I had three disk herniate and now only have 22% of the feeling left from my waist down. I did lose control of a lot of muscle but was able to regain it through physical therapy. The nerve damage just depends on how long it was going on how severely the nerves were pinched and what your doctor says. You may be able to post the NCS results one here and have someone tell you what to expect on that end. Nerves regenerate the width of a index card a year so if I were you I would get comfortable with the loss. There is a chart on my profile that has the nerves and what they effect if you are interested and you can ask me anything if you are having problems. I have had back problems for 14 years. Good luck to you.
I am in a similar boat, I have nerve damage and atrophy because of the S1 nerve..I to am wondering how you would know if its perminit..sorry I dont have answers for you can you exsplain your symptoms>
I just replied to your post a few minutes ago, I didn't know you had had an MRI, you didn't mention it in your other post. It seemed kind of strange, because MRI's usually are done before EMG and Nerve conduction tests.
Take Care