“What does it exactly mean when they describe the left L5 nerve root appearing “slightly flattened”? How severe is this? Is surgery necessary to relieve this flattening”? Flattening is a physical description of the affects of compression on the root. Roots are not designed to allow too much compression and flattening of the root can cause intermittent or constant nerve pain and malfunction. The only two ways to relieve this compression are with surgery or if you’re lucky and can tolerate the symptoms, time.
“Yesterday I went for a short walk and I started to get some shooting nerve pain into my left calf. I’m almost 7 weeks at this point with symptoms and I feel like I’m not getting better. I feel like I’m in “limbo” and wondering if I should just schedule surgery”? It sounds like you would be a good candidate for a redo microdiscectomy.
Dr. Corenman