Vitamin D is a factor that is not often associated with the back and our spine. However, it should not be underestimated for the well-being of the musculoskeletal system
Produced by exposure to the sun, this vitamin helps to optimise the absorption of calcium from food, a mineral essential for many functions, including bone strength and the correct regularity of muscle contractions.
If there is too little vitamin D in the blood, calcium levels in the blood drops and the body reacts by drawing it out of the bones, through a process that causes pressure on their outermost layer, called the periosteum.
The importance of vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency causes bone fragility, called osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children. Vitamin D also prevents osteoporosis, which is another weak bone condition.
Vitamin D also affects the immune system and helps prevent diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The publication of a study indicates that vitamin D supplementation in patients with low serum concentrations may be an easy and safe way to reduce chronic pain, mainly musculoskeletal, in many patients.
Vitamin D deficiency may cause nociceptors (pain sensors) in skeletal muscles to become hypersensitive and thus increase pain perception.
There are further studies of groups of patients with chronic low back pain, all of whom improved dramatically with vitamin D supplementation.
The chiropractor can help you
Don’t go to a chiropractor only when you feel pain. Chiropractic is not just a simple “cracking” of bones that makes back pain go away, it is a philosophy of life.
Painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs are palliatives that act on the symptom and mask it, without solving the problem.
Chiropractic, on the other hand, seeks and eliminates the cause and can always be complemented with a balanced and healthy diet to enhance a good result.