Have chronic Pain? Vitamin D Might Help!

It‘s summer (well, as of tomorrow it is!)... Go and enjoy some sunshine!!!

We have been taught so stringently about the skin cancer-causing effects of sun, but what about its merits?  Well, Vitamin D, for one.

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin; it is something we get through sunlight rather than from food. While some foods do contain vitamin D, it is nowhere near enough to replace what we get from the sun.

Researchers have begun to realize this and numerous studies over the past decade have associated Vitamin D deficiency not only in bone diseases like rickets, but also in a host of other serious disorders and illnesses: cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, immune disorders, to name just a few.

Vitamin D has some pretty awesome benefits:

• Reduces chances of heart disease
• Reduces chances of cancer
• Extremely helpful against osteoporosis
• Very good for the immune system
• Helps fight depression
• Reduces acne
• Helps reduce chances of getting Alzheimer’s
• May also help with weight loss
• Help prevent pathological muscle weakness
• Combat type II diabetes and the metabolic syndrome

More recently there have been a number of studies linking Vitamin D deficiency and non-specific (unidentified; no know origin) chronic musculoskeletal pain.  Scientists are now suggesting that vitamin D deficiency should be included in the list of possible diagnoses in the evaluation of musculoskeletal pain complaints in a physiotherapy setting, and treatment should be considered an important component of the treatment plan.

There are several patient-types with chronic pain who are at risk for this deficiency:

·        Housebound seniors

·        Patients with pigmented skin (i.e. black or brown skin)

·        People with cultural avoidances of sun (wearing a veil or long sleeves)

·        People with existing GI issues as they typically don’t have the ability to absorb vitamin D

·        And finally.....those of us who live in the northern latitude during wintertime, which is all of us in Canada!!!

 

So, if you’re attending physiotherapy, if you have chronic musculoskeletal pain, and if you fit one of the above risk categories...don’t be surprised if your therapist recommends vitamin D supplements (specifically vitamin D₃), or that you bask in the warmth of the sunlight 10-20 minutes each day (but still wear sunscreen!).

Posted via email from Northumberland Physiotherapy and Foot Care Centre's posterous