To remove or cut off the nerve supply to an organ, tissue, or body part, usually through surgery.
From Latin 'de-' (away) + 'nervus' (nerve) + '-ate' (to cause), formed in the 19th century as a medical term describing surgical nerve removal or disconnection.
When surgeons denervate tissues, they can eliminate chronic pain signals—it's a radical solution that works because pain is ultimately just nerves sending messages your brain chooses to interpret.
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