Meralgia paraesthetica or meralgia paresthetica (see spelling ifferences) (me-ral'-gee-a par-es-thet'-i-ka) is numbness or pain in the outer thigh not caused by injury to the thigh, but by injury to a nerve that extends from the thigh to the spinal column. This chronic neurological disorder involves a single peripheral nerve, namely the Lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh (also called the Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve). The term meralgia paraesthetica comprises four Greek roots, which together denote "thigh pain involving anomalous perception."