During the microdiscectomy the surgeon does sometime have to move the nerve so that can inflame the nerve further. Before they sew you up they pretty much flood the area with anti-inflammatories, which wear off after about a week. I was told it is fairly common for the nerve to flare up in the second week, but that the symptoms would fade as the nerve recovered.

I'm not sure what you mean by stretch the nerve, but I wouldn't do anything other than the exercises you were given post surgery.

Scottiegal

A person can develop adhesions post op that attach to the nerve giving it that trapped feeling. I have experienced that a few times. My NS had me moving my feet to loosen and to keep the nerve free. So basically if lying in bed or kicked back in a recliner, I point my toes forward as much as I can and then point them back towards me as much as I can. I do this over and over and I can feel the nerve loosen up. My NS told me this was a great way to avoid further entrapment of the nerve during the post op healing process.

That being said, you really need to check with your doc before doing any kind of exercise or stretching. Since we are all different and our docs have different styles and healing philosophies, we need to heed what each of them say.

"C"

I am just over 4 weeks post op from a microdiscectomy at L5/S1. I had the same concerns you are having. If I tried to stretch the nerve at all it felt stuck or trapped as it did before the surgery. I was told by my doctor that this is simply swelling at the surgery site and is completely normal. I was skeptical but must admit that it has gotten better every day. I had my first physical therapy appt. yesterday and was nervous that when I woke up today I would be extremely sore as they had me do some light stretching of the nerve. To my surprise I actually feel better today than I did yesterday. That being said, I wouldn't suggest that you try any stretches or exercises until your doctor gives you the green light. To get to the point, just give it time and hopefully you will start to see improvement over the next few weeks. I never thought I would feel this good just 4 weeks after surgery. Good luck!

I had an endoscopic microD and the nerve pain was horrid for about 1 year. It takes the nerve some time to heal after being compressed. I could not lift my right leg at all for about 4 months. I had to use my hand and lift my pant leg to get in and out of the car. Be patient and it should get better.

I was in bed, basically paralyzed for almost a month post-op L5-S1 md.
It turned out to be inflammation, swelling and edema.
I called the surgeon and asked to come back in.
They injected an ESI into the surgical site.
No change until day 3 when I noticed the pain going away. By day 7 I was pain-free.

Every case is different.

epidurals, blocks, rhizotomy 2 weeks after surgery. None of it even touched the pain. Yes everyone is very different.