The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg For some, sciatica can be severe and debilitating. The clinical diagnosis of sciatica is referred to as "radiculopathy", which simply means that a disc has protruded from its normal position in the spinal column and is putting pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the low back, which ultimately forms part of the sciatic nerve.