Straight-leg test for evaluating low back pain
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Straight-leg test for evaluating low back pain
For a straight-leg test for low back pain, you lie on your back with both legs straight. Your health professional raises one of your legs upward, keeping the knee straight.
- If you have pain down the back of your leg below the knee when your leg is raised, the test is positive (abnormal).
- If doing this test on the unaffected leg causes pain in the affected leg, it is more likely that you have a herniated disc. This is known as crossover pain.
Credits
| Author | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH |
| Author | Lila Havens |
| Editor | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS |
| Editor | Katy E. Magee, MA |
| Associate Editor | Michele Cronen |
| Associate Editor | Tracy Landauer |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Kathie Hummel-Berry, PT, PhD - Physical Therapy |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Robert B. Keller, MD - Orthopedics |
| Last Updated | February 15, 2006 |
| Last updated: | February 15, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Lila Havens |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Robert B. Keller, MD - Orthopedics |
| Editors: | Katy E. Magee, MA, Tracy Landauer |
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