How painful is a diskectomy? what sort of pain can i expect when i wake up after a diskectomy? how long will the incision or surgery site be painful?

It : It depends on the type of discectomy that is done. 1. Traditional disk surgery may have an incision up to 3 inches or more and be related to a lot of muscle traction, damage and pain requiring longer recovery period. 2. Minimally invasive surgery has an incision less then 1 inch but usually 16 to 18 mm in size and there is less skin, muscle and bone damage leading to a quicker recovery. 3. Endoscopic disk surgery has an incision less then 1 cm (0.39 inches) and usually has a very quick recovery from a few days to a few weeks. Please see my health guide on lumbar disk herniations and endoscopic spine surgery. Good luck!