The best answer to this question is found in Lovecraft's tale The Call of Cthulhu. Cthulhu is a monstrous entity who lies dead but dreaming in the city of R'lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness presently (and mercifully) sunken below the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Cthulhu appears in various monstrous and demonic forms in early myths of the human race. Racial memory preserves Him as humanity's most basic nightmare. Cthulhu is the high priest of the Great Old Ones, unnatural alien beings who ruled the Earth before humanity formed, worshipped as gods by some misguided people. It is said that They will return, causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever.
Nerve root compression that is severe enough to cause weakness in the arms or legs requires prompt diagnosis and surgical treatment because compression leads to death of the nerve cells and can permanently affect the function of the sensory and motor nerves downstream from the point of compression.
Part of the lamina is cut away to uncover the ligamentum flavumâa ligament that supports the spinal column. Next, an opening is cut in the ligamentum flavum, through which the spinal canal is accessed. The compressed nerve is now visible, as is the cauda equina (the bundle of nerve fibers at the end of the spinal cord) to which it is attached. The cause of compression may now also be identified: a bulging, ruptured or herniated disc, or perhaps a bone spur.