Can a pinched nerve from the spine go down the waist and leg?

For about 2 months now I have been having pain on the right side by the waist area and back. It started off on the right side by the waist and the back and then now it is on my right leg. I did 2 abdominal cat scans. One showed liver enlgarged and the other (done with contrast) showed normal. At first one of the liver enzymes were slightly elevated but then a couple of weeks later they were not. However the sonogram showed liver enlarged. A few doctors said that the pain can be from a pinched nerve from the back but the MRI showed normal. Can it still be a pinched nerve from th spine even the the MRI was normal? I went to a neurologist and they said I should do an EMG to find out if it is a nerve pain or not. They also said that it can be from the epidural I took when I was in labor for my 4 months old son. The GI said that the enlarged liver can be from the pregnancy. Is this true? I am confused about all this. IF anyone has any suggestions let me know. Thanks.

The pain you are having sounds like referred pain. The pain may originate one place, like the pinched nerve in your spine, and then be felt down your leg. This is not uncommon but does need to be pursued to determine the cause. I think you should stick with the neurologist or consider going to a pain management specialist. They are really great with back pain and try to avoid surgery whenever possible.

i am not a doctor and do not have any medical schooling at all!!! but when i was younger i went to a sports doctor for pain. i was diagnosed as having sciatica, which is caused by a compressed nerve. i had back pain in the lower back area, right side. the pain traveled from the back around and down my leg. if you have this the good news is that it can be treated with stretching and physical therapy. i will put a web site so can read up on it. listen to your doctors but educate yourself....goodluck.

The sciatic nerve ultimately divides into two nerves that innervate the feet. The EMG is probably appropriate. But this is not the correct forum to question your physicians' advice.

They've side tracked you too much; your liver is a separate issue from your pain. Have you talked to a primary care doctor? They're usually there to help you sort through all the mumbo jumbo in situations like this. Give your liver some time; your primary care doctor can recommend a possible re-test to make sure that your liver is back to normal. When it comes to your nerves, the EMG would help out a lot there, because it's a specific test designed to look at the details of nerve function, rather than just anatomy (which is what the MRI will do). You can have perfectly good looking nerves (MRI result) that don't work quite as they should (EMG result). Otherwise, everything you said here sounds correct. Hopefully I helped to put enough details together to get you started!