M.D. Nesrin Karakaya

After a decade of unexplained abdominal pain that countless doctors dismissed as 'stress,' I was referred to Dr. Karakaya as a last resort. She didn't just look at my scans; she spent an hour mapping my pain patterns with colored markers on a body chart. Her approach was like detective work—connecting seemingly unrelated symptoms. Through a series of targeted nerve blocks, she identified a rare abdominal wall nerve entrapment. The radiofrequency ablation she performed last month has given me my first pain-free days in ten years. At Acibadem Kozyatagi, her team treated me not as a hysterical woman, but as a complex puzzle needing solving.

My 8-year-old son developed debilitating complex regional pain syndrome after a minor ankle sprain. We saw five specialists who offered only strong medications. Dr. Karakaya created an entirely different plan: she transformed pain management into a game. She used biofeedback with cartoon characters, taught him 'magic breathing' techniques, and coordinated with a pediatric physiotherapist who used virtual reality. Instead of procedures, she focused on retraining his nervous system. Within six weeks, he was walking without limping. She treated his fear as seriously as his pain, and now he calls her 'the pain wizard.'

I arrived at Acibadem Kozyatagi's emergency department at 2 AM with acute trigeminal neuralgia—the 'suicide disease' pain. Standard protocols weren't working. Dr. Karakaya was called in and performed an emergency sphenopalatine ganglion block at my bedside. What amazed me wasn't just the immediate relief (though that was miraculous), but how she explained every sensation I'd experience during the procedure. Three days later, she had already arranged a multidisciplinary plan involving neurology and psychiatry for long-term management. Her emergency intervention wasn't a one-time fix but the first step in a comprehensive strategy.

As a 78-year-old with advanced osteoporosis and multiple vertebral fractures, I expected to live with pain. My previous doctor said 'this is just aging.' Dr. Karakaya refused that narrative. She designed a hybrid approach: kyphoplasty for the worst fractures combined with a gentle vertebral augmentation technique she modified for fragile bones. But her real innovation was the 'pain pacing' schedule she created with my caregiver—alternating activity types to prevent flare-ups. At my follow-up yesterday, she adjusted my plan based on my gardening goals, not just my scans. She treats me as a person who gardens, not just a spine with cracks.