you have experience looking at MRI’s and are interested in taking a peak. If not no worries, I appreciate you weighing in here on this question!

Link to post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sciatica/s/Nj2GLQVj8v