Album to ask you about failed/chronic pain after vasectomy

[Morechocmorechoc]

I've read threads on here where lots of people have had great experiences however lots of men have had a lot of pain after the procedure.

Would those who have experience of lasting pain mind telling me about the type of procedure please...I.e. was it open ended. Did they use a metal clip or sutures. Was it scalpel or non scalpel (modified) approach.

My DH is looking but obviously worried about lasting side effects so hoping to at least find the best technique as a starting point. Many thanks in advance.

Didn't mean to enable voting sorry!

Bump for the evening crowd please!

The guys I know who have had one, irrespective of technique, haven't said there have been any problems. But then again, they weren't looking for potential problems/reasons to get out of it in the first place, it was something they had decided either with partners or by themselves.

There are lasting, life changing affects from childbirth and contraception that FAR OUTWEIGH, in both liklihood and severity, the tiny limited discomfort that even a botched vasectomy would cause him.

Hes not looking to get out of it. We are trying to chose the best surgical option.

Anyone who has actually had one or dp dh who can help with the actual question please!

I think your dh has a perfect right to be concerned given the NHS page reports 10% chronic pain post vasectomy. I wish I could help but can only report 2 husbands who both had the op without long term complications - no idea of technique.

Thanks PT. Yes and the threads on here have lots of people who have lasting issues.

DH has long term (10+ years) chronic pain from his, it was a traditional scalpel job done by the top consultant in our area. It’s basically fucked up the nerve and cremastic muscle, his left testicle goes into a kind of spasm when it’s really bad, you can actually see it.
He has 6 monthly nerve blocking injections and pulsed (sonic?) Therapy.

He was just very, very unlucky. Apparently it’s always the left side affected, which is weird.

From a bit of googling there doesn't seem to be any known difference in the incidence of longer term pain between the different surgical techniques.

Oh and ‘tiny limited discomfort’ ? fuck right off - he can be literally grey with the pain some days.

No direct experience. I think it's a good idea to be aware though. I don't think asking on here is going to help - it will just be a load of anecdotes. If you Google "vasectomy techniques" it brings up a couple of decent looking articles that mention the pros and cons of the different methods. I'd read a few to get an idea and then discuss with the doctor

Maybe your DH would have more luck on a mens forum?

My DH had one about 6 months ago. The only lasting issue he has is he can no longer wear “loose” boxers. He needs to wear the snug boxer shorts or traditional y-fronts. He says if they aren’t contained he gets an ache. He went into the GP and had it done within 30 mins.

@WookyBooky

There are lasting, life changing affects from childbirth and contraception that FAR OUTWEIGH, in both liklihood and severity, the tiny limited discomfort that even a botched vasectomy would cause him.

Eh the OP didnt ask for opinions on womens legacy experiences of childbirth and contraception. She asked:

Would those who have experience of lasting pain mind telling me about the type of procedure please...I.e. was it open ended. Did they use a metal clip or sutures. Was it scalpel or non scalpel (modified) approach?

Er, do you not think he'd be better off looking at actual medical studies and not a completely unscientific survey on a forum primarily used by women?

Non scalpel type but he massively ignored aftercare no budgie smugglers doesn't even wear pants and whines it hurts strangely it doesn't hurt when he is running around paintballing or playing airsoft games etc only when he is expected to see his own children and he would rather do something else 😉

My DH was one of the 10%. Scalpel and sutures but they didn't finish the operation as the local anesthetic didn't work properly and he was in agony. So they only did one side. Then he got a haematoma and was quite immobile for about 2 weeks. The swelling was terrible. He then had ongoing pain for months getting milder with time.

I’ve looked into this too OP.

There doesn’t seem to be any one technique that clearly carries less risk of long term pain than others. Makes sense really, if there was a clear winner then everyone would switch to that technique.

DH had it done at a GP surgery under local anaesthetic and it was no scalpel (keyhole) and if I remember his involved cauterising. He had discomfort for a few days and appeared fine but experienced pain and swelling beginning a few months afterwards. GP wasn’t particularly sympathetic and he was told it was a normal cyst and to take ibuprofen. It resulted in a DC4 after both samples came back clear again dismissed. Last year I found out I was pregnant again and terminated and a different GP was more helpful (and the only one not questions my fidelity) More tests and live samples showing some clear and some viable and failed vasectomy. It is apparently rare but that is of little comfort. It hasn’t been the pain free, simple procedure we and he thought.

Thanks everyone who has given helpful comments. We have read medical studies but often they are bias in some way. It's helpful to hear real experiences. I wonder from the threads here sometimes if 10pc is really accurate or if it's much higher as some people are not reporting it.

@GenderApostatemk2

I'm sorry to hear your DH is having such a bad time with it, that sounds horrendous. I was hoping it would be the lesser experienced consultants or technique, but it really does seem to be luck of the draw

NHS puts the serious complications (pain lasting over 3 months, or conditions requiring further surgery) as 1:10.

Within tha number is the serious condition PVPS for which there is no reliable treatment, and even denervation may not work.

There is AFAIK no correlation to technique.

There is some evidence that having the procedure carried out by urologist means lower rates of complications

Failure rate is similar to mirena. But about half of that is attributed to abandoning other contraception before the all clear.

I wonder from the threads here sometimes if 10pc is really accurate or if it's much higher as some people are not reporting it

Some studies do indeed put it higher,

But the 10% figure is the one generally quoted as it's the one that NHS Choices page uses

I saw a 'hands-up' poll of urologists at a conference once. Approx. 50% said they wouldn't have it. Probably because urologists see all the ball ache.

Non scapel method here, 25min procedure. More discomfort from the stitches in the scrotum than the op area for the first few days.
Some intermittant dull aches for a few months but nothing that could be called pain.
Now over 2 years on from procedure and really would not know any different other than my DW does not need to go off to the pharmacy any time she is slightly late with a worried face!
Takes the worry out of contraception and everything more relaxing.

@Dallahaun

I saw a 'hands-up' poll of urologists at a conference once. Approx. 50% said they wouldn't have it. Probably because urologists see all the ball ache.

Not very scientific though, because their perceptions will naturally be skewed negatively because they'll literally only see the ones it went wrong for, which will mean they'll estimate complications as being a lot more common than they really are. Doctors also tend to have a negative view of vaginal birth, because by definition they never see a straightforward one, unless they're the one having it. A straightforward vaginal birth doesn't require a doctor. There's a reason we do large scale studies and don't just let doctors judge on their finger-in-the-wind experience. Studies have problems, but they're a lot better than gestalt human judgement, because human judgement is absolutely shit at probabilities.