Question: I got into a car accident a week ago. Since the accident, I have been getting pangs of numbness (or "pins and needles" feeling) throughout all my body every so often. It's like I feel totally normal most of the time, but once in a while I will suddendly get a sharp pang of "pins and needles" throughout my entire body. It will go away after a fraction of a second.

It is the same "pins and needles" feeling you get when you lay on your arm at night and then you wake up and your arm feels like it is "asleep."

These pangs of numbness do not affect my coordination. I have been going to the gym and I will get them while I am lifting weights or running, and it will not affect my coordination.

It has been a week since the accident. I expected this to have gone away by now. Is this something I should worry about? Should I see a neurologist?

Edit: I forgot to mention that I hit my head when I got into the car accident, and the symptoms I described started immediately after the accident.

Thanks for your answer.

Actually, there was not considerable force on my neck. I hit my chin on the airbag when it went off (I am assuming it was my chin because I was bleeding from it, but everything happened too fast for me to be sure). My neck did not snap back and I had no pain in my neck or any other part of my body.

I was afraid I might have gotten a serious concussion or some other type of brain injury. Also, the "pins and needles" feeling happens all over my body (including in my head and face) at the same time, and then after a fraction of a second it goes away (all at once). I am not sure this is consistent with a neck or spinal cord injury, but I was afraid it might be consistent with some kind of head or brain injury.

The best metaphor I can use to describe the symptoms is that it is kind of like if you drop a lamp on the floor, and then after you pick it up, the light bulb stays on but it starts flickering every now and then. There is still a connection between the light bulb and the lamp, but that connection has been disrupted ever so slightly by the impact of the lamp hitting the ground, causing the light bulb to flicker every now and then.

Thank you.

Edit: The symptoms have gotten better in the last few days. The "pins and needles" feeling is not as intense as it was earlier on. However, I am still having mild symptoms of it occasionally, and it has been over 8 days since the accident.