Have you ever experienced shooting pains in your legs that felt something like an electric shock? Or have you had a sudden numbness or pins-and-needles sensation in your legs or feet that you can’t explain?

These are not uncommon symptoms that can occur for any number of reasons, both in younger and older people. For some, they are merely a nuisance that will eventually go away. Sometimes, however, the pain can be persistent and overwhelming. They can affect a person’s ability to walk, sleep, or engage in everyday activities.

While the cause of the pain can originate in the legs, it is more often associated with thelumbar spine. This includes the five vertebrae (bones that form the spinal column) situated between the pelvis and rib cage. Housed in and around the spinal column are the discs, nerves, and connecting musculature, which may contribute to radicular pain or sensations in the legs and feet.

Lumbar Spine and Shooting Leg Pain

The lumbar spine is a segment of the vertebral column. It’s responsible, in large part, for supporting the upper body and holding you in a standing-up position. The five vertebrae are designated as L1 at the top proceeding downward to L5 at the bottom.

Shooting leg pain or peripheral numbness and tingling may occur when anterior slippage of a lumbar vertebra occurs, called spondylolistheses, most commonly due to degenerative changes. This, in turn, places abnormal pressure on a nerve root, which can cause nociceptive afferents (sensory nerves that detect noxious stimuli) to fire. The brain registers these signals as pain, which you can then feel down the nerve pathway into the leg and foot, often intensely.

People describe the pain as feeling like:

Associated Conditions

Age and Spinal Stenosis

Deterioration due to degenerative changes as you age can cause stenosis, which is a common cause of peripheral leg pain.

Stenosis is the narrowing of either the spinal canal or theneural foramina, most commonly due to the progressive breakdown of cartilage and tissue.

Foraminal stenosis leads to compression of thespinal nerve root, whereas spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal itself, which can compress the spinal cord and the surrounding nerves; both types of stenosis can lead to leg pain, numbness, and weakness.

Co-occurring conditions like osteoarthritis can exacerbate the condition.

An Overview of Spinal Stenosis

Injury

Injury can impact spinal integrity. While the associated leg pain may only be temporary, it can sometimes persist and may even become permanent for some people.

A lumbar spine injury that causes severe nerve compression can cause:Loss of bladder and bowel controlDiminished sexual function

A lumbar spine injury that causes severe nerve compression can cause:

Disc Herniation

Disc herniation (or bulge) is another common cause of lumbar radiculopathy. A disc is a round rubbery cushion that sits between your vertebrae. A tear in the rubbery outer portion of the disc, called the annulus, allows some of the jelly-like inner portion of theintervertebral discto bulge out. Most disc herniations occur at the bottom of the spine at the L4/5 and/or L5/S1 discs.

The condition may not always cause symptoms, but the symptoms can include lower back pain, numbness, tingling, and general weakness in the legs. Radiating pain is common and typically affects only one side of the body, generally thelower extremityor buttocks.

An Overview of Herniated Disc

Sciatica

Sciaticais defined as pain radiating down the leg from the lower back. Sciatica occurs when the nerve roots that form thesciatic nerve, L4, L5, S1, S2, and S3 are compressed, causing pain in the leg.

Sciatica Symptoms and Causes

Summary

When a nerve is compressed, it can lead to sensations of pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the upper and lower leg and feet.

Lhermitte’s Sign: Symptoms and Treatments

A Word From Verywell

If you’re experiencing shooting pains in your legs, check with your healthcare provider. They can help you to pinpoint what’s causing the problem. By getting the right diagnosis, you can get a treatment that allows you to return to your normal activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on the cause. Shooting leg pain is often nerve-related and is often treated with medication, chiropractic adjustments, and physical therapy. If conservative treatments fail to bring relief, more invasive procedures, like surgery may be needed.

Medications used to treat shooting leg pains include anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, tricyclic antidepressants, and anti-seizure medications. Steroid injections may also help to relieve nerve pain that shoots down your legs.

8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Maryland Medical Center.A patient’s guide to anatomy and function of the spine.Cedars-Sinai.Spondylolisthesis.Sleeping Foundation.Numbness in hands while sleeping: causes and remedies.Bagley C, MacAllister M, Dosselman L, Moreno J, Aoun SG, El Ahmadieh TY.Current concepts and recent advances in understanding and managing lumbar spine stenosis.F1000Res. 2019;8:137. doi:10.12688/f1000research.16082.1Long B, Koyfman A, Gottlieb M.Evaluation and management of cauda equina syndrome in the emergency department.The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2020;38(1):143-148. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.158402Barzouhi A el, Vleggeert-Lankamp CLAM, Nijeholt GJL à, et al.Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.PLOS ONE. 2014;9(3):e90800. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090800Wei FL, Li T, Song Y, et al.Sciatic herpes zoster suspected of lumbar disc herniation: an infrequent case report and literature review.Front Surg. 2021;8:663740. doi: 0.3389/fsurg.2021.663740American Pregnancy Association.Pregnancy and sciatic nerve pain.Additional ReadingNational Institutes of Health: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Pain.

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Maryland Medical Center.A patient’s guide to anatomy and function of the spine.Cedars-Sinai.Spondylolisthesis.Sleeping Foundation.Numbness in hands while sleeping: causes and remedies.Bagley C, MacAllister M, Dosselman L, Moreno J, Aoun SG, El Ahmadieh TY.Current concepts and recent advances in understanding and managing lumbar spine stenosis.F1000Res. 2019;8:137. doi:10.12688/f1000research.16082.1Long B, Koyfman A, Gottlieb M.Evaluation and management of cauda equina syndrome in the emergency department.The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2020;38(1):143-148. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.158402Barzouhi A el, Vleggeert-Lankamp CLAM, Nijeholt GJL à, et al.Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.PLOS ONE. 2014;9(3):e90800. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090800Wei FL, Li T, Song Y, et al.Sciatic herpes zoster suspected of lumbar disc herniation: an infrequent case report and literature review.Front Surg. 2021;8:663740. doi: 0.3389/fsurg.2021.663740American Pregnancy Association.Pregnancy and sciatic nerve pain.Additional ReadingNational Institutes of Health: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Pain.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

University of Maryland Medical Center.A patient’s guide to anatomy and function of the spine.Cedars-Sinai.Spondylolisthesis.Sleeping Foundation.Numbness in hands while sleeping: causes and remedies.Bagley C, MacAllister M, Dosselman L, Moreno J, Aoun SG, El Ahmadieh TY.Current concepts and recent advances in understanding and managing lumbar spine stenosis.F1000Res. 2019;8:137. doi:10.12688/f1000research.16082.1Long B, Koyfman A, Gottlieb M.Evaluation and management of cauda equina syndrome in the emergency department.The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2020;38(1):143-148. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.158402Barzouhi A el, Vleggeert-Lankamp CLAM, Nijeholt GJL à, et al.Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.PLOS ONE. 2014;9(3):e90800. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090800Wei FL, Li T, Song Y, et al.Sciatic herpes zoster suspected of lumbar disc herniation: an infrequent case report and literature review.Front Surg. 2021;8:663740. doi: 0.3389/fsurg.2021.663740American Pregnancy Association.Pregnancy and sciatic nerve pain.

University of Maryland Medical Center.A patient’s guide to anatomy and function of the spine.

Cedars-Sinai.Spondylolisthesis.

Sleeping Foundation.Numbness in hands while sleeping: causes and remedies.

Bagley C, MacAllister M, Dosselman L, Moreno J, Aoun SG, El Ahmadieh TY.Current concepts and recent advances in understanding and managing lumbar spine stenosis.F1000Res. 2019;8:137. doi:10.12688/f1000research.16082.1

Long B, Koyfman A, Gottlieb M.Evaluation and management of cauda equina syndrome in the emergency department.The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2020;38(1):143-148. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.158402

Barzouhi A el, Vleggeert-Lankamp CLAM, Nijeholt GJL à, et al.Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.PLOS ONE. 2014;9(3):e90800. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090800

Wei FL, Li T, Song Y, et al.Sciatic herpes zoster suspected of lumbar disc herniation: an infrequent case report and literature review.Front Surg. 2021;8:663740. doi: 0.3389/fsurg.2021.663740

American Pregnancy Association.Pregnancy and sciatic nerve pain.

National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Pain.

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