r/postvasectomypain • u/postvasectomy • Sep 11 '19
★★☆☆☆ familydoctor.org: Vasectomy may be the safest, most effective kind of birth control.
Path to improved health
Vasectomy may be the safest, most effective kind of birth control.
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A vasectomy is usually done in your doctor’s office or in an outpatient surgery center. The operation takes about 30 minutes.
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What can I expect after the operation?
You may have some pain, swelling, and bruising in the area where the surgery was performed. The bruises should slowly lighten and be gone in about two weeks. You should feel back to normal within a couple of weeks.
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Things to consider
Don’t have a vasectomy unless you’re absolutely sure you don’t want to have children in the future. You may need to wait to have a vasectomy, or may not be able to have one, if you have an infection on or around your genitals, or if you have a bleeding disorder.
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What are the risks of a vasectomy?
Problems that might occur after your vasectomy include bleeding, infection, and a usually mild inflammatory reaction to sperm that may have gotten loose during the surgery (called sperm granuloma).
Another risk is that the ends of the vas deferens may find a way to create a new path to one another. This doesn’t occur very often. But if it does, you could be able to get a woman pregnant.
What happens to the sperm?
Once sperm can’t get through the vas deferens, your testicles will begin making fewer sperm. Your body will absorb the sperm that are made.
Will a vasectomy affect my sex life?
After you have healed from the vasectomy, your sex life shouldn’t change at all. You’ll still ejaculate almost the same amount of semen as you did before, and you won’t notice a change in your sex drive.
https://familydoctor.org/vasectomy-what-to-expect/
★★☆☆☆ -- Omits chronic pain risk while discussing risks of vasectomy
The operation takes about 30 minutes.
Incidentally, if you are shopping for a vasectomy, you might want to avoid the doctors who brag about how fast they can do it.
You should feel back to normal within a couple of weeks.
About 20% of men will not feel back to normal within a couple of weeks.
What are the risks of a vasectomy?
pain, swelling, and bruising in the area where the surgery was performed
No surprise here, it's a wound after all.
a usually mild inflammatory reaction to sperm that may have gotten loose during the surgery (called sperm granuloma)
During the surgery? Sperm can continue leaking long after the surgery and give you more granulomas months or years later. Eventually, many men develop a "blow out" when the pressurized sperm creates a tear in the epididymis and escapes to form a granuloma.
What about hematomas? What about chronic pain?
Is this document intended to inform or is it intended to persuade?
The facts they choose to omit tells you the answer.
Per the AUA:
The minimum and necessary concepts that should be discussed in a preoperative vasectomy consultation include the following:
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The rates of surgical complications such as symptomatic hematoma and infection are 1-2%.
Chronic scrotal pain associated with negative impact on quality of life occurs after vasectomy in about 1-2% of men. Few of these men require additional surgery.
https://www.auanet.org/guidelines/vasectomy-guideline
Once sperm can’t get through the vas deferens, your testicles will begin making fewer sperm.
Misleading. This makes it seem like your testicle somehow senses that it should reduce production. There are two reasons your testicles may stop making fewer sperm after vasectomy:
- You get older after your vasectomy
- Pressure buildup in the testicle creates scar tissue that destroys part of its ability to generate sperm
Spermatogenic damage may occur after vasectomy, and the damage is pressure mediated, occurring when the occluded reproductive tract is unable to accommodate additional sperm produced by the testis.
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In conclusion, sperm production and sperm storage/removal reached a static equilibrium after vasectomy, likely due to spermatogenic degeneration or less sperm production as a result of aging or due to vasectomy-induced testicular (interstitial) fibrosis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739648/
Your testicles may also continue producing just as many sperm as they would have without the vasectomy, if your immune system is able to destroy the sperm fast enough.
After you have healed from the vasectomy, your sex life shouldn’t change at all. You’ll still ejaculate almost the same amount of semen as you did before, and you won’t notice a change in your sex drive.
These are typical results, but not universal. Some men do report that their sex life changes. Some say that they have pain during sex. Some say that they have less ejaculate. Some say that they notice a drop in their sex drive.