That is one of the unknowns and FEARS I believe most of us deal with here. I do know that my own driving force before diagnosis to get medical OPINIONS out the wazoo was to find out what the feakadelic scary thing was happening to me! My own instincts were literally yelling at me that SOMETHING IS WRONG..VERY WRONG.. From all I've learned here and from other sites...far, far more than is in any book in any library for sure..I felt I had to get it done and before I was a goner. Based on that instinct and the docs I was truly lucky to find, I am NOT a goner.
In all my readings, the thing I really find strange still...is that researchers seem to be more enchanted with the chemical and physical dynamics or the hundreds of neuro conditions's nerves deaths...very little about how they either SURVIVE or REGROW. Of course lots of this research is probably pure 'researchers' interest, of not application to US living in the real world. The rest is motivated by the drug companies to ultimately and ostensibly 'alleviate' our pains....A teeny bit is involved in the processes of 'getting better'.
That All said, What I've gleaned so far is that the processes of nerves regrowing is very similar but not so 'pattern oriented' as that of nerve death or damage. Soo that means that the pains you feel now may be re-growth, I've found my own to be intermittent and sporadic...I try to keep moving...so once those nerves 'connect' somewhere, they can be given 'clues' from somewhere unknown to 'get connected' in the right ways...
That said, the whole thing of getting docs to LOOK at you ...the DUH? patient as a whole really requires a lion tamer at times?
Getting good PT and all is a hard, very hard thing to do..Here it mite pay off, IF you can, to go to available PT sites and see, what and how they do it.. Some patients are sheep and just do...to do, because it's supposed to be good. Most patients don't know about the probelms we face in the Doing/Trying Harder in some circumstances...Interview a PT before you sink your money and the INs Co's $ into any place...IF you are in a situation to be picky? It can really pay off..
I have been getting a possible improvement ...I will let you know more after I see the neuro..which will be soon.
Yes, pain -nerve pain does occur with nerves healing as well as them dying.. Keep thinking the good parts and it might just be so! - j

Good or bad, it's all totally scary...no way about that!