To need to hear about vasectomies

[TillyMint81]

Dh is waiting on a letter for the date of his vasectomy.
Can anyone let me know what to expect? I work lates and he does the afternoon school run and subsequent child wrangling.
He's not very good at stopping still so I'm wondering if I need to book the evening off work. He's already said no but then it's not something we've been through before!
Friends of his aren't useful as some sailed through and some found it tough.
Can I hear your experiences please.

DH had his done on a friday afternoon. He was very swollen and bruised the next day and made sure that I was very aware of how painful it was ...... he had to wear tight fitting pants as opposed to boxers and didn't play golf for around 10 days. He found paracetamol helped the pain over the 1st weekend. Friend's DH had it done the same day and ended up with severe swelling and bruising that needed admission to hospital to treat.

It's minor surgery, but as with all surgery, there are risks and it can go awry for some. I'd allow for that and not plan too much.

Similar to most, DH had his done before Xmas - I drove him home but he doesn’t drive.

It was sore for a few days, up to about a week bit more tender to knocks and stiff jeans etc than normal, but he was able to walk to school and back the second day after.

It hasn't happened yet, dp is waiting for his appointment. His job involves heavy lifting so he's been signed off for a week, but if he had a desk job he probably wouldn't have been signed off at all. He's been prescribed diazepam and consultant advised to wear close but not right fitting briefs instead of loose boxers for a while

Following as my dp is considering this once our dd arrives. He seems very blasé about it but I'm quite anxious as I know the research on vasectomies and their long term risk isn't very thorough.

DH was in and out in about 40 mins. I drove him home, he lay on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon and took some ibuprofen when the local wore off, but did the school/ nursery run as usual that afternoon - about 1hr in the car (so, about 5 hours after the op). He was a bit sore and achey (not helped by 2.5yoDS bashing him in the balls the day after), but fine. No bruising or swelling. Was running again within a week, I think.

Mr Elbows said the worst part of the whole thing was trying to make small talk with tge female doctor while she rummaged round in his bits! He had a couple of days off I think and just took ordinary painkillers. The swelling and bruising were impressive, we both found that amusing. His first sample wasn't clear but the second one was and he's been fine ever since, as far as I know. Just a bit of rest and tlc and all should be fine.

DH said it was a real 'production line' approach. He was very surprised by how uncomfortable the actual procedure was, to the point of questioning whether the anaesthetic had worked properly. It certainly wasn't the 'quick snip' he had been led to expect - lots of uncomfortable pulling and a feeling of having been kicked in the balls is how he remembers it.

as has been stated one in ten men develop long term chronic pain taht cannot be treated even with repeated surgery.

I have several mates that have not been right since, loss of sex drive and severe pain, one had to have his testicles scraped.

I went so far as making an appointment but ended up cancelling it after looking into the risks. I don't like condoms (who does) but I like the thought of a 1 in 10 chance of long term testicular pain even less. Youngest son is now 11 so so far, so good, though I still get nervous when DW is a few days late!

one had to have his testicles scraped.

Scraped or scrapped? Scraped sounds worse 😱

His first sample wasn't clear but the second one was

Dh's sample was clear by the third 'deposit'. The fact he needed to keep going back made him feel like some sort of hyper fertile demi god.

headinhands

Scraped as in had to have a white covering that had developed around his testicles removed by dragging a sharp implement across them.

it's perfectly safe and a man should just get on with it Well, it makes a change from it being said to women since time immemorial.

I don't like condoms (who does) I've not a problem with them. Or was this comment just directed towards the males.

DH was one of the unlucky ones. Severe swelling, bruising all over his thighs, abdomen etc. Emergency admission to hospital to try and fix it. Severe pain lasted 6 weeks and then developed another infection and was back to hospital. It still plays up 6 years later, with swelling and cysts and is never 100% pain free.

I know of someone who developed sepsis after a vasectomy, not wanting to cause alarm, but just be aware of possible complications.

Unfortunately, not all vasectomies are straight forward.

Yes a bloke on here was in a really bad way. I think you only start reading about it properly once you hit complications. Most stories say oh yes dh was on the golf course an hour later.

Dhs op was horrifically painful. The anaesthetic had not taken. His balls were black for a few weeks. Pain for a month or longer. Still has pain after long drives and sport. Wears tight pants. Had a big hole in his ball bag for a while. I think he was lucky.

DH had his about 3 weeks ago. He was very unhappy after the pre op appointment, which he thought was just going to be a chat, and turned out as they have to
examine you to check the tubes which he wasn't expecting and found very uncomfortable (just a word of warning.) He also didn't like the fact a female nurse was watching!
But the actual procedure was a doddle. There and back within an hour, minimal pain controlled with just paracetamol and ibuprofen. He had the following day booked off work but would have been ok to drive and go in if he'd needed to. No bruising just two very small incisions. He had a couple of days where he was more uncomfortable than others, but he didn't follow advice of wearing supportive pants and taking it easy which could have been the reason.
All in all, so far so good.

DH's was a complete balls-up. Ha.
It was a horrendous time.

Make sure you do the research - chose the location and method carefully. I'd strongly suggest hospital rather than GP surgery.

Mr Fuzz, I think it was, had it terribly.

My dh has just had it done a month ago. He was back to work the next day. Took painkillers if and when he felt he needed them. Took 4/5 days off from the gym and cycling. Little bruised but otherwise fine. Wore snug boxers for a week including in bed

He also didn't like the fact a female nurse was watching! Good job he doesn't have to do legs akimbo getting his regions sewn up by the opposite sex. Or regular smear test then.

I've blotted the details out of my mind it was so horrible, and the DC were so young, but I think it was three admissions to hospital in terrible pain for over a week at a time. Eventual abscess.

Now, higher risk of cancer, pain after long drive, sports, sex, rain, etc, etc.
He calls it, 'The worst thing he's ever done'.

Yes, it's 10% chance of the seriois complications of vasectomy, including (but not limited to) untreatable pain (they try reversal and denervation, but the pain can persist even after that). The 19% does not include short-term complications or those which can be fixed without further interventions.

But that means for 90% of men it goes just fine, and all is settled back within a fortnight (some much, much quicker). It is worth taking the advice of 48 hours rest seriously. Tight pants (and perineal peas) can help. Pain beyond that which is readily held at bay by ordinary doses of OTC painkillers, of any sign of infection (heat, redness, oozing) should be reviewed by a doctor as a matter of some urgency.

And don't abandon other contraception until he has had the all clear (about 50% of 'failures' are attributed to this). Time to clear varies (it depends on both number of ejaculations and passage of time) and can take months. If longer than a year, it might be deemed a failed procedure and a repeat offered.

My DHhad a vasectomy 10 years ago and it was awful. The procedure itself was ok but within an hour of getting home I had to call an ambulance as his balls had swollen terribly and he was in agony.
It turned out he had a blood clot to both testicles and he spent the night in hospital. He came home the next day and spent 2 weeks led on the sofa in a lot of pain and was under a urologist for 12 months . Its really not something I would recommend to anyone .

My dp had his done whilst I was pregnant with our 4th.
He was tender for a few days, I think he had 2 weeks off work but he'd booked them as annual leave just in case. He was back on his motorbike within 3 days and he got the all clear after 4 months.
I can't take contraception and we're both allergic to condoms so it was basically our only option other than abstinence.

@Vitolgy - not liking them is not the same as having a problem with them. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many people, male or female, who would want to use them if they weren't actually needed for contraception or preventing std's.