Nerve · Thigh

Tibial nerve

Nervus tibialis

The tibial nerve is the larger of the sciatic nerve's two divisions and the nerve of pushing off. It supplies the whole back of the calf — the gastrocnemius and soleus that raise the heel, and the deep muscles that grip with the toes — and then continues behind the inner ankle bone into the sole of the foot, where it supplies all the sensation you stand on and the small muscles that support the arch. Its trouble spot is that passage behind the inner ankle, the tarsal tunnel: compression there gives burning, tingling and numbness in the sole, typically worse the longer you are on your feet.