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I've just been diagnosed with lumbosacral radicular syndrome. Isn't this just a fancied up phrase for the old sciatica my father used to complain about?

In Greek, the word sciatica translates to mean hip pain. But most people use this term today to mean back pain that radiates (travels) down the leg. Lumbosacral radicular syndrome is a more accurate scientific term to describe intense leg pain from irritation of the sciatic nerve. You may also see the term sciatic neuralgia used to describe this condition. Although it's medically more accurate, it's not freqently used in the medical literature. But the term syndrome is important here. Besides pain, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg. All of these are symptoms, not a disease. Most of the time, the syndrome is caused by pressure on one of the five nerve roots that form the sciatic nerve. This usually comes from a protruding or herniated disc. But it could also be caused by bone spurs, tumors, or spinal stenosis creating the same effect of compression or irriation of the nerve.

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