Numbness on left side of body

Hey guys, took a pretty good slab fall last week. About a week after the fall, and climbing most of those days, the left side of my body has been slightly numb, as if it were waking back up.

I landed on my heels first the rope caught and I smashed my right butt cheek into the wall. It is bruised well. Almost a week later I woke up feeling numbness on the left side of my body....I am wondering if this is connected to my fall...

Anywho dont have health insurance and am thinking of just going to the ER.

Thoughts, similar experiences....thanks

Todd

It could definitely have something to do with the fall, go to an urgent care clinic or similar, you need to get that checked out. Don't go to the ER unless its your only option.

When I had a concussion, I told my doctor I had numbness on my left side, and she said that it could be the beginning of a stroke. I don't think this is what you have though. Don't take my word for it as I am no doctor, and get medical help.

Jon got it right!
Ranchhand the ER should be your last resort.
Express care is what we have here locally.
A good chiropractor will take xrays before treatment.
Could be your discs are out of alignment and pinching nerves?

don't worry, all bleeding stops

As I'm sure others would agree, seeking medical advice on the internet is not the best avenue, but I can completely empathize with the no-insurance approach and being concerned.

Is it actual numbness? tingling, burning, etc? Is it the entire left side of your body as stated or can you isolate specific areas? Any loss of function on that side? Was it actually only your heels and butt that impacted the wall when you fell? Things happen fast when gravity takes over.

If you're concerned, see a professional provider. The more detailed your history of the event and symptoms - in theory, the less risk of unneeded tests and costs.

Go to an urgent care, numbness that persists is a pretty serious symptom, although it could turn out to be nothing, the alternatives are not worth it.

Hopefully this is actually useful. If you don't have insurance, but actually do have some assets, go to urgent care first as their bills will be much lower for the services provided. If you have no real assets, and the urgent care refers you to the ER go and get checked out. Millions of people who have no intent on paying for their health care go to the ER all the time and if you are seriously injured you should not avoid seeking help if you think you really need it but cannot pay.

You need to be seen. It's interesting that nobody has mentioned going to a primary care doc.

God i love this country

Numbness is a bad thing. Whether it's connected to your fall (spinal injury of some sort), or it's an unrelated issue with your brain (clot or whatever), you need to go get it checked out asap.

A GP or Urgent Care should get the ball rolling. The med bills will suck, but that's the risk you ran by going without insurance (and I've been there as well). Numbness is no joke though, it can be serious, even serious with the possibility of getting far worse if not treated. So go.

And whatever you do, do NOT go see a chiropractor.

To T. Maino's point, I just asked my wife - she is an ER doctor, and she said "Do not go to the ED for this. Maybe he messed up his gluteal nerve when he hit his bottom. But if the whole side of his body (including his arms) is numb that does not fall into any kind of neurological distribution. Go see a primary are doctor."

Hope it helps.

its most likely a pinched nerve. a pinched nerve in the lower spine which could easily happen from a fall well cause lower left side abdominal numbness.

If youre really worried go see your doctor or go to an urgent care clinic. But youre msot likely going to go spend money to get told to eat aspirin.

As ben said above though it really depends how extensive your numbness is. If its stretching outside of the lower left abdominal region then you should go see a dr. If its localized, with no actual pain prob a pinched nerve.

Erik W wrote: And whatever you do, do NOT go see a chiropractor.

Yes, trust western medicine. After $1000 worth of XRays and MRIs and BS in the ER or UC, they will give you some pain killers and say have a nice day.

I trust my chiropractors WAAAAY more than my primary and cetainly the ER or Urgent Care. Primaries are glorified pill dispensers. Another option is Orthopedic MD. They will give more guidance than either and most can and will do manipulations.

David Sahalie wrote: Yes, trust western medicine. After $1000 worth of XRays and MRIs and BS in the ER or UC, they will give you some pain killers and say have a nice day. I trust my chiropractors WAAAAY more than my primary and certainly the ER or Urgent Care. Primaries are glorified pill dispensers. Another option is Orthopedic MD. They will give more guidance than either and most can and will do manipulations.

Word. I took a bouldering fall directly onto my back from about 12 feet up. I thought I was fine at the time, but a few weeks later I was in major pain. My chiro took me from barely being able to get out of bed or lift a bag (let alone climb) because my low back hurt so bad to climbing again with zero pain in a matter of a few weeks.

I will say, however, that I've never had complete numbness on one whole side of my body due to sublaxation (misalignment of the vertebrae). My symptoms were more often a nervy tingling/pinching in either my arm or leg (depending on the location of the misalignment), headaches, and back pain. That said, it's not out of the realm of possibility that in a fall, the neck could suffer a whiplash effect and be knocked out of alignment causing tingling in the arm, and the hip was knocked out too causing tingling in the leg.

The only other instance when I've seen someone with unilateral numbness is when my grandfather had a full-on stroke (once) and a series of TIAs (mini-strokes that clear up quickly and usually don't cause lasting harm). But both of those were accompanied by the inability to talk, disorientation, etc.

That said, OP, you should definitely seek medical help, but you should go where you feel comfortable.

thanks, went to the ER last night gotta go to another doctor. I have parathesia which could be caused by a myriad of things. I have numbness from the top of my head down to my toes on the left side of my body. I dont think its related to the fall.

David Sahalie wrote: Another option is Orthopedic MD. They will give more guidance than either and most can and will do manipulations.

I think you mean Osteopathic MD (not orthopedic...unless you broke a bone or need knee surgery).

David Sahalie wrote: Yes, trust western medicine. After $1000 worth of XRays and MRIs and BS in the ER or UC, they will give you some pain killers and say have a nice day. I trust my chiropractors WAAAAY more than my primary and cetainly the ER or Urgent Care. Primaries are glorified pill dispensers. Another option is Orthopedic MD. They will give more guidance than either and most can and will do manipulations.

Chiropractic and "Western medicine" are complimentary. Chiropractic was started in Iowa, so it's more western than you might think. I agree that osteopathic doc is a good choice... mabye best of both worlds.

Fortunately, whole body left sided numbness is frequently not the result of a brain tumor or a stroke or a pinched nerve. If that's the case then your cowboy Western doctor will indeed tell you have a nice day and it will likely be expensive. You will then be better served of you go to a chiropractor or osteopath or accupunturist.

It will be expensive because usually those things DO need to be ruled out. Chiropractors are not so good at investigating strokes and malignancies. Your primary care doc (M.D. or D.O.) is better at that.

Sorry, I've got to go back to being a glorified pill dispenser now.

Ranchhand wrote:I have numbness from the top of my head down to my toes on the left side of my body.

Wow. That would freak me right out. I'm glad the ER was able to rule out something imminently serious (like a stroke), but I do find it a little funny that you went in and said, "I'm numb" and their diagnosis was: "Yup, you're numb. Only we call it parathesia."

I hope everything gets sorted out quickly, and your doc(s) will work with you on the costs.

Could be a herniated disk , warm to neck, see MD. Clinic will do, if u dont wanna go to er.

T. Maino wrote: Sorry, I've got to go back to being a glorified pill dispenser now.

Nothing personal, just had some bad experiences.