I went all days of thunder on that thing

August 16, 2007 8:51 AM

DoINeedADoctorFilter: Yesterday, I was the bottom half of a two-car gokart pileup and the upper car landed on my right shin.

I was wearing jeans, so the skin was only cut a little. I can walk on it with no pain, so i don't think it's broken or fractured. The weird thing is there is about a 6" circle surrounding the scratch that is completely NUMB. I've never hurt myself before. Is this normal?

Yes, I could go see a doctor, but I don't want him to laugh at me if it's just a scratch.

posted by pencroft to health & fitness (4 comments total)

IANAD. At all. But I've been hurt a lot.

Sometimes a lot of compression -- like a big bruise or something landing on you against the bone -- will do something to a nerve. Then you can have weird numbness for a little while.

I say give it a week or two and it'll probably just go away.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:54 AM on August 16, 2007

Seconding fiercecupcake; I'd say if it's no better after a week, or it gets worse at any point, go see that quack.
posted by Drexen at 9:15 AM on August 16, 2007

Not speaking to the current issues, but I will point out that I did about this, and got a permanent lump on the bone. If this happens, get someone to look at it, but avoid panic, evidentally it's common. (They just took X-rays, and said, "Oh, you fell and brused it, right?")
posted by unrepentanthippie at 9:25 AM on August 16, 2007

There's very little room in the compartment that is in front of the thigh. However, a nerve does run there to carry sensory input from your thigh. If the nerve runs through a bruised area or gets bruised itself often the nerve stops working for a period of time (usually a few weeks), resulting in numbness. I've never heard of anything being done about this other than watchful waiting.

However, if you're worried about it, see a doctor.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:38 AM on August 16, 2007