End of week 16 update -
I've continued using the diclofenac gel but further progress in reducing the swelling is slow to non-existent.
The shin pain due to the compressed nerve had continued without any signs of improvement, then I remembered that long ago when I had a back injury (a herniated disk that impinged upon the sciatic nerve) the doctor explained that a vicious cycle ensued in which the compressed nerve causes the muscles to spasm, which then put additional pressure on the nerve, which caused more spasms, and round and round we go. In addition, the doctor explained that a badly stressed muscle can spasm on its own, without the involvement of a nerve, and when the muscle spasms it stresses itself further in another vicious cycle. The doctor prescribed muscle relaxants in addition to pain killers to stop the cycle and let the back muscles heal and the swelling to go down.
I wondered if the same thing might be going on in my shin muscle (the anterior tibialis), so I bought on Amazon some self-adhesive lidocaine pads. The pads are meant to be worn 8 hours out of every 24 so I wear them at night, with an ace bandage wrapped around the pad to keep it from getting scraped off as I toss and turn at night (which I do a lot).
I only started this two days ago and the pain is already sharply lessened and my RoM, which had been decreasing, has increased to 85° from 75°. I know this doesn't sound like much to many of you but this is an important improvement for me - if I can get it back up to 90-100° (100° is what the surgeon achieved after the surgery) and keep it there until the scar tissue danger zone is past, then I have the chance to then gain further RoM by stretching the tight muscles and connective tissue.
Lidocaine has been shown in some cases to have anti-inflammatory properties, so that may play a role as well.
So, hopefully things are looking up, and this is not just a fluke. I keep trying different things and sooner or later something has to work.