Femoral Nerve

What is your femoral nerve?

Your femoral nerve is one of the largest nerves in your leg. It has a motor function to help you move your hips, legs, ankles and feet. It also has a sensory function, helping you feel touch, pain and hot or cold temperatures.

Your femoral nerve is part of your peripheral nervous system. This system sends signals from your brain to your lower limbs, upper limbs and some organs.

If you experience pain, numbness or weakness in your legs or feet, reach out to a healthcare provider. They can determine if you have a specific issue in the nerves of your leg and develop a treatment plan for you.

What is the purpose of your femoral nerve?

Your femoral nerve is one of two major leg nerves that provide motor (movement) and sensory functions to your lower limbs. Your femoral nerve works for the front of your leg, while your sciatic nerve serves the back of your leg.

Your femoral nerve:

• Conveys touch, pain and temperature sensations from your hip, thigh, knee and leg
• Stimulates thigh and hip flexor muscles (your psoas major and iliacus muscles) to help you bend and straighten your legs and knees, as well as bend at your hip

Where is your femoral nerve?

Your femoral nerve:

• Originates from the L2 to L4 femoral nerve roots in your lumbar plexus
• Enters your femoral triangle, a hollow, wedge-shaped area between your upper thigh and groin
  • Your femoral nerve, femoral artery, femoral vein and lymphatic vessels go through this triangle
• Runs down the front of your thigh between your psoas major and hip flexor muscles
• Travels alongside your femoral artery, the large blood vessel that carries blood to your lower limbs
• Splits into two nerves, the anterior division and posterior division, beneath your inguinal ligament
• The posterior division becomes your saphenous nerve at your adductor canal, a narrow tunnel-like opening in your thigh, which provides sensations to your knee, lower leg, ankle and foot

What are your femoral nerve branches?

Near your pubic bone, your femoral nerve branches into your anterior (superficial) femoral nerve and your posterior (deep) femoral nerve. Each of these branches provides certain motor or sensory functions:

• Motor functions. Your anterior femoral branch helps you flex and move at your hips. Your posterior femoral branch controls your quadricep muscles to help straighten your knees.
• Sensory functions. Your anterior femoral leg nerve provides sensory functions to the front and middle part of your thigh. Your posterior femoral leg nerve becomes your saphenous nerve, which provides sensory information to your lower leg and foot.

What conditions and disorders affect your femoral nerve?

Conditions that can damage or affect your femoral nerve include:

• Femoral nerve neuropathy (femoral nerve dysfunction). “Neuropathy” is another word for nerve damage. Damage that affects only one femoral nerve is known as mononeuropathy.
• Meralgia paresthetica. Pressure on your lateral femoral cutaneous nerve in your thigh can cause meralgia paresthetica, a type of painful nerve compression syndrome.
• Pinched nerve. Swollen tissues squeeze your leg nerve, causing a pinched nerve or nerve entrapment.

What are the signs of femoral nerve problems?

Pain that radiates from your back and hips into your legs (radicular pain) is a common sign of femoral nerve damage. Other symptoms include:

• Ankle pain, foot pain or leg pain
• Difficulty straightening your knee, leg or ankle
• Leg, ankle or foot numbness, weakness, tingling or paralysis
• Lower back pain, hip pain or groin pain
• Muscle loss in your legs
• Problems walking

When should I talk to my healthcare provider?

You should call a provider if you experience:

• An inability to bend or straighten your knees or flex your ankles
• Difficulty walking
• Pain, numbness or weakness in your legs or feet