I recently had a discectomy l5 s1 about ten days ago iam still having severe sciatica pain shooting down through my leg how long should i expect this level of pain?

Ask your surgeon: No one can answer this question better than the person who examined you, viewed your imaging and most importantly saw the pathology during surgery. Sciatic pain, whether sharp, burning, aching, can go away within hours after surgery or last a lifetime. Most commonly severe pain may take 6 to 8 weeks to resolve.

Need MRI: People who undergo microdiscectomy surgery should have good relief of their pain early after surgery. Sources of continued pain can be nerve injury from the herniated disc, retained disc fragment, or recurrent herniated disc. An MRI will help to provide an answer.

3 months: Surgery will remove the disc so it will not heal normally but can result in reduction in pain and resolving any lasting nerve damage due to the disc herniation. Healing can take up to 3 months. Healing on its own will take time and may keep the integrity of the disc intact which may be the best at keeping the disc as normal as possible. Healing on its own can take up to 6-9 months or longer.