Methods for accessing nerves within bone

A method of ablating a basivertebral nerve in a vertebra of a patient, the vertebra comprising a vertebral body and a pedicle, the method comprising:

• providing an introducer and an instrument, the introducer having a linear shaft defining a central channel and an opening at a distal tip of the introducer, the instrument comprising a proximal portion and a distal deflectable section;
• inserting the introducer through the pedicle toward a cancellous portion of the vertebral body;
• delivering the instrument into the central channel of the introducer and toward the cancellous portion of the vertebral body;
• advancing the distal deflectable section of the instrument past the opening at the distal tip of the introducer and along a curved path in the cancellous portion of the vertebral body;
• and
• applying bipolar radiofrequency energy between a first electrode and a second electrode of a bipolar RF probe that is at least in part disposed in the curved path in an immediate vicinity of the basivertebral nerve and near a junction of the basivertebral nerve to ablate at least a portion of the basivertebral nerve.