Dr. Fitz - Nerve Health

Dr. Fitz - Nerve Health Nerve pain or neuropathy?

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06/04/2026

Your nerves may be aging faster than the rest of you — and what's on your plate could be part of the reason.

Here's something most neuropathy patients never hear. Researchers this year found that a consistently inflammatory diet was linked to more nerve damage. When they looked at why, accelerated biological aging explained about a fifth of the connection. So it isn't only that bad food irritates nerves in the moment — over time it appears to speed the clock on the whole system, and peripheral nerves are some of the first tissue to show the wear.

It's a snapshot study, so association rather than proof. But the mechanism lines up with the biology.

The first step doesn't have to be surgery. Start here — link's in the first comment.

Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, MD
Fellowship-Trained Peripheral Nerve Surgeon

06/03/2026

I performed thousands of nerve surgeries before it really hit me — I'd been fixing these nerves at the wrong end.

The damage always arrived finished: numb feet, burning hands, sensation that wasn't coming back. But the pattern underneath kept repeating. The tissue around the nerve was inflamed, and that inflammation kept tracing back to diet.

A study this year found people eating the most pro-inflammatory diets had roughly 40% higher prevalence of nerve damage. Part of the reason: chronic inflammation appears to age the body faster, and the nerves take some of that hit.

You can't operate your way out of that. But your diet, you can change. Start here — link's in the first comment.

Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, MD
Fellowship-Trained Peripheral Nerve Surgeon

06/02/2026

A "normal" A1C is not the same as healthy nerves.

A1C is just an average, and averages hide the daily spikes and crashes that quietly wear your nerves down. Every spike drives the polyol pathway, sorbitol builds up inside the nerve cell, and over time that becomes real damage — even while your labs look fine.

It's the swings, not just the number. And catching it early, when symptoms are still mild, is where you actually have leverage.

If you've got tingling, burning, or numbness and keep being told your bloodwork is normal, it's worth a closer look. Free 5-minute nerve risk assessment — link in the comments 👇

A "normal" A1C is not the same as healthy nerves. Here's the part that gets missed.A1C is just an average of your blood ...
06/02/2026

A "normal" A1C is not the same as healthy nerves. Here's the part that gets missed.

A1C is just an average of your blood sugar over a few months. And like any average, it hides the chaos underneath — the spikes after refined carbs, the crash a couple hours later, the rollercoaster repeating all day long.

Those swings are what your peripheral nerves actually feel. Every spike pushes glucose down the polyol pathway, sorbitol piles up inside the nerve, and its antioxidant defenses get worn down. Over time that's real damage — and it can be building while your labs look "fine."

That's why two people with the exact same A1C can have completely different nerve outcomes. Stability matters as much as the average, sometimes more.

I won't oversell it — blood sugar control won't undo advanced nerve damage. But catching this early, when symptoms are mild and labs still look normal, is where you actually have leverage.

If you have tingling, burning, or numbness and keep being told your bloodwork is normal, it's worth a closer look.

I put together a free 5-minute nerve risk assessment that checks for this exact pattern. Link in the comments below 👇

You can feel something is off in your hands and feet — the tingling, the numbness, the burning that tends to show up at ...
06/01/2026

You can feel something is off in your hands and feet — the tingling, the numbness, the burning that tends to show up at night — long before it ever shows up on a test.

For years I treated those nerves on the operating table. And here is what I kept seeing: the damage didn't start at the nerve. It started at the dinner table.

A study this year in Experimental Gerontology followed nearly 8,000 adults and found something most people never hear from their doctor. A diet that's consistently pro-inflammatory is linked to a sharply higher prevalence of peripheral nerve damage — and there's a tipping point. Once your diet crosses a measurable inflammation threshold, the risk doesn't climb gradually. It jumps.

Part of the reason? Inflammation appears to age your body faster than the calendar does. The researchers estimated that accelerated biological aging accounted for roughly 20% of the link between an inflammatory diet and nerve damage.

Now, this is a snapshot study, so it shows association rather than proof. But it fits everything I saw in the OR, and it lands on the one risk factor you actually control: what's on your plate.

If you're dealing with neuropathy symptoms and you're tired of being told to just "manage" it, I built a place to start. My Nerve Health Protocol page walks you through the options — including a free 10-minute call where we'll know pretty quickly whether this is something I can help with.

👉 Start here: https://drfitznutrition.com/pages/dr-fitz-nerve-protocol



Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, MD
Fellowship-Trained Peripheral Nerve Surgeon

05/31/2026

Most doctors miss this. You don't have to be diabetic to develop diet-driven nerve damage.

The landmark research of Singleton and colleagues showed that patients with impaired glucose tolerance — A1C still normal — already have measurably reduced small nerve fiber density on skin biopsy. Insulin resistance alone drives small fiber neuropathy years before frank diabetes shows up on standard testing.

I'm Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, a fellowship-trained peripheral nerve surgeon. If you have burning feet or tingling and your labs come back normal, ask your doctor about an oral glucose tolerance test.

Free Nerve Health Blueprint: drfitznutrition.com/pages/nerve-health-blueprint

05/28/2026

A "fine" A1C does not mean your nerves are safe.

A 2024 meta-analysis of 3,649 diabetic patients found that glycemic variability — the size and frequency of your blood sugar spikes — independently predicted peripheral neuropathy risk, even after controlling for average glucose.

I'm Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, a fellowship-trained peripheral nerve surgeon. Here's why white bread, cereals, and sweetened drinks may be damaging your nerves at every meal — even when your labs look acceptable.

Free 5-minute nerve health risk assessment: drfitznutrition.com/pages/nerve-health-risk-assessment-free-5-minute-quiz

05/27/2026

Most people understand that sugar raises blood glucose. Almost nobody understands that fructose specifically generates 10x more methylglyoxal — one of the most reactive molecules in human biochemistry, and a direct driver of peripheral nerve damage.

I'm Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, a fellowship-trained peripheral nerve surgeon. This is why your A1C alone doesn't tell you whether your diet is damaging your nerves.

Free Nerve Health Blueprint: drfitznutrition.com/pages/nerve-health-blueprint

Ibuprofen is the most commonly used anti-inflammatory in America. For acute pain, it works. For chronic, low-grade nerve...
05/26/2026

Ibuprofen is the most commonly used anti-inflammatory in America. For acute pain, it works. For chronic, low-grade nerve inflammation, it can quietly cause more problems than it solves.

Here is what most patients are never told:

Chronic NSAID use damages the stomach lining, stresses kidney filtration, and disrupts the gut barrier. Studies have linked daily long-term use to increased cardiovascular risk and impaired tissue healing. It blocks COX enzymes broadly, which means it shuts down inflammation you do not want and inflammation your body actually needs for repair.

Bromelain works differently. It is a proteolytic enzyme extracted from pineapple stems with more than 40 years of clinical research behind it. It modulates inflammatory cytokines selectively. It supports gut and tissue healing rather than damaging them. It does not stress the kidneys or liver at therapeutic doses. And it can be taken daily long-term without the cumulative harm profile of NSAIDs.

This is not a recommendation to stop your medications. That is a conversation between you and your physician. It is a recommendation to know that bromelain exists, that it is well-studied, and that for chronic nerve inflammation, it is one of the most reasonable natural compounds to have in your protocol.

Bromelain is one of the 12 ingredients in NeuroAxis for exactly this reason.

If you want the full nerve recovery protocol, download the Free Nerve Health Blueprint. Link in first comment.

Dr. Michael Fitzmaurice, MD
Fellowship-Trained Peripheral Nerve Surgeon

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Prescott, AZ
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