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.
| Author: | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH Ralph Poore | Last Updated: March 31, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Robert B. Keller, MD - Orthopedics Andrew Swan, MD, CCFP, FCFP - Family Medicine | |
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