In 2009, I fell on my buttocks and months later, the pain, sharp and painful, went down the outer side of my right leg. With every step I took, it was horrible..total and complete pain, like a lightening rod. I went to a pain specialist, and he tried epidurals, but the pain wouldn't go away. Finally, an MRI was done, and it showed the L5/S1 impinging on the nerve...I saw a surgeon, a good one, and had a spinal fusion at L4-S1...the pain finally went away after surgery...it was a tough surgery, but the nerve was involved, and that pain is so, so hard to take...I've had no pan in my back since my surgery...