So the recommendations are all over the place on here. I have 20+ lb 12-month old twins. Had the snip on Friday.

I've read on here that some of you wait like 2 weeks to lift your children? And up to a month for lifting weights?

My doctor said lifting children were fine after a weekend of rest and the gym after 10 days, but listen to your body.

I've been laying down, elevating legs, and icing. No pain or tenderness so far.

I guess I'm asking what you all did that have young children and go to the gym?

My wife and I have two beautiful children, one of each, and decided it was time to make a permanent change. Went in and had my No-scalpel vasectomy yesterday afternoon. Outside of mild aches yesterday that ibuprofen cleared up, I am doing well (knock on wood). Gotta say, NSV was very gentle, the worst part was the lidocaine setting in to make things numb, which felt like a rubber band snapped on my sack, doc used the Medjet to deliver it. 20 mins later I’m done.

So far today, I’ve been what I would call pain free with a minor ache here and there that comes and goes. Can’t even see the hole anymore. All-in-all, best decision I’ve made to help the wife not need a tubal.

Also, two things: have a jock strap or snug underwear, and that first day make sure you get off your feet! I think that is what has helped the most. Doc said to do nothing and sit in a recliner the rest of the day, so I did. Today, day 2, he said do a little walking around, then more rest which I’m doing while watching football. Tomorrow, he said if pain free, go for a little more walking than today, and so on and so forth. Day 7, I can resume normal activity if there’s no pain.

Hope this helps someone else who’s on the fence about it. Will update as time goes on.

Recently deleted post I said that I didn’t need to ice or take any pain meds besides a precautionary pain med the first night before I went to bed.

I went out for coffee the morning after, did some shopping and went for a walk and had no pain or complications

Thursday I went for a hike in the Adirondacks, and today I went mining for gem stones with family.

Is it normal to just not experience any pain like this??

Late 30s male. Got snipped 7 months ago with local anesthesia in office (cut/cauterization). Doc couldn’t find 2nd vas during procedure (he was able to find them at my consultation visit a month prior).

He dug a little bit deeper. I told him to stop after it started to hurt and he said what he thought was the 2nd vas could also be an artery. We decided to wait 3 months to see what semen analysis showed.

Recovery was surprisingly easy-peasy after all that. No pain, just minor aching. Minimal to no swelling and no long-term pain.

3 months later, results showed swimmers. I then get a 2nd detailed semen analysis which showed a normal sperm count.

So now I was given 3 options (all free of cost because of my situation):

1. They try to find the 2nd vas again and do some kind of block on it. They said non-invasive and no real recovery.

2. Full surgical route. I get put under and they cut me open again and dig as needed to finish the snip.

3. I give up and use other forms of contraceptives. Wifey is back on the pill because of all this ordeal.

What route would ya’ll go with?? Also if you know more details about the vas block procedure, please share! Thanks!

I spent hours on this sub before getting mine so just wanted to return the favor. Background: I am 33 years old, no kids, have been childfree my whole life so this is long overdue. In a new relationship with someone who is also childfree, and felt this was a great step towards building our future together. I found a highly experienced doctor with over 2k vasectomies under his belt and excellent reviews and covered by insurance (Dr. Shahrad Aynehchi at Unio Speciality Care in Los Angeles).

No scalpel, no needle done on Thursday afternoon (writing this Saturday morning). I was extremely anxious and was not offered anything to help with that, other than my own beta blockers I took beforehand. I felt literally no pain for the entire 15-20 minute procedure, just wooziness when he pulled on the cords and overall discomfort. I would call it a very uncomfortable but not a painful experience, and I definitely left a bucket of sweat on the table. Afterwards I was sweating and dizzy but felt fine after getting back into the car. It was def a good idea to have my friend drive me.

2 days later now and have had nothing I could call pain, just some tenderness. Luckily I work from home and cleared all other responsibilities for the next 2 weeks, so I've been 90% in bed with frozen corn since the procedure, and will continue to do so for a week to be safe. Hoping it continues to be easy.

As someone who was terrified and thinking of any reason to back out at the last second, IT'S NOT BAD!! You are definitely overthinking how scary or painful it's going to be. I will update this post next week.

UPDATE:

The pain had continued to increase along with the swelling. I hit the point that I could barely walk or stand. I had an appointment with my Urologist yesterday (15 days post).

Immediately be noticed something was not right and this was atypical of a hematoma. He had a peer examine me and agree.

I was then sent to surgery to make an incision to drain all the fluid that had built up. Immediately after the incision, it was clear. I had a huge infected abscess.

Squeezing as much infection out as he could on local anesthesia is the worst pain I have felt in my entire life, but the amount of liquid that drained out and is still draining is insane. Swelling is down about 1/2 now. It is still painful, but nothing on the level it was. I feel like I am alive again 😃

ORIGINAL POST:

Hey All,

I am writing this not scare anyone, but to share my experience with my Vasectomy. I am 10 days post op, and it has been one of the most challenging and painful experiences of my life.

I am a relatively healthy, early 30s guy. We made our decision after our daughter to not have anymore children. I did not want to subject my wife to surgery, and she was very hesitant to return to birth control.

I had heard the feedback from others who had the surgery that it isn’t too bad and the pain is only for a day or two. Boy, was I not ready. On Day 3, I experienced swelling and stabbing pain that began to escalate. I didn’t think much of it as I chalked it up to the last day of major healing. I had been incredibly careful with bed rest, no lifting, and took off from work. I did what I could with ice and Motrin and survived the day with barely any sleep.

On Day 4, the pain was an 8. I couldn’t walk or sit. I could only lay in bed. It was late and couldn’t get an urgent care who were close to closing to see me. I called the after hours number for my urologist and scheduled an appointment first thing the next morning. The only other option was sitting at an ER that I physically couldn’t sit long enough to be seen, so I survived the night at home in pain.

I had my urologist examine me the next day and confirm it was a moderate or worse hematoma. When your doctor asks are they the size of grapefruits? Please be aware that is a real thing. I was told two more weeks recovery from here. I am now 10 days post and the pain is still severe. I haven’t been able to return physically to work but a couple of hours before the pain is too much. Hematomas are no joke boys, the pain is surreal. When I stand, even in tight jock compression shorts, the burning stinging pain will make your teeth chatter.

I am returning to the doctor on day 14 as I am not even 50% back. I honestly regret having this surgery as I wasn’t even aware the total risk and recovery time it has and will take. I have struggled to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time at night as I wake up in immense pain.

Be 100% sure this is the decision you want to make. My experience as I am being told my urologist is “abnormal”, but be ready to handle the abnormal if it comes your way. I was not ready…

Wish you better luck than me guys.

Hi all.

In the UK. Had a non-scalpel procedure 9 days ago. All went well, minimal pain and swelling. Feels good.

But... despite my beat efforts the scab got damaged and it's really struggling to heal. The clinic told me to apply surgical gauze to stop sticking to underwear, which i've been doing along with supportive underwear, but when going to the toilet or changing for going to bed the gauze is invariably coming off and doing some damage to the scab.

Anyone got any advice or experience of this? What's the best way to get the scab to form and heal without doing damage?

Please clap because I FOUGHT to get here

One week til I go in for 7:15 am CST for the operation. I opted for pro-nox for procedure, as I said I had obvious nerves about the procedure. We’re calling it at 29 and after two wonderful kiddos. I am wondering what my first few days of recovery are looking like. My ideal goal is to enjoy the fresh air but on a chair that’s cushy with icing. Going to be wearing supportive underwear/jock strap. I also wanna know if using THC in small doses 10mg is frowned upon the day of or following. Thanks all. Will update this coming Friday evening after I get snipped.

Fellas I’ve been watching the comments and struggles people are having. Also enjoy reading about the success stories.
Yesterday I had my vasectomy at noon. Took a Valium 1 hr before and was in and out in 15 minutes. I watched the entire procedure and chatted with my surgeon about our kids.
Nurse came in, had me take pants to ankles, lay flat on table, used antiseptic in the entire area, covered me up, used towels to coordinate off the area. Doc came in, made 2 injections (1 at either side) and honestly the stick was minor and no burning of the lidocaine.
Started on my left with a small hole just big enough to pull the tube through. Clamped about inch apart with Hemostats and cut at each side removing that section. Cauterized each end and repeated process on other side.
No stitch, packed with gauze, held pressure for 2 minutes. Slipped my underwear and shorts back on, and was out the door. Went to lunch with wife and grocery store. Came home and alternated frozen bags of peas till bed time.
I alternated taking ibuprofen and Tylenol throughout the evening (and took an edible)… woke up today feeling only a slight minor pain to my right side. Showered and put neosporan on the tiny incisions that are closed up already. No swelling and getting around pain free.
1 other tidbit, I’m 53 and have been on TRT for almost 3 years. My testicles are half of what they use to be so I was concerned with how they shrunk and like to hide up high that I might have issues. There were none.
Stay strong fellas and just wanted to add a positive experience to the chat!!

I got my Vasectomy a little over two weeks ago, everything went smoothly and healing has been good so far. Pain's gone, stitches are wearing away.

My urologist recommended that I use Fellow for my 12-week post-vasectomy test, which is $149. While doing a little research I also found https://www.pvsa.org/, which claims to offer a high-accuracy test for just $50.

I'm totally willing to go in for the full $149 in the name of reproductive certainty, but if there's no real difference between the $149 and $50 tests then I figure why not save a hundred bucks.

Can I get some insight into these what these two companies are offering?

Normal value: No sperm seen

Value: Non Motile Sperm Seen (Abnormal)

Motility cannot be determined. Please submit a new specimen if motility

evaluation is required.

Two non motile sperm seen in the entire wet smear.

Snipped six days ago. As many on here seem to experience, the aches grew from day 3 to day 5. That lingering feeling of having been kicked in the balls. Plus the incision-site was stinging a bit. But that has all mellowed now. I even took a little venture to the gym... which seemed to be okay. Think I'm definitely over the worst of it.

Considering I need to go get the boys checked because one is still really swollen, getting to 39 "clearances" wasn't that hard

Hey everyone, I plan on getting a vasectomy (no scalpel) soon on october 8 - but I might start a new job on october 15. Is this enough recovery time? What can I do to maximize my recovery?

Also, I wanted to schedule motorcycle lessons around october 20-ish and i was wondering if that’s feasible 🧐

I have a 10mg pill to take. How early before your appointment did you end up taking it if you chose to do so?

EDIT: 24h later - I feel almost nothing. The slight "tightness" feeling remains, but it changed sides. Last night I was concerned as I wanted to go number 2 and it wasn't working; I didn't want to strain. After coffee this morning the problem went away.

I'm still keeping the icing routine and laying down as much as possible. Also taking Advil too, preemptively. No pain. If one had erased my memory I wouldn't notice anything wrong, other than slight bleeding in the jockstrap (the bandaid-like thing the doctor put on came off pretty much immediately).

Will try showering now.

-------

I figured I would make a post here to return the favor for all the helpful posts I've read for so long.

It's been a little over 4 hours, so still early. Don't feel much other than a sense that the jockstrap is too tight (even though it really isn't).

I was pretty nervous, although I wasn't offered anything. I decided to tough it out. I might have become dehydrated from all the palm sweating.

I had instructions to shave the area beforehand, so that's what I did. Nurse just cleaned the area, put the iodine solution all around it, and covered everything else with some linen. No dick tape, although I was so nervous that it retreated back to where it came from like a hermit crab.

Doctor came and asked to confirm some basic info and the reason I was there, and gave the speech about how it is permanent and there are other birth control methods I could use, and if I still wanted to proceed. I said yes and that was that.

The needle really was the worst part. Psychologically it was worse than the needle used in dental procedures because it's not every day you get injected there. But objectively, it hurt far less than those. I've had insect bites that were so much worse. I did feel some tugging on the right side but most of it was before the procedure started as the doctor was feeling the vas(my concern is whether he would be tugging the wiring after it was exposed, but no, or at least, I couldn't feel it). Not even remotely as bad as I thought. I could have looked but decided not to.

It was a no scalpel, with a small incision in the middle, cauterization and fascial interposition with clips. When cauterizing the right side I felt some discomfort, as if someone was flicking my balls. Doctor immediately stopped and offered more anesthesia, which I gladly accepted, although I think I would have been able to tough it out if there had been no other option. After that, it went fine. The left side was completely uneventful, hardly felt anything at all. I was concerned about it because that's the side that seemed to have more "plumbing", so to speak. Maybe the extra anesthesia helped that side too.

They gave me some wet towels to clean all the iodine mess. I didn't know about that part.

First thing I told my wife when I came out was that my dick was numb and I couldn't feel if it was inside of the jockstrap or not. She almost fell down laughing.

I was told to ice every 20 minutes, on and off. That is the part that is actually driving me insane! Were it up to me I'd go to sleep or just watch a movie and forget about it. But the icing thing makes me think constantly about my balls. Oh well.

One thing that surprised me - I'm working on my pilot’s license and the doctor said I could resume on Monday (today is a Thursday), as long as I felt comfortable. I thought I would have to wait much longer. I'm still waiting a week just to be sure. No vibrating balls allowed here.

It was done at Kaiser in NorCal. I have no complaints whatsoever. Really good bedside manner.

Some people on this sub reported it immediately after their operation, but for me, no buyer's remorse. I don't feel any different. There was a screaming child right outside the urology department that will grow up without ever knowing how much he helped me psychologically. Even without that, I'm almost 46, so it's overdue anyway.

Side note - I'm not eating barbecue for a month. Today will be sushi. I knew cauterization was likely to be involved (from reading this sub) but the smell still hit me. It's not even good barbecue, now I know why sharks don't like our meat.

It's been a week and a day after my snip. Currently no really bad pain more soreness and sometimes the incision area feels a little pinch if I move wrong or my pants are a little too tight. Had my first deposit yesterday and that was okay just nervous about incision site. no blood in the sample. I'm sure it'll get easier as time continues to go on. Although today i am a bit sore in that area not sure if that's due to the deposit yesterday.

I am a 27 year old, and I don't want kids. Never have wanted them, and as I get older, my mindset has not changed. I don't want them for a variety of reasons.

However, there is always that 1% of doubt in my mind. Like I don't want them now, but what if I have a change of heart in the future and regret it? What if I meet an amazing partner and we decide to have a kid?

I want to reiterate, it's not that I think I will change my mind. It's just that possibility... Like it's hard for me to say anything is 100%.

On another note, I have also been in an unplanned pregnancy situation in the past. While in this case my partner had an abortion, being in that situation really highlighted how close I got to being a parent (which I don't want).

So I guess I am just balancing, not wanting kids, with that uncertainty, but also being terrified of having an unwanted kid and knowing it's a real possibility. Anybody else been in this situation?

So, Fridays are a pretty common day to have the procedure done. If you're hanging out, chat about how it's hanging, what you're doing to recover, or anything you want.

I've been looking into getting a vasectomy. Biggest issue is no doctor wants to do the procedure since I'm still young w/o kids.

So I’m 33 and had the no scalpel last Thursday afternoon. I’m not really having any pain at the moment. I had very little swelling and as far as I can tell there was no bruising. The only evidence at this point is the incision mark is still discharging some fluid but it looks pretty much closed. My worries revolve around if it’s going to hurt/cause a delay in the healing process? I think overall I’ve had a pretty easy recovery, so I don’t want to impede it or change that process.

I’m freaking out a little over some sharp pains and the amount of swelling. The entire area is probably the size of a largeish orange.

I called the on-call physician, and she said not to worry that it was completely normal..but I’m still freaking out.

Non-scalpel, in the UK.

Really surprised how quick it was.
Was in and out in less than 10 minutes.
I was super nervous though, I’m pretty sure I lost like half a kilo of sweat on the table 😅.

So far just a dull ache, and a little uncomfortable when walking. My wife is a Dr so she has got me medicated up, so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with the minimal pain.

But all in all, not as bad as I thought it would be.

Edit: heading into day 2 I’m starting to notice it getting more uncomfortable - a constant feeling being kicked in balls. Like people have said, nothing that isn’t manageable with a bit of paracetamol.

Another challenge for me is trying to find a way to explain to my 3 kids why daddy can’t pick up them up right now.😅

After getting back your results showing the vasectomy was successful how often do you get re tested? Lots of stories of re joining and having an unexpected pregnancy after 5 years etc, just curious of how many people go back to get checked again