Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms and Your Skin

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms Are Not Difficult to Recognize

Keeping your skin healthy and attractive requires the practice of good daily skin care, and a heightened awareness as to what can go wrong with your skin and the measures you can take to correct the disorder.

Vitamins are one of the critical skin care factors that keep your skin looking and feeling the best it can. More precisely, the antioxidants in certain vitamins help prevent and repair damage caused to skin cells by free radicals, those nasty by-products of the sun’s ultraviolet rays, airborne pollutants, smoke, and other environmental factors.

A vitamin deficiency can lead to any number of skin problems, including excessive dryness of skin, cracking, irritation, redness, inflammation, and extreme itchiness, to name just a few.  

Vitamin D is often overlooked when it comes to proper skin care. We always warn our readers to protect themselves against too much sun exposure. Loose clothing and a good sunscreen are always recommended.

Be Careful with Sunscreens

Be aware of any sunscreens containing Vitamin A, however, as this vitamin makes skin extra sensitive to the sun, and can even function of a carcinogen – see our article Vitamins for Skin - Choosing the Right Ones for more on Vitamin A.

Too much unprotected sun exposure is bad for your skin and can lead to carcinomas and melanomas (skin cancers) years into the future. But too little sun exposure deprives you of one of nature’s ways to keep your skin healthy. The main cause of Vitamin D deficiency is not getting enough sunlight!

The same ultraviolet sun rays that can damage your unprotected skin, if received in the right amount, can actually make your skin healthier by manufacturing Vitamin D in your body. Fifteen minutes a day in the sun, with no protection, will help your body produce Vitamin D and reduce the potential for experiencing Vitamin D deficiency symptoms.

Why is Vitamin D important to your skin’s health? Well, for one thing it is a powerful antioxidant with anti-cancer properties. In addition to its many benefits to the health of the eyes, bones, nails, and teeth, to regulating calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood, to  strengthening the immune system and fighting off various forms of illness, it also has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis.

Maintain Proper Levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin A

We know that proper levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin A are crucial for maintaining healthy, more youthful  skin.  Both aid in the repair of damaged skin caused by free radicals, such as those produced by ultraviolet rays.

Vitamin C helps neutralize the free radicals that cause structural components of the skin such as collagen and elastin fibers to deteriorate. These fibers are what keep the skin looking and feeling firm and supple.

By enhancing the absorption of both Vitamin C and Vitamin A, Vitamin D increase the body’s capacity to prevent skin damage and skin aging, such as dry skin, wrinkles, age spots, and possibly skin cancer.  

It is so important that you have enough Vitamin D, either from food sources, sunlight, or supplementation. Milk, egg yolks, and many types of fish contain Vitamin D. an active supplement form of the vitamin is Calciferol, or Vitamin D3, which unlike many forms, can be converted by the liver and kidneys into a useable form.

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

The following Vitamin D deficiency symptoms are typical, so if you have any of these, it could be you are not getting enough Vitamin D. Some are the result of a deficiency in calcium and phosphate, as without Vitamin D, these important minerals cannot be absorbed by the body.

• muscle spasms and muscle aches
  
  
• rickets in infants, softness of the skull in infants
  
  
• abnormal bone growth in toddlers, curvature of spine, knock-knees, bowlegs
  
  
• pain walking for adolescents
  
  
• brittle bones in adults, especially in the legs, spine, and pelvic areas
  
  
• dental decay
  
  
• a worsening diabetes condition
  
  
• fatigue, low energy levels
  
  
• nervousness
  
  
• insomnia
  
  
• diarrhea

Make Sure You Get Enough Vitamin D

If you are getting enough Vitamin D (take a simple blood test, if you are not sure) and are still experiencing any of the above, see a doctor. Be aware that these Vitamin D deficiency symptoms may also be related to some other condition.