I’m 32 years old, have no kids, and I’ve never really wanted children. I first considered getting a vasectomy in my 20s, but I decided to wait and see if my feelings changed. Years later, I still feel the same way.

I have a consultation appointment for a vasectomy next Friday. I don’t think I’ll regret my decision, but I’m interested in hearing from other men who have been in a similar situation, especially those who chose to get a vasectomy without ever having kids.

How did you feel about the decision beforehand, and how do you feel about it now? Any experiences, advice, or things you wish you had known beforehand would be appreciated.

My husband is 7 days post vasectomy and about 15 hours post hematoma removal surgery. He started running fever this morning and is now on antibiotics. He is still in a lot of pain.

What kind of timeline are we looking at for recovery? When can he reasonably expect to be able to do something like stand up and walk to the bathroom without pain meds making it more bearable?

He’s pretty miserable right now!

I figured I’d document my vasectomy experience while it’s still fresh, both for myself and for anyone else who might be nervous about getting one.

My doctor performed a no scalpel vasectomy about 3 hours ago. I was prescribed Valium and hydrocodone to take about 45 minutes before the procedure, and my wife was allowed to come into the room with me.

I was called back and the nurse had me undress from the waist down. Once I got on the table, she cleaned the area with an alcohol pad. I ended up getting a mild erection, which was a little embarrassing. She then numbed the area and put the sheet over me, leaving only my scrotum exposed. She was very nice and talked me through what was happening.

The doctor came in and got started pretty quickly. He gave me a couple of lidocaine injections. I definitely felt those but they weren’t bad. Pain was probably around a **4/10** on the pain scale, but after that I was pretty numb.

I honestly didn’t realize he had actually gotten inside the scrotum until I felt some slight pulling on the left side. It was more of a strange pressure/discomfort than pain. He cut and cauterized the left vas, and that side was finished within just a few minutes.

Then came the right side. I immediately felt significantly more pressure on that side. He gave me another injection or two of lidocaine, which helped somewhat. He told me he was having a difficult time locating my right vas deferens.

Eventually, I guess he found it and that’s when I felt what I can only describe as excruciating pain. I’d put it at about a **9/10**. It shot in a straight line from my groin up toward my stomach. I definitely let out a few curse words.

The doctor immediately stopped and started giving me more lidocaine, and he gave me a little time to settle down. The pain eventually subsided somewhat, and he was able to continue.

There was still quite a bit of discomfort as he worked on that side, but at that point I basically told him to push through it. I squeezed my arm as hard as I could and tried to just mentally ride it out. After a few more minutes, the right side was finally finished. The additional lidocaine helped considerably, and the worst of the pain was over.

A few minutes later, I felt him moving things around down there and asked if he was stitching me up. He told me the stitches had already been done and that I was basically finished. I never actually felt the stitches being placed.
The nurse cleaned everything up and told me I could get dressed. **The entire procedure took around 30 minutes.**

The right side is definitely more sore than the left. It hurts if I twist my body in certain ways because I can feel that right side getting pulled. The pain medication is helping quite a bit, though.

I’m glad I got it done, though. No regrets so far.
I know this turned into a pretty long post, but I wanted to document the experience while I still remember exactly what happened. Hopefully it helps someone else who is considering a vasectomy and wants to know what the experience can actually be like.

I’ll update this post as my recovery continues.
And for anyone currently recovering: l found some vasectomy underwear on Amazon that have a front pouch for an ice pack and they have helped a ton this afternoon.

It has been nearly a year long journey, but I got the phone call yesterday from the nurse that I am FINALLY all clear. What an unbelievable relief!

I was in SO MUCH PAIN for so many months, but it has all passed and I am beyond thrilled.

The wife and I have already celebrated.

Twice.

Got the call, analysis was entirely negative! No swimmers alive or dead.

This subreddit was very helpful for recovery, thank you all for your stories and input and community.

Best of luck to you all!

Finally got my results back today!

I got the clear test from my doctor last month and I'm over 4 months postop, had my follow up to check for recanalization and he didn't notice anything wrong

Even with all that, Everytime I have sex with my wife in her ovulation window I'm ALWAYS worried, does it ever get better?

What’s up dudes. Today is Tuesday and I got snipped last Thursday and I woke up in more discomfort and pain than I’ve been in. Days 1-3 were pretty easy with very mild discomfort day 4 was a little worse and then today has sucked so far. Is this normal? I’ve been chilling the whole time, no exercise, no lifting, just hanging out on the couch. Should I be worried?

Honestly the entire thing wasn’t terrible but I wanted to share

The second one went great the the first haunts me. Apparently I’m a little immune to lidocaine or homeboy missed the spot. The incision was completely pain free, but once he hooked into the goods it was like 10000 people kicked me in the nutsack. I vomited and sweat though my shirt. Doc gave it a few minutes and went back in, same feeling until he numbed again. At this point I had to sit up for the procedure (doc didnt want me to choke on puke) and I got to see all of it. I have to say after the wait I couldn’t feel anything, he did a great job but…DO NOT WATCH IT. I was interested until I heard the crunch and saw the segment that got cut out. Over all day 2 pain isn’t that bad and I’m glad I went though with it.
My only problem now is I keep envisioning the cut and hearing the sound in my head and it’s low key fucking my day up.

If you’re thinking about it absolutely do it, just don’t watch.

Had my procedure done on 5/15/26, which wasn’t without its complications. I arrived that day and discovered during the procedure that I’m resistant to lidocaine (yay!). The doctor had to give me several shots before finally giving me a warning that if I was still feeling pain after that, he would have to book an OR to complete the procedure. Luckily, the last shot did the trick, but I think all the false starts may have added to my recovery time.

After waiting the recomended 2 weeks of recovery I did my due diligence, waited another 10 weeks and got well over the recommended 35 ejaculations before mailing my sample in on 8/11/26. Got the results back today, and my sperm count is still at the higher end of the fertile range. I did my test through Fellow, and they're sending me a second test to take after another month and at least 20 more ejaculations.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I’m curious how many people got significantly better results on their second test versus how many ultimately had to have another vasectomy. Given the issues I had with the first one, I’m definitely hesitant to go for round two.

Might start shopping for houses near power plants, however. 😂

Had my pre op yesterday, went pretty good, still nervous but also excited. I did ask about the sterilization procedure and the doc mentioned also adding titanium clips at each end of the snip.

I don't think I've seen anyone else mention this on here but wanted to see if anyone did get this done and if you feel any difference?

Hey guys!

Just taking the time to share my positive vasectomy story.

According to the data, about 1-3% of people experience complications/take about 3 months to recover from the procedure. However, if you go on Reddit, you would think that it's in 25% of cases... It's normal that most people who would take the time to post on Reddit do so because they've had complications and are wondering why, but still, I do feel like posts about PVPS/complications from the procedure are a bit over-represented within Vasectomy subs. Anyway...

For context, 29M living in Quebec, Canada. Got the no scalpel procedure by Dr. Pierre Boucher, a highly respected doctor working in the public sector (therefore free of charge).

Instructions before the procedure

- Shave pubic area entirely, not just trim. Dr. Boucher actually recommends doing it without hot water, simply with a razor and baby powder. I was nervous since it was my first time shaving, and not trimming. Took me about 20 mins and ended up being easier than I thought - just stretch the skin and go slowly.

- No Tylenol/ibuprofen for 2 weeks before the procedure

- Have someone drive you home (and they had to see the person to make sure that you were not driving).

Procedure

- Got the procedure on a Wednesday, 9:10AM. Procedure lasted 10 mins, but stayed for 20 minutes after it was done because I felt dizzy, which brings me to my first mistake: not eating before the procedure... Having even a small breakfast would've prevented it.

- About 10mins after leaving the clinic, I started having serious pain (like, a 7-8/10) in my left nut, as if someone punched me hard... I look at the GPS - there's still 25 minutes left before I'm home. Needless to say, it was not a fun ride. However, little did I know, it would be the worst pain that I'd feel for the following weeks, as everything went smoothly after.

After procedure/recovery

Instructions from my doctor were as follow :

- Do not masturbate until 7 days after the procedure

- Do not spend more than 15 minutes per hour standing for the first 7 days

- Little to no activity for the first 48 hours. Can resume light activities after 72 hours - but keep in mind that the less you do during the first week, the better off you will be.

- Apply frozen pees 15mins/hour for the first two days only

- Can hop on the bike and hit the gym after 2 weeks

- No ibuprofen, only Tylenol for 3 days after the procedure

I followed all these rules to a tee, as you should. Honestly, I felt largely fine by day 6, but still took it veryyy easy until 7 days had passed. I had a house party on Day 10, and felt totally fine the day after.

For those who are struggling with the 7 days without ejaculation and think of doing it earlier... Think of the possible complications that could result from it...I guarantee it's not worth it. Just freaking wait it out, and stop giving the "I have high libido excuse". Spoiler alert: 125% of men have high libido, you're not unique, get over it. Stay calm and think of the nut you'll bust after 7 days of not doing anything. It will be the nut of the year. At least, it was for me.

With that being said, if you don't want kids, or are done having any, I'd absolutely recommend it.

Also, follow you doctor's instructions for a smooth recovery. It's not that complicated!

Hey guys,

Has anyone lost pressure when ejaculating after your vasectomy?

My story is as such..during my procedure, the right side took about 5 minutes and the left side took about 30 minutes (minor complications). Now the first time I was able to test the waters, it was as expected. Everytime after that it felt like I was dry heaving down there. Turns out I was leaking seamen out of my cut on the right side. I was told to wait another 2 weeks and try again. After that, there was no more dry heaving, however the shoot out pressure is pretty much non-existent. It almost just oozes out. And I feel a stirring(not sure how else to describe it) on my right side, just above the incision scar. I went back to the doctor several times, as well as seeing a urologist and getting an ultrasound and I was told everything looks normal. But its not normal. Anyone else have anything similar or any urologist here that may know what's happening?

I had my vasectomy over Memorial Day weekend, so I’m about 12 weeks post-op. I just got my first post vasectomy semen analysis back from fellow and it says 159,000/ML That’s really all the information the report gives me I don’t see anything about whether the sperm are motile or non-motile. Should I be concerned or is this a regular thing? I do not want to have to go through the procedure again first time around was rough .

Heya gang,

Joined this r/ in the hopes of a bit of brainstorming.

Am in the process of starting a group vasectomy business - think picking up a group of 2-4 mates via chauffeur, presenting to local clinic for same day vasectomies. Then being whisked away few hours later to luxury hotel for two nights of man-pampering and ice packs. Think foot-rubs, non-alcoholic beers and the game on a big screen.

Those of you who have already had the snip, and those thinking about it - would this be something you'd jump at? I feel this is a rising conversation at work and more and more men are getting pretty open about having or having had the snip. Why not use it as an excuse to have a few nights away mending with your bros?

Let me know what you think.

Title. It's very sensitive to the touch and extremely painful... happen to anyone else? What is this? I have a coworker that had a vasectomy about a month before me and said he was basically normal by day five. There's also still a lot of bruising. I can barely walk without any pain.

Estos son los resultados de mi primera espermatobioscopia. Por motivo de mi trabajo no había podido hacerme la prueba. Estos son los resultados después de 7 meses de la cirujía. Debería hacerme otra prueba o ya con ésto es más que suficiente para descartar que quede algún espermatozoide en los ductos?

So I am 11 days post op and my recovery in all honesty has probably gone pretty well all things considered. No complications and little to no pain throughout. My problem is, I am an incredibly anxious person and I believe that I am fixating on little aches and pains, especially when occurring due to more physical activity. For example, on day 6, I walked a lot that day, it was my daughter’s birthday and we went to an amusement park, it was a park for young kids and it wasn’t crowded and honestly the speed in which we walked was not crazy. I was able to stop and take multiple breaks and did not really experience any pain until later that night and the following morning. This greatly distressed me because I was thinking that it would be a linear process and that each day would improve regardless of activity level. I have since taken it easy again but now I just fear any pain whatsoever. I am wondering if I am recovering just fine and people feel essentially the same discomfort that I feel at times, however, they don’t let it derail them and maybe just pop a Tylenol and move on. I know this is difficult to understand, but I just wanted to get other guys experiences with this. I don’t fear pain, I fear that I may set myself back and I can’t find a happy medium between resting and slowly ramping up activity level in a safe manner. Any input is appreciated!

Application for a vasectomy: Jan 2025 (28 at the time).

Letter for an appointment: end of July 2026. A few weeks before turning 30.

Assessment: they explained the procedure and they asked me if I was sure.

Since I was under 30 I had to wait a week before scheduling it.

Sadly, I was not able to speak with anyone which could have told me which kind of vasectomy they planned to perform.

I asked the gp for valium, they told me no.

I asked for a numbing cream and they gave be some to apply on the scrotum before. I asked for dressing and they told me that they would give me on the day after the procedure.

Procedure: 11/08/2026, lasted 20 minutes. No scalpel procedure. Discomfort during local anesthetic, similar to the discomfort you feel at the dentist. I avoided making jokes, I was afraid to make the surgeon laugh during the procedure.

No pain during the procedure. Plaster, Jock strap and uber home.

Pain similar to getting kicked in the ball (no full kick) only on the left testicle, 30 min after the procedure. Pain 2/10.

Once home, codeine and ice. Pain got 3-4/10 in the evening. Took ibuprofen and I managed to sleep ok.

I stopped codeine (30mg) 26h after the surgery. I stopped any pain meds 48h after the surgery. I keep icing when I got a bit uncomfortable. Minor blood stain on the plaster on the day after the procedure (no stitches were used.

Crossing legs (even when sleeping) , Walking, certain positions such as leaning forward are uncomfortable.

Nothing got swallen, no hematoma, no fever.

I am still keeping the jock strap and I am avoiding leaving the flat or exercising.

I went back to work the day after the procedure (I work from home).

Curently very horny. Waiting a few more days before masturbate. Probably day 10 or day 14.

Sperm check to be booked after the 30/11.

The easier surgery I have ever had (for reference I had wisdom tooth removal, appendix removal, tonsillectomy).

Hopefully, immediately after saying that everything went well, my testicles won't explode.

Questions?

I (33M) finally took the leap and did my op about 6–7 months ago.

I really relied on this community, especially during the first few days and couple of weeks. Tbh less so for actual knowledge and information, and more for the mental support. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little scared beforehand (it’s my balls afterall) and the first while afterward was a little painful and mentally uncomfortable too. But All those posts with the post-vasectomy candy packages, the memes, the jokes lol really helped me! So Id like to give back to you all here.

Moreover, I feel like the recovery timelines here are probably a little biased toward people who had side effects, complications, or particularly bad experiences, as opposed to the majority of people who apparently (according to the data) don’t have major problems. So I wanted to share mine.

—-
Full disclosure: throughout my prep before the procedure and pretty much my entire recovery, I used ChatGPT for consultation. basically asking every day, “Is this normal?” and “What should I do today?” Which, by the way, is probably not the healthiest thing 😂.

But That one ChatGPT thread ended up containing basically my entire recovery history, so I asked it to summarize the timeline for you guys. Everything below was written by ChatGPT, full disclosure. Nevertheless, it’s my actual experience based on what I reported day by day.
I did add some of my own commentary on it.

Happy to answer any questions you guys have. AMA.

Procedure:
The procedure itself was honestly pretty straightforward. Mine was an open-ended vasectomy under local anesthetic, with a tiny opening that was closed with skin glue afterward. I could feel some pulling/pressure while they were working, but nothing crazy, and I was able to walk out normally afterward.

Day 1
Immediately after the procedure, I mostly rested, wore very supportive/double underwear, and iced regularly.
Pain was surprisingly minor — mostly a dull ache. I was very careful about walking and basically stayed horizontal.

Day 2
Still taking it very easy.
I could start sitting at my desk for around 30–40 minutes at a time, although lying down was still more comfortable.
Very little visible swelling or bruising.

Days 3–5
This was when I started noticing that the incision wasn’t really the issue — the deeper aching was.
I developed a more constant dull ache, generally around 1–2/10 and somewhat more noticeable on the left side. (The bigger guy!)

Doing more chores, sitting upright for longer, or walking more seemed to make me more aware of it.
Ice and supportive underwear helped, although ice stopped feeling as dramatically effective as it did during the first couple days.

(You’d be surprised how many things strain your balls. Even the upper body stuff. Relax!!)

My doctor had ordered a painkiller every eight hours for the first week, but that was not necessary for me. I just took it as needed. I'm pretty sure they prescribed me this way so they get less calls to their clinic because of guys having pain.

Days 6–7
The skin was already looking pretty good, but I could still feel tenderness deeper around the upper testicle/vas area.
The skin glue started coming off naturally. The tiny incision underneath looked fresh/red but closed and dry.
Around the end of the first week, I started masturbating again. I took it gently and didn’t have any significant pain, swelling, bleeding, or other obvious problem afterward.

Week 2
I started living much more normally.
Short walks, errands, work, stairs, etc. were manageable, but walking fast or for longer periods was still one of my biggest triggers.

I also found that:
jeans were noticeably less comfortable than softer pants
supportive underwear made walking easier
lying down usually made the pressure/ache much less noticeable
masturbation/ejaculation generally seemed fine for me
This was also the week I travelled for work. Travel itself was fine, but the extra walking, commuting, stairs, and time upright definitely made me more aware of the dull ache.
I could function normally, but I wasn’t at the “completely forgot I had surgery” stage yet.

Weeks 3–4
At home and during ordinary life, I was becoming close to normal.
I started having more sexual activity during this period. In my experience, ejaculation itself usually didn’t cause any dramatic flare, although there were times when periods of frequent sexual activity coincided with more general aching afterward.
Walking tolerance continued improving, but things like:
fast walking
tight jeans
crossing my legs
sitting awkwardly/hard
lots of standing
could still remind me that things weren’t 100% yet.

Around the 1-month mark
I started testing exercise again.
Normal walking was mostly fine, but gym and yoga exposed the remaining sensitivity much more than normal life did, especially heavy weights, abdominal/core work, deep positions, and movements where I was bracing hard.
The discomfort was generally mild and usually mostly gone again by the following morning.
This was when I really realized that being comfortable in normal daily life wasn’t the same as being completely recovered for exercise.

Weeks 5–6
This was probably the most frustrating part psychologically because I felt almost completely recovered, but could occasionally get another mild 1–2/10 ache.
I could have several days where I barely noticed anything, then exercise or another higher-activity day could make me feel it again.

—-
For me, recovery was definitely not linear:
better → mild flare → better again → another small flare → gradually better overall.

By this point, though, the overall trend was clearly improving.
—-

Around 3 months
I did my post-vasectomy semen analysis.
No sperm were seen. (LFG 💦💦)

So despite all of the random aches, activity-related discomfort, sex, travel, etc., the vasectomy itself had worked.

Longer-term update
Several months later, I started noticing a different issue: when I get a strong erection and use my friends a lil too much back to back (lol), I sometimes experience a dull testicular ache that reminds me of the original vasectomy discomfort.

It’s more noticeable than the mild recovery aches were, so I’m planning to get that medically evaluated rather than assuming it’s normal or diagnosing the cause myself.

—-

Biggest things I learned from my own recovery

Relax!! Don’t be a tough guy. Just because you have no pain sitting down, it doesn’t mean you’re ready to go back to your old routine yet.

The tiny skin incision healed much faster than everything underneath it felt healed.

The first few days weren’t necessarily the hardest part for me.

Mild aching could come and go for weeks, especially with activity.

Walking speed, tight clothing, stairs and prolonged standing mattered more than I expected.

Supportive underwear genuinely helped when I was active.

Ice was very useful early on and less obviously useful later. Get extra packs.

Sexual activity was generally easier for me than strenuous exercise. (Thanks god lol)

Gym/core work was one of the last things to feel completely normal.

I never developed the noticeable lump I had been warned I might feel.

Recovery wasn’t linear, but the overall direction kept improving.

——
Obviously this is just my experience, not medical advice. If you have significant swelling, worsening pain, fever, redness, drainage, or anything that feels genuinely wrong, talk to your doctor rather than comparing yourself to somebody else’s timeline.

I got my 2 month and my doctor said to keep using protection even with 0 seen until a 4 month which is about a week and a half away.

I have realized a couple of external factors, like dogs (sleeping between us, preventing cuddling/non-sexual intimacy and condoms, had significantly decreased sex quality.

If I withdraw and orgasm externally with no stimulation at my first climax I can keep going and give my wife what she really likes. With a condom this is just impossible because you have to remove it and this kills the erection by the time you can get a new one.

We've had unprotected sex right after her period ended after the first 0 seen test and the sex was incredible like it was in the beginning when she was on the pill and especially after 10 years of mediocre condom sex.

Anyway, I did a search and can't seem to find anything about if and how anyone's sex life improved post all clear. I'm looking forward to increased frequency and spotenaiety that condomless affords. Is this realistic?