Wellness
November 6, 2026·5 min read
We live in one of the sunniest places in the country, and the question still comes up more than you'd think: how could anyone in Yuma be low on vitamin D? Vitamin D deficiency in Yuma isn't a contradiction — it's a reflection of how we actually live here. And whether you should be tested has far more to do with you than with the weather.
Most people picture it simply: sun hits skin, skin makes vitamin D, done. The reality has more variables.
Your skin makes vitamin D when it's exposed to UVB light — one specific slice of sunlight. According to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements' vitamin D fact sheet, how much your skin produces depends on the time of day, the season, how much skin is exposed, skin pigmentation, age, and sunscreen use. The same fact sheet notes that UVB doesn't pass through window glass, and that your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium from food.
Living under the sun and making vitamin D from it are two different things. The sun is the same for everyone in Yuma County. What reaches your skin — and what your skin does with it — is not.
Think about what a Yuma summer actually looks like. From roughly June through September, most of us move from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned office. The dog gets walked at 5:30 in the morning or after sundown — the hours when UVB is weakest. Errands happen fast. Anyone working outside is covered head to toe, for good reason.
Sunscreen. Hats. Long sleeves. Shade.
Those are the right choices in the desert. They're also why a sunny zip code doesn't tell you much about your vitamin D.
The NIH also identifies groups more likely to run low no matter where they live: older adults, whose skin makes vitamin D less efficiently; people with darker skin, since melanin reduces how much vitamin D skin makes from the same exposure; people with obesity or who have had gastric bypass surgery; and people with conditions that limit fat absorption.
None of that changes because the forecast says 75 and sunny.
Here's the thing — the internet's favorite advice for low vitamin D is “get more sun.” In Yuma, I won't give it.
The American Academy of Dermatology considers UV radiation a proven cause of skin cancer and recommends getting vitamin D from food, beverages, and supplements rather than from unprotected sun or tanning. Our UV here is intense most of the year, and sun damage adds up quietly — in your skin's texture, its pigment, and its long-term health. Trading that for vitamin D doesn't make sense when there are other ways to get it.
So the year-round message doesn't change: protect your skin. If vitamin D is a question, we answer it with a lab test, not with time in the sun.
No — and I'd rather say that plainly.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded in 2021 that there isn't enough evidence to weigh the benefits and harms of screening adults without symptoms. The Endocrine Society's 2024 clinical practice guideline also suggests against routine vitamin D testing in the general population. I take both positions seriously. Testing everyone, every year, is not the standard.
Where testing earns its place is in answering a specific question. Maybe you fall into one of the groups above. Maybe you have a history of low levels, take a medication that interacts with vitamin D, or have a condition that changes how you absorb nutrients. Maybe you've taken a high-dose supplement for years without anyone checking — and the NIH notes that too much vitamin D can be harmful, so that's worth knowing too.
What testing isn't is a way to explain every symptom. Feeling tired has dozens of possible causes. Vitamin D status is confirmed with a blood test — not guessed from how you feel.
If labs confirm a deficiency, there's more than one way to support your levels. Oral supplements are one route. A vitamin D injection is another option — it bypasses the digestive tract, which matters most when oral absorption is a concern. Enhance offers vitamin D injections dispensed by a licensed compounding pharmacy. They're a supportive tool, not a replacement for a balanced diet or for a full medical evaluation of whatever brought you in.
It's the same approach I've described with B12: confirm first, then choose the route that fits your situation.
People sometimes ask whether IV therapy covers this. Our IV hydration therapy formulations are built around fluids, electrolytes, B-complex vitamins, and vitamin C — useful for dehydration after a long day in the desert sun, but a separate conversation from vitamin D.
A first wellness visit with me is a conversation before it's anything else. We talk through your history, your medications, how you actually spend your days — including how much of the year you spend indoors — and whether a vitamin D test answers a real question for you. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the more useful next step is something else entirely.
If we run labs, we review the results together, in context. If a deficiency is confirmed, we talk through your options — oral supplementation, an injection, or both — and what follow-up makes sense. Injections are given in-office under the medical direction of Marina Roloff, DNP, FNP-C. I won't promise a timeline for how you'll feel; individual results vary.
This fits inside the broader health and wellness care we offer — the belief that labs, symptoms, and daily life belong in the same conversation. November is a natural time for it. The heat has broken, winter residents are settling back into the Foothills, and plenty of people are already planning year-end check-ins.
If you'd like to talk through whether testing makes sense for you, schedule a consultation through our vitamin injection services page or call 928.370.4480.
Prescription and compounded treatments require a medical evaluation. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved. Individual results vary. Full disclosures.
Medically reviewed by Marina Roloff, DNP, FNP-C — 2026-11-05
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Marina Roloff, DNP, FNP-C — Enhance Aesthetics & Wellness, Yuma, AZ
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