According to Neurosurgeon Jobyna Whiting, herniated discs are very common causes of back pain. She explains there is not a lot of space where the nerves are “and when that little piece of disc comes out, it may seem very small but it can brush up against a nerve and irritate or even can compress the nerve and actually start to damage it”.

This pain, called radiculopathy, is commonly referred to by a lot of patients as either sciatica or as a pinched nerve. These symptoms can be noticed “radiating down the patient’s leg in some specific pattern. That means that the nerve that’s been pinched up in the back is really just responsible for innervation along that line,” the doctor says.