Vasectomy

[Naetha]

I'm trying to persuade DH to have the snip, but he's (understandably) put off by thoughts of pain - both short and long term

How many men have had the snip and had it followed by untratable pain for more than 6 months?

Is it really that bad?

Anyone?

Anyone's DHs?

Mine had his done last July.

He had considerable pain and brusing/swelling that kept him off work for a week, he then had odd twinges / pain for about 3 weeks, nothing major but his scrotum felt heavy and one of his testicles dropped a good inch (temporarily).
After a month he felt totally normal again and he's had no further problems at all.
You wouldn't know he's had it done, the scars are barely there and orgasm/ejaculation are as intense as before.
I researched PVP and it does sound horrendous, but the risks are very low, much lower than complications with female sterilisation.
He has no regrets.

Vasectomy information.com is a useful site - some of the photos are pretty graphic though!

My DH had it a week before Christmas, he was back at work the next day. He was so surprised he had no pain whatsoever, he just walked a bit carefully. He had forgotten about it after 4 days. The only thing that bothered him was the embarrassement of it all. Trying to explain to me after two DC's and years of smears, well it's awful you have to sit there with your pants off while someone fiddles with your bits. You can imagine I was full of sympathy.

dh had it done on a friday afternoon - was bit tender over the weekend but back to work on the monday

pain - has he seen you in childbirth?

gah

I had a vasectomy last May, at the Stopes's clinic in Leeds.

The operation itself was pretty painful on one side (the tube was a bit short as a result of a hernia when I was a wee baby), so they pulled some more out - ouch!.

Disconnecting the other one was completely painless. The only clue I had that anything was happening was the noise of the soldering iron equipment.

I was in some pain for a week or so, and the (suprisingly small, central) scar didn't heal for about three weeks. I kept away from exercise for about a month.

I'm still a bit nervous of having DS #2 hurtle into me when I sit on the sofa, but thats just psychological. Apart from that, its fine, and I'm glad I had it done.

Mr Rollmops here with advice for the bloke in question,

The op was fine. The injection was similar to a dental one albeit in the knacker sack and once numbed, I didn't feel a thing. The worst bit was dropping my trollies with a nurse in the room as I would have normally bought them dinner and got them out of theirs first.

I was chatting away to the surgeon as he went about his job and quipped that the worst thing he could do was to make me sterile. He said "if my hand slips, I can do much worse than that" I went a bit quiet at that point.

My advice is get some good painkillers and avoid any lifting for a week afterwards. Your dick will be black and blue and it will feel as if you have been kicked by a small pony with a bad attitude. The pain, swelling and bruising will go away however after you have "fired the gun" about 20 times to empty the magazine, you're running on unleaded.

Get your DW to buy some astrolube, learn some interesting techniques and thén insist she takes her time in manually evicting the remaining tadpoles.

I had a vasectomy 2 years ago at one of the Stope's clinics and have to say it was completely painless and the only discomfort on the day was revealing all to two complete strangers, one of them a female nurse and the other a male doctor. Keep telling yourself they have seen hundred's before and that you aren't any different to the hundred's they have seen . I did feel slightly patronised when the nurse said after the procedure, "well done" ... almost expected a lolly pop .

For the next week, the area was understandably tender but if you follow the instructions on changing dressings and avoiding exercise (not that many men need to be encouraged to do that) you will recover quickly and soon forget you ever had one.

Following a message I saw on another thread, I would just like to add that I was not required to shave the area at all as the procedure did not require it. Hence the fear of maybe completely castrating oneself in the shower before going to the clinic is removed

Go for it

I've been today to start the process... and to say that I'm "bricking it" is an understatement... I hate pain, needles, scalpels etc. and so naturally the thought of applying all of these, plus a liberal dash of bruising makes my knees feel liquid...

I appreciate this thread a lot, it's reassuring... know it's the right thing to do, DC's are wonderful, love them to bits but don't want any more... seems the responsible thing to do, just scary...

Need reassuring words, and preferably a general anaesthetic

Mansolo - your wife will adore you all the more for doing this for her.

You will be fine, DH found the samples more stressful tbh.

Aw thanks Malificence :-)

Those are the kind of words I needed to hear... am quite about the samples, assume that I'll have to do those "on the spot" as it were... which will either be hilarious or mortifying :-)

Not sure that ex-DP will adore me for it though... I think that she approves though and I appreciate the sentiment of your comment very much. I'm a single dad now, and this is one of those decisions which is scary, but is the right thing to do.

...still bricking it though

I'm also a single dad and I had a vasectomy for exactly the same reasons as you. Four years down the line and I haven't regretted it for an instant. I love my DCs to bits but I don't want any more.

I was given a valium tablet to take an hour or so before the op. It made the whole thing much less stressful.

For me, the samples were done by them giving me a couple of sample tubes and then me taking the filled items to the local hospital on the required dates. It just needs a bit of careful timing. And aim.

Oh, and a willingness to wander into the local hospital with a pot full of jizz in your pocket and a desperate hope that you won't get knocked down and someone goes through your clothes to find out who you are.

Three things you need post-op:

1. Snug Y-fronts.
2. Frozen peas etc for cold compresses
3. The painkiller of your choice - ibuprofen did the trick for me

I did have quite a lot of post-op bruising as it didn't go entirely smoothly for me. They use a different, keyhole technique these days which is supposed to be much better.

Mr Rollmops says....

These days, it's just one incision in the front of the knacker sack. The scar is now invisible.

I was wondering if the "goods" would be different post op i.e. if the tadpole free version of "gentlemans relish" would appear any different to the full fat variety. It looks just as before and Mrs Rollmops hasn't noticed any change. I just tell her it's a lot less fattening

I forgot to say that when giving a sample, store it up for a week beforehand and deposit three good loads into the pot.

The following morning, swagger into reception and put the pot on the counter with a heavy "thump". Give the receptionist a cheeky wink and whistle loudy as you stroll out into the car park.

I'm printing this for my dh.

Please let it work.

Hi, my Dh had the snip a couple of years ago, and he found it to be a very traumatic experience. Being surrounded by 3 female nurses starkers whist the surgeon injected and cut into his 'crown jewels' left him very badly rattled - he actually broke down in tears on more than one occasion afterwards and I had to do my best to comfort him through what felt like a menopause to him. In addition he had on-going discomfort for up to a year, and doesn't seem as interested in sex. All in all, it seems to have knocked the stuffing out of him a bit and altered his self-esteem. I can't really explain it, but whilst the operation was a success - (6 months for the all-clear)- it has not brought us closer together at all. In addition to this, what he has read subsequently has left him feeling quite angry and deceived about the long-term complications of the procedure from a doubling in the risk of kidney stones to a fear of an increased risk of developing prostate cancer (as shown in many studies apparently). When he finally spoke to the hospital about his discomfort, they eventually admitted that studies show from 10-30% go on to develop chronic discomfort. He was told also by the NHS hospital which carried out the procedure that 10% of men pass out during the procedure from something called vaso-vagal shock - but the medical profession desn't like to mention it in case 'it puts some men off'. I have come around to his thinking that there is a lot more to 'the snip' than you are led to believe. I hope this helps, even though I appreciate it isn't totally reassuring, it is better to be pre-warned and get as much info as you can. Also, I wish I had been better equipped to support DH afterwards.

physically, DH had no problems at all. And I mean not at all, very little post=op discomfort and recovered enough to be, urm, active, as soon as he had the all-clear. Pain after 6 months = a problem IMO, and certainly isn't normal . So, if your DH goes ahead, be sure he knows from his docs what is acceptable discomort, where to go for prompt attention if it doesn't go well.

My dh had this done 6 weeks after dc3 was born. Mildly uncomfortable to have done. Balls black and blue for about a week - not that painful though and no pain or anything since. Some do have problems post op though but it is not a big op - a hell of a lot less complications than childbirth. Go for it!

shush makes a really important point.... even in the worst cases, vasectomy is nowhere near as uncomfortable or as risky as childbirth, yet women are still happy to say (no disrepect Naetha) "poor DH is understandably put off vasectomy by thoughts of pain" ... presumably he's happy for you, potentially, to go through with an unwanted pregnancy that will definitely be painful, possibly be risky, and for sure will impact the rest of your lives??? Sorry Naetha, I think men who won't do it are selfish wimps....

I'm with Scottishmumof2. DH was pretty traumatised by the experience. There was complications with the anesthetic and they could only do one side - so it did not even do the job. He was left in considerable pain and developed a haematoma which left him virtually immobile for 3 weeks and 6 months later he is still not 100% normal. I agree that the risks are not talked about and we had no idea there was a risk of haematoma. We had no clue what was wrong with him until we googled the symptoms...all round it was very stressful.

I am not suggesting that your DH should not have the op but that you aware that things are not always straightforward.

nethermind, I appreciate things do go wrong with vasectomies, but in most cases they go fine.... but even if not, childbirth is ALWAYS more painful, and mostly more risky... given that most men having vasectomies are doing so because their wives/partners have already been through riskier/more painful procedures,. why are we so quick to give them permission not to go ahead with it????? beyond me

I'm not giving anyone 'permission' to do anything. I am giving the other side of the story. I was not in pain for weeks and weeks after childbirth anyway and there is far more that puts me off having another baby than the pain but I am in no suggesting any man should not have the snip but just that they go into it knowing the risks and then make up their mind. I assume you are not suggesting that they should have no choice?

Okay, I will be the voice of misery here. DH had his done two years ago and had post-op bleeding and infection. Balls turned black and were enormous, imagine a honeydew melon ... only purple and black.
He was off work for 3 weeks, on really, really strong painkillers that made him sleepy and was thoroughly miserable
HOWEVER: THIS IS VERY RARE
and he insists it is the best thing he's ever done, we now have the most carefree sexlife, and have much more sex than we ever had in the 10 years we were together before that

My DH also had a bad experience, was still in pain 5 years after the op, much less interested in sex, testicles looked a lot different, could feel a swelling/lump in the area and a "pulling pain" on ejaculation and visited the doctor on several occasions to be told it was "all psychological, because vasctomies dont cause any of these problems" )

We googled and found this was not the case and Post Operative Pain - although rare - is definitely real.

We had the op reversed at 5 yrs not entirely cause of probs (we wanted another DC) but it certainly was a major factor, we hoped the reversal might rectify the problems. Its coming up for 3 years since the reversal now and DH says its gradually improved but still not as it was before the op (but obviously he's 8 years older too so maybe a factor. For the majority of men this will not happen but as people who try to argue that my decision to have a C section for my second birth keep telling me, its a risk you take with any surgery.

but if you were to post all the childbirth stories vs all the vasectomy stories, I'm sure on balance it is harder to give birth than it is to have a vasectomy. But very occasionally men suffer after the snip,so apparently, that makes it alright to say "oh, no, wouldn't put you through that darling, I'll carry on taking the pill and all the risks that entails, maybe get pregnant, just as long as you don't have to have than nasty snip....." ... do they ever say "let's not have children incase it hurts/in the unlikely event you get complications afterwards"... come on, put it in perspective

lilomanchester - I had an horrednous birth and 2.5 yrs of pain and problems after the birth that prompted DH's vasectomy....which then led to all the problems he had - there are no simple answers. It quite clearly says in my post that the majority of men will not have these problems but they do happen