Is it bad to have a pinched nerve in my calf?

I have it because it is what causes foot drop, but the doctors don't know what causes that or why the nerve got pinched in the first place I suppose.
So I got braces on both my legs so I can walk better otherwise my legs or walking gait are weakened by the foot drop.
But I am just wondering if in the long term is pinched nerves bad to have or they dont do any other damage to the rest of the body?
I heard there is surgery but my doctors never recommended it for me.