A commonly known cause of pain radiating down your legs is pressure to the nerves in your lower back. However back issues are not the only cause of this, excessive tension or adhesions in the Peroneals can produce outer knee pain or compression of the Peroneal nerve which can produce numbness and/or tingling in the lower leg and foot. If your lower leg pain is caused by tight Peroneals this is how you can address it with a foam roller exercise:
Set-up
Lie on your side on the ground with the foam roller underneath the outside of one leg. Place the same side elbow and the opposite hand/foot on the ground for stability.
Performance
From the starting position, press up and roll back and forth over the outside portion of your lower leg.
Roll for 30–60 seconds, and then switch legs.
To increase the pressure, try stacking one leg on top of the other while foam rolling the bottom leg.
Anatomy and Function
The Peroneals originate from just below the outside of the knee and insert onto the bottom of the foot. Peroneus longus and Peroneus brevis are responsible for plantar flexion and eversion. Peroneus tertius assists with dorsiflexion. If you have excessive tension in your Peroneals then it is worth figuring out if you regularly do any activities that would overstrain these muscles?