Tingling and numbness on the knee

Femoral nerve

Femoral nerve

Hello Jomei,


One night I got sore muscle form my right buttock and I did massage with a little machine. After that morning, I started to feel numbness and tingling around the front side of knee and the calf, inner side of my leg. The lateral side is all OK. I don't know what the problem might be and how to fix it. By the way, I am a dentist and sometime bend down to see many handicapped patients because they are so struggling. I don't know that would be the cause or not.

Thank you very much if you can tell me what the problem might be.

Jomei Su





Good evening Dr Su,
Thank you for your question.

The most common nerve affected in the lower back is the sciatic nerve which passes through the sciatic notch in the buttock, predominantly to the posterior or lateral thigh, calf and lasteral foot, or great toe.

Less commonly, the Femoral nerve passes from the upper lumbar spine, through the pelvis and exits via the groin to the anterior thigh, exactly in the pattern you describe.

The stretch test for the Femoral nerve is more difficult than that for the Sciatic nerve which can easily be done at home (Slump Test). It needs to be done by a competent and experienced clinician.

Do you get pain on forward bending, or extension and/or lateral flexion?

A short leg is always a factor in leg pain, but more so in lesions of the Femoral nerve. Have someone examine you for a leg length inequality.

I recommend you start immediately with the lower back exercises described at Chiropractic Help, using your discretion and common sense. The goal isn't the London summer Olympics! Before you get out of bed in the morning is best.

It's best to take leg pain seriously. See someone...

Dr. Barrie Lewis


> > > Tingling and numbness on the knee



Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Chiropractic help Questions (Low back pain).





Did you find this page useful? Then perhaps forward it to a suffering friend. Better still, Tweet or Face Book it.

Share this page:
Enjoy this page? Then forward it to a friend. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.