Vitamin D aids your nerve, muscle and immune functions, but its main role is in the development and maintenance of healthy bones in your body. The Office of Dietary Supplements recommends 600 international units, or IUs, of vitamin D per day for most children and adults. If you're older than 70, you need 800 IUs. While inadequate intake of vitamin D has been associated with joint pain, it doesn't affect gout.
Gout
If you have gout, you may have pain in some joints, such as your wrists, hands, feet and especially in your big toe. The pain usually comes on suddenly, and the affected joint will be red and warm. This pain arises from uric acid crystals that form in the joints, and not from nerve, muscle or bone issues. An acute gout attack is usually treated with medications. You can also talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about modifying your diet to limit the pain and joint damage that results from a gout attack.
Other Types of Joint Pain
Joint pain is a primary symptom of both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Many people with chronic pain syndromes also report joint pain. The Arthritis Foundation reported on a study done by Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston in 2007 where people with osteoarthritis of the knee and lower levels of vitamin D were three times more likely to report joint pain than those with adequate levels of the vitamin. And a Johns Hopkins Medical School study published in the journal "Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology" in 2010 noted the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and increased joint pain in people with rheumatoid arthritis. If you're not getting enough vitamin D, your muscles may weaken and your bones won't be as strong as they need to be for your joints to function normally. This could cause your joints to become painful.
Sources of Vitamin D
You can get vitamin D from egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver, and fortified cereals and milk. It is also synthesized in your skin when you are exposed to sunlight. As you age, your skin isn't as effective at utilizing sunlight to manufacture vitamin D, so many health care professionals recommend a supplement for older people.
Precautions
You'd need to take extremely high doses of vitamin D for it to be toxic, according to The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. For infants, that dose is about 40,000 IU a day over a period of one to four months. For adults, it's 50,000 IU per day for several months.
It's not usually supplements, but overexposure to sun that raises concern, as too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. The Mayo Clinic website advises that about 10 minutes of sun each day should provide adequate vitamin D to prevent a deficiency. Avoid being out in the sun in the hottest part of the day, as that's when you're most at risk for overexposure.
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin D
- MayoClinic.com: Gout
- "Arthritis Foundation"; Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Increased Osteoarthritis Pain; November 2007
- "Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology"; Relationships Among Vitamin D, Disease Activity, Pain and Disability in Rheumatoid Arthritis; U.J. Haque, et al.; September-October 2010
- The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Vitamin D
- MayoClinic.com: Vitamin D
