What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a common fat-soluble vitamin that can be made naturally in the body with help from the sun but you can also get it from food such as oily fish, red meat and breakfast cereals. This is why most health experts recommend between 5-30 minutes of daylight a day. Despite this and its commonality, it is estimated that upwards of 50% of people today have Vitamin D deficiency due to a number of factors such as environmental, air pollution, wearing more clothes and dietary, less outside activities or a simple lack of ability to absorb and make it. This can and has been detrimental to a number of people as a lack of vitamin D can lead to a number of bone and health complications like osteoporosis, aching and weak bones as well as hampering your skin’s ability to repair and protect against free radicals caused by uv radiation. This is why vitamin D injections are rising in popularity.
How can vitamin D help?
Vitamin D helps mainly by keeping your bones and teeth healthy since it helps regulate the calcium and phosphate in your body which help keep bones and teeth healthy but this is not all it is good for, It has many good properties in keeping skin free of things such as age spots and dark circles due to it being able to eliminate free radicals, the leading cause of age spots and dark circles, that are caused by UV radiation. It can also help with;
- Healthy metabolism
- Skin cell growth and repair
- Protecting against free radicals
- Helping protect against osteoporosis
What are the signs of low vitamin D levels?
There are a few different signs for a vitamin D deficiency that can include aching bones, nausea, confusion, fatigue and constipation. You do not need all of these to have a vitamin D deficiency, you may also not experience any of these but still class as deficient.
How can you get vitamin D when you’re deficient?
Vitamin D supplements that you have prescribed from your doctors is the most common way but you can also get them with us here at Arden Clinic in the form of an intramuscular vitamin D injection called Ergocalciferol. This is a much faster working way and can last far longer than regular supplements like pills. They also are far more efficient making them much more appealing than daily pills.
Using regular oral pills is the most commonly prescribed method of taking vitamin D but compared to just getting an injection, it is very inefficient. This is because an injection bypasses the digestive tract and reaches the cells directly. This means it gets to work MUCH faster than their oral substitutes.
This is supported by how low the absorption rates of oral supplements are. For instance, if you take a calcium supplement, your body’s digestive system absorbs 10-30% of the pill. You will urinate out whatever your body does not absorb. This is why It’s reasonable to conclude that injecting a high-dose of vitamin D into your muscle is the most efficient way to combat a Vitamin D deficiency.
Downtime and side effects
Downtime with Ergocalciferol is minimal with a sore arm being the main drawback but this clears up within a day or two at most. Side-effects aren’t very common either, you may experience mild nausea, tiredness and a headache at most if you do experience any.
Who can have it done and how long between injections?
You should not get a vitamin D injection if you are; suffering from kidney and liver problems, pregnant or breastfeeding, active acute treatment, discretion of prescriber, hypercalcaemia, evidence of vitamin D toxicity.
Usually you would have this injection once every 3-6 months to keep the levels healthy. This can vary depending on the individual but expect a 6 month wait between injections as that is the norm for most people.
Price of Vitamin D injection?
A vitamin D injection will only cost £45 from us here at Arden Clinic Bradford and Leeds.