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.

Took me about a week to recover. I'd recommend you plan for him to do nothing for a few days afterwards. It is an operation after all, albeit a minor one.

@Vitology DW hates condoms.

Dh fainted on the night god love him.

He had the next day resting. It was more fun taking the piss after 6 kids.

Still it is sore.

Book the evening off as he may feel rough

@Vitalogy oh don't worry I told him that!

DH was rather sore for about four days after the anaesthetic wore off and was walking like John Wayne for the first two.

I'd take the afternoon/evening off at least, get some frozen peas and supportive pants in.

DH has one. Done in the morning, went to work in the afternoon, was messing around with the kids in the evening. A few days later he said it was a bit sore but he had been for a run 🤨 I think he was one of the lucky ones

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. Well no, what else would they be using them for, water balloons . Preventing mess, that's about it isn't it. Condoms are so less invasive. I know I'll not be doing anymore pill popping. They're a good alternative IMHO.

DW hates condoms May I ask why?

She doesn't like how they smell, the faff of putting them on (lack of spontaneity) and how they feel. The last time (before I had a vasectomy) I suggested using them she said 'ugh.'

What even the fruity ones!

Wonder what the world record for putting a condom on is.

Princess and the pea situation.

It's all immaterial anyhoo, that ships sailed.

Yep irrelevant for us now
Clearly my condom technique wasn't up to scratch!

Thank you so much for all the replies. I've just got in from work so haven't had time to look through them all as yet. The ones I've seen have been really helpful.

Yes, it's 10% chance of the seriois complications of vasectomy, including (but not limited to) untreatable pain

I was shocked when I first heard this statistic here on MN last year. The comparable rate in the US is 1-2%

An overview of the management of post-vasectomy pain syndrome

The 2012 American Urological Association (AUA) guideline for vasectomy which was updated in 2015 states that 1–2% of men who undergo a vasectomy will develop chronic scrotal pain that is severe enough to interfere with their quality of life and require medical attention.4

Either we have better surgical techniques or tougher men.

You chaps are welcome to fly to New York to have them done.

My DH had his done many years ago and was just fine afterwards.

MissConductUS

Either we have better surgical techniques or tougher men. grin

Or you have rubbish stats from a group of people that have to encourage people to have this done to get paid.

My dh was booked in to have 1 last year. They attempted it but couldn't finish because of a cyst.
He then had to be sent to hospital. Eventually got a pre op but blood results showed diabetes and blood pressure too High. He's still waiting.

"The most robust study of post-vasectomy pain, according to the American Urology Association's Vasectomy Guidelines 2012 (amended 2015) found a rate of 14.7% reported new-onset scrotal pain at 7 months after vasectomy with 0.9% describing the pain as "quite severe and noticeably affecting their quality of life".

(Leslie TA; Illing RO; Cranston DW; et al. (2007). "The incidence of chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy: a prospective audit". BJU Int. 100 (6): 1330. doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2007.07128.x. PMID 17850378.)

I hate some of the language people use around vasectomy - 'tough' 'taking turn' comparisons to childbirth etc. It's wrong to belittle or overlook the potential complications.

Here's the actual abstract of that study:

The incidence of chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy: a prospective audit.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the extent of scrotal pain in men before and after vasectomy, to produce accurate data for the benefit of men considering this procedure, and hence improved informed consent about the outcomes, as chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy is a poorly quantified clinical problem.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Between November 2004 and January 2006 nine surgeons carried out vasectomies in 625 men (mean age 39.9 years, sd 5.6) under local anaesthesia. A questionnaire was devised to establish the presence of any scrotal or testicular pain, and to characterize this discomfort; 6 months after the procedure a modified version of the same questionnaire was administered.
RESULTS:

In all, 593 (94.7%) men returned the preoperative questionnaires and were entered into the study; 488 (82.2%) of these completed the follow-up questionnaire, giving a mean (sd) follow-up of 6.8 (1.6) months. In all, 65 men reported new-onset scrotal pain at 7 months (14.7%). The mean visual analogue score for this pain was 3.4/10. Four men (0.9%) in the responding group described pain after vasectomy as 'quite severe and noticeably affecting their quality of life'.
CONCLUSION:

At 7 months after vasectomy about 15% of previously asymptomatic men have some degree of scrotal discomfort. These early data indicate that chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy is a genuine entity, but a longer-term follow-up in this group will be important to allow further evaluation of how this pain develops with time.

PMID: 17850378 DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2007.07128.x

So the 14% reported pain of 3.2 on a scale of 1 to 10 - mild discomfort. Fewer than 1 in 100 reported severe pain.

It's elective surgery, and the risks have to be weighed against the benefits. It's also minor surgery compared to tubal ligation, the female equivalent.

DH was told by the dr who did his to stay in bed for 48 hours afterwards (which is a lot longer than I got when I had a crash c-section with internal damage and sepsis). He was also told not to drive until he could do it without pain so he had to have 2 weeks off work as well.

My DH had it done over 30 years ago. He drove himself home after the op (an hour journey). He went to work the next day.

He did take painkillers the first night but I don't think he did after that.

DP was one of the unlucky ones, once the anesthetic wore off he was sore as expected for a few days but then developed quite severe pain. He thought it was because he had done a bit too much activity so didn't worry unduly.

24 hours later he was rushed to hospital with a testicular torsion and ended up losing the testicle. The doctors did say that they couldn't directly attribute the vasectomy to this and he had just been very unlucky. A friends husband tried to do too much too soon and developed a haematoma but like you I know some men who have sailed through it after resting for the first day or so.

I would say he needs to take it easy for at least the first day and see how he feels. He may be too sore to drive if he needs to do the school run but he should be ok to look after the DC's in the evening provided he doesn't need to lift them out of the bath or carry them around.

MissConductUS

fewer than 600 people for the most robust study.

not a good sign especially when its based on the subjective feelz of the patient.

DH had his done six months ago. I think it's only fair to let then have a bit of a wallow in their delicate state. A couple of days if tlc. I'd take the time off.

Had it done Saturday morning was back at work on the Monday
Slight discomfort for a week think someone pulling them down gently 😳

My dh had his done while we were on the continent. Over there he could discuss the operation with the doctor first. His doctor's thought on the chronic pain problem was that it was due to some very fine nerves down there, that are extremely hard to see even with a microscope. When it happened over there, they would give a steroid injection, and it was very very rare that that did not clear it up. A further concern might be the rare risk of reconnection. His doctor first cut the tubes and then folded the ends over and sewed each end individually to prevent this.

He was very nervous with the operation, as he hates needles at the best of times! He was tender for a few days afterwards, and took two days off but then was cycling long-distance after that.

I don't know if you're still needing help but I had mine done a few days ago so pretty recent and have all the relevant information so I'd be happy to answer any questions

Dh had one. I was with him in the procedure - the worst thing about it (he said) was the initial pain relief injections. Right in the balls, fucking horrible! ALso, the whole operation STUNK.
He was a bit delicate that evening and the next day, but no complications, no need to go back etc.