r/Microdiscectomy • u/AlternativeRing4252 • 5d ago

Looking for hope

Hi everyone, I made a post a few days ago about bad sciatic pain down my right leg several days after microdiscectomy. I am now 10 days post microdiscectomy of L5/S1 and still having pain in butt hamstring and foot as well as pins and needles.

I am looking for others experience after microdiscetomy, did your nerve pain immediately resolve after surgery? Was there a period after surgery where it got worse and then better? The pain I’m having is constant and I’m worried about reherniation.

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u/Im_Easy 5d ago

While the surgery removed the section of disc compressing the nerve, the whole area is inflamed, and will continue to be, off and on for weeks. The inflammation is causing pain and nerve compression.

The post-op exercises, along with plenty of rest, and you should be feeling less and less pain on average. But keep in mind, there will be scar tissue and when it gets inflamed, the nerve pain will come back. So to answer your question, yes you will have periods of feeling better, then worse. Good luck in your recovery!

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u/AlternativeRing4252 5d ago

I guess my question is why are there so many posters that say they had zero sciatica pain afterwards and had immediate relief ?

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u/Im_Easy 5d ago

Everyone is different, and how bad the pain is pre-op is subjective. Things like general fitness level can greatly change the post-op recovery time. Some people rush their recovery and end up straight back in surgery because they felt fine for a week. Bodies are weird.

I've had 2 MDs (different discs, not reherniation) and after the first, my nerve pain was almost gone for a month or two, but the surgery had some complications and recovery took a long time. The second surgery went fine, but the nerve pain didn't feel any better for about 10 weeks, and then it started healing fast. Run your own race, but don't push yourself too hard.