The Big "V"

[dragongirl]

The hubby and I have to do something about birth control. We both hate condoms, the Pill and Depo shots made me into a 24/7 super bitch and the thought of using a diaphragm is pretty unpleasant, so we are considering sterilization. From what I understand, a visectomy is simpler then it would by for me to get my tubes tied. My husband's biggest concern is how much it hurts and what the recovery time is. He spends a lot of time listening to Howard Stern and he's heard it's pretty painful.(I don't believe that's a very reliable source) So, can someone share their own expierences and tell us about it ?

Thanks.

[whistlepig]

Not that painful, recovery time of 3-5 days.

The worst part of the operation (want a graphic description is no worse than a bump to the crotch. If your husband has every been hit in the yayas during sports, the operation is no where near as painful. I wore headphones and basically spaced out through the whole operation.

You'll be a little tender and sore for a few days. I basically sat on the couch and read/watched TV. I was back to weightlifting and hiking within a week.

If it weren't a guy operation, involving guy's parts, I'm sure the pain/recovery stories wouldn't be so bad. But no guy can resist the chance to say, "I heard about this guy who had a blood clot and his balls swelled up to the size of basketballs. While he was at the mall with his wife!"

Whistlepig

Two tips I would offer:

1. Wear old, dark bikini underwear to and from the operation. Bikini for support. Dark to hide the blood, old because there is really no need for a guy to wear underwear with blood stains.

2. Take a test drive before you try out the new and improved unit with the wife. Just in case you tear a stitch and have incredible pain and bleeding. You really don't want to have that sexual experience when you're with the wife.

[DrFidelius]

The injection of the local anesthetic was the most painful part. As the actual severing is done with a sharpened probe the incision is very small. Got to sit on the couch for most of a week watching TV, and no one asked me to do any type of household chores. A definite plus.

Howard Stern is the last source I would trust for accurate details on anything; he's allegedly a humourist after all.

I know there are many other articulate men here who have coverted from the family to the sports model. I doubt you will hear any first-person horror stories.

[Roger the Shrubber]

My dad was telling me about this friend of his who went to the Doctor's. The nurse prepped him, and the doctor operated...The doctor thought the nurse had given him the pain killers, the nurse thought the doc would!

ouch.

/hijack

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I have had the operation, and please don't be discouraged by my experience...It is pretty much painless...I have had oral surgery that was much more painful than my vasectomy...HOWEVER...I had my vasectomy done in my doctors office (standard procedure) several days before Christmas..the procedure went fine, took very little time, but...a couple of days later(the day of Christmas Eve) my balls were on fire, I could hardly walk and I was at work ( I was a police officer at the time) The pain was tremendous and I was walking like I just had a baby elephant...I had to call the doctors office and explain the situation...they had just closed the office for the holiday...luckily the doctor who performed the procedure was there and he met me at the emergency room of the local hospital..yes my nads were swollen, somehow the area had become infected and I had to get some medication for the inflammation and infection...wasn't feeling right for a couple of days....and that wasn't all...I received a call a couple days later...it seems that the doctor haadn't removed both vas...what he thought was the right vas was a piece of muscle tissue...so I had to go and have the procdure done again so the doc could get the right vas clipped and removed...Luckily he got it right this time and I didn't have any infection or inflammation... and make sure you wear some protection for the first dozen times after you have the vasectomy...you can still get the lady with child...I don't regret the vasectomy, just the effects that followed mine...But thats just me, if I didm't have bad luck I wouldn't have any at all
t

[bobkitty]

Ahh.. the best $47 I ever spent. We had Mr. Bobkitty neutered less than a month after we married.

I strongly recommend The Shot^TM. Before the local goes in, they have a Happy Shot that they'll give on request. Mr. Bobkitty was totally loopy for the entire operation, and likes to joke that they told him not to move around much for 24 hours post-op, but hell, he "didn't even come to for 24 hours."

We checked around for doctors, and found one that a bunch of people we knew had used. He was really, really nice, spent a lot of time talking to us beforehand, and even let me help during the procedure (no, really.. I'd asked to watch, and that was fine, but during the operation the nurse had to go help another patient who was having some pain, and since I'd had experience in medical offices I got to open and hand instruments to the doc. Fun!!).

Mr. Bobkitty was up and about after a day or so, but had to take stairs pretty slowly for about 3-5 days. The discomfort lasted a bit longer for him because it turns out he only had one vas, and since the doctor didn't realize it at first he spent a good deal of time.. ahhh.. digging around trying to find the other one.

Overall a pretty positive experience. We've sent several of our friends to the same doc, and they've all been pleased with the results. And, most insurance companies will cover 90% of the cost.

-BK

[rsa]

Piece of cake. I just took a valium before the procedure to relax. The first needle with the local anesthetic in my left scrotum I could hardly feel. Unfortunately, the second shot in my right scrotum appartently was right into a nerve which wasn't very pleasant and the idiot doctor scolded me for squirming. Like it's possible to not squirm with a needle in a scrotal nerve. The unpleasantness was pretty brief though. During the actual procedure, I don't recall feeling anything other than a bit of pressure -- nothing too bad at all.

Afterwards, you just sit on the couch holding an ice pack on your scrota, eat ice cream, and watch TV. I guess my hormones were a lot stromger back then, since I was horny with an erection later that evening. I don't recall, but I hope that I had the sense not to do anything about it.

After some period (maybe a week?), you have to provide a semem sample so they can check that there are no sperm present. They found one dead sperm in my sample, so I had to provide another a few days or a week later.

Tell you hubby to go for it.

[rsa]

[post post spellcheck]
appartently => apparently
stromger => stronger
semem => semen
you hubby => your hubby
[I'm a :wally]

[Mangetout]

You probably don't want to hear about this, but I'm going to say it anyway (not to try and put hubby off though). I had a very bad experience when I had the 'snip'.

The default option was general anaesthetic, but I was determined to have local anaesthetic only (because of the unpleasant side effects of general and the risks), so they scheduled me last into theatre (I wouldn't need so long to recover); I had to sit there with my arse sticking out of a hospital gown all day while they wheeled everybody in and out, but that wasn't the bad bit.

The anaesthetic injections were moderately painful (but not nearly as bad as a kick in the 'nads), the surgeon told me that I wouldn't feel a thing and this was true for the first tube, but the anaesthetic mustn't have applied evenly because I felt the full sensation of the second entry incision (which was done with surgical scissors). They gave me another injection which killed the pain fairly quickly.

I went home a couple of hours later, wearing the recommended tight undies, and was very achy and tender for a few days (I took the whole week off work), trouble is that I got a nasty case of jock itch (which I put down to a combination of tight underpants and the fact that I wasn't allowed to wash for two days).

I returned to work the following week (on a Friday), but felt very ill and had to be taken home halfway through the day after nearly collapsing; I rested at home in the afternoon, but felt worse. Saturday morning, I had a high temperature and felt worse still; noticing that my left one was very swollen (think tennis ball), I called NHS direct (a telephone health advice line here in the UK) and after describing the situation, they told me to seek immediate urgent medical attention, which I did.
It was a nasty infection, but the antibiotics (two courses) that the doctor prescribed cleared it up.

The self-dissolving stitches simply didn't dissolve; two months later they were still intact, my doctor wasn't particularly interested in removing them, so I had to do it myself, but the skin had kind of grown around them, so there was a little 'collateral damage' involved in cutting them.

So anyway, I suppose you think I'd have little reason to recommend the operation, but in fact I don't regret it at all (sure, I'd like to have had an easier time of it, but hey). There's no way to fully describe the effect it has had, but it's mainly about relaxation and not having to fumble about with condoms (which I always hated).

I had to undergo two counselling sessions before the operation (on the National Health Service) to make sure that I was absolutely certain. I have two children and that's enough, so I was sure it was what I wanted.

Vasectomy is (in theory) a far simpler procedure than the equivalent for a female.

I would say though that even though vasectomy can sometimes be reversed, you should approach it as if it is permanent; BE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you won't change your mind in a year or two.

[Boyo Jim]

I had this done, cost me about $300.

I had a local anesthetic, and took them up on the option to shave myself before coming in.

I had some discomfort. I could feell them pulling at the tube. The technique went in through the bottom of the scrotum, and they cut out some length of the tube to prevent a spontaneous reattachment, rather than just snipping and sealing the ends.

The worst part was the burning smell (and sound!) of the cauterizing. Those were my boys on the soldering iron! It was an outpatient thing, and I walked out of the place (and into a car that rushed me to bed).

Stayed off my feet as much as possible for 2 days, but had no problem getting to fridge or john. No action on doctors orders for 1 week. Had to continue with condoms for 6 weeks, then a test found one live sperm, so another 2 weeks with condoms. Next test, no wrigglers.

Absolutely no post-surgical "functionality" issues. FEAR FREE sex is fabulous, and the spooge looks (and I'm told tastes) the same. There is no scar visible unless you really dig into the undergrowth, and even at that it's just a slightly paler line.

I would do it agin in a minute. I might consider the general anesthetic next time, not for pain, just not to be kinda creeped out.

PS, being relatively poor and uninsured, I price-shopped for this. And I took the low bidder, which was a university teaching clinic. But it was damned hard to get anybody to quote prices. And yes, I had to listen to the teacher describing the procedure as he did it to two (female) students. Fortunately he never said, "You try it"!

I don't know what it would cost to bank some sperm if you change your mind, but you can do that. The medical people told me I should consider this irreversable, because your immune system will develop antibodies against your own sperm when it's floating around inside your system. If I recall, more than 70% of the reversal attempts fail.

[pesch]

OK, time for a GOOD experience.

I got snipped about two years ago, and it went off without a hitch. I took my valium pill an hour before the ceremony and felt just fine.

The worse pain was the injection into the balls. It felt just like, well, sticking a needle into your nutsack.

After that, I didn't feel a thing. I had a tape deck playing a Patrick O'Brian novel (one of my favorite writers), but I stopped halfway through because he was taking out my vas deferens and I wanted to see.

He cauterized both ends of the vas, so there's a little smoke and smell, too. I held the pieces he snipped out. They looked like a very tiny bit of angelhair pasta. With tomato sauce.

No pain after that. Not even the "kick in the balls" feel. I'm sure he stitched me, but it was a dissolving stitch and it must have fallen off.

As a man who've had to put up with condoms and the pills, I heartily recommend it. My wife does too.

Oh, and, yes, I did feel a bit queasy about it, up until the day of the ceremony. There is something about the idea of a doctor taking a knife to my cojones that made me . . . uncomfortable. But, given the sex we've had afterwards (my wife and I, not the doctor), it was WORTH IT. WOO-WOO!!

So don't forget: wear clean underwear, and fergodssake wash yer balls before going in.

[pesch]

Shoot, wrong smiley about my wife's reaction. Try

[Cerowyn]

There is now an out-patient procedure for women, too. Just in case anyone tries to tell you men that it's easier for you to get it done.

[whistlepig]

I could have had Valium?!!

Damn, I didn't even think of it. :wally

I had to rely afterwards on some traded muscle relaxants, not for the vascectomy pain, but because 1. I can't stand to be inactive for more than a day, 2. I have some back muscles that get real tight without exercise and stretching.

Maybe I could go back and tell the Doc I have some "phantom pain." Valium would be good for, say, watching baseball.

[Beardedcrow]

I got snipped about six years ago and my experience was about like pesch's. I had insurance, so the whole thing was 40 bucks, 10 bucks a visit. Valium for me too. A little uncomfortable? Yes. Did I care? No! I thought they looked like "little noodles" also and wish I had asked for them. Wouldn't they look wicked cool strung as a necklace?
(evil grin)

[Algernon]

Another positive experience to relate...

I had mine done about 8 years ago. The only pain was the initial injection, and that was short-lived. They didn't give me Valium, but it didn't matter. I had no "kicked in the balls" reaction either.

I was tender for a couple of days, but that's it.

Bottom line... for me it was a piece of cake (and I'm sure the techniques have improved in the last 8 years).

[Sn-man]

A word of caution from the Doctor who was to perform the operation on me. The conversation went something like this:
There is a small chance of experiencing permanent testicular pain.
What, I asked?
The type of pain associated with rough handling of the testicle.
How bad, I asked?
Much like that uncomfortable dull ache lasting for 20-30 minutes if the testicle gets compressed, but permanent.
I don’t like the sound of that.
It happens in less than one percent of the………
I’m not sure I want to risk that.
Well, if you’re going to obsess about it….
I think I’ll pass, thanks for the consultation.

I may be obsessing, but I did not want to “Be Uncomfortable” for the rest of my days.

[Lionors]

The question I have for you, dragongirl, is whether or not you and hubby want this to be a permanent thing or whether or not you want to have kids down the road.

My husband was vasectomized during his previous marriage (they already had two children, the second because the wife wanted it, he didn't, they agreed not to have a second and she deliberately 'forgot' her pills so she could have one anyway, which should tell you something about her. But that's a different story. Fortunately, he's a wonderful father.)

In any event, *I* haven't had any children, and we chose to at least make an attempt to have one of our own. In order to do this, though, he had to have a vasectomy reversal -- which, if you're lucky, runs about 5K, is NOT covered by insurance (how unfair is that?) and requires considerably more recovery time.

OTOH, the doctor who did the reversal (who was terrific) doped my husband so well before, during and after that he swears it hurt less than the original procedure. Still, he was off work for two weeks (he could have gone back after a week, but after any sort of surgery, officers in his department have to be cleared by the doctor who works for the city, and the guy was out of town the second week) and it was quite some time before he recovered fully.

The chance of success is very good, especially with microsurgery, but still, if you're planning on having them, you might want to save yourself some time, money (and him some discomfort) and try another form of birth control, if possible.

I'm not sure what we're going to do for birth control if and when I ever get pregnant, though -- I'm in your boat as far as problems with the methods go.

[Rysdad]

Originally posted by rsa
Afterwards, you just sit on the couch holding an ice pack on your scrota...

Plural?

Another question...

Is there generally much swelling for those of you that had no other complications? The guys I know that have been clipped all say that their nards were at least a little swollen.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally posted by Rysdad

Plural?

Another question...

Is there generally much swelling for those of you that had no other complications? The guys I know that have been clipped all say that their nards were at least a little swollen.

Are we talking nards, or nard bucket? Personally, I wasn't prodding deep into the nards to determine internal swelling.

As far as the the scrotum went: swollen around the incision, yes; but the whole thing, not really, at least not more than the day or so you're staying off your feet anyway.

I'd say it's pretty comparable to taking what you feel after taking a pretty solid groin hit, but not including that unbelieveable immediate pain. More like what it feels like a couple of hours later.

[rsa]

Originally posted by Rysdad

Plural?

Another question...

Is there generally much swelling for those of you that had no other complications? The guys I know that have been clipped all say that their nards were at least a little swollen.

scro·tum (skrtm)
n. pl. scro·ta (-t) or scro·tums

What can I say... I was a member of the "Look it up club" as a kid.

I don't recall that much swelling, although my idiot father made me take a Polaroid picture of his quite swollen scrota when I was a teenager, but that was a long time ago. I think major swelling is pretty rare these days.

[Rysdad]

Originally posted by rsa

scro·tum (skrtm)
n. pl. scro·ta (-t) or scro·tums

What can I say... I was a member of the "Look it up club" as a kid.

I don't recall that much swelling, although my idiot father made me take a Polaroid picture of his quite swollen scrota when I was a teenager, but that was a long time ago. I think major swelling is pretty rare these days.

I don't think any one man has more than one scrotum, so if your father had scrota,, well, he's more of a man than I am.

Re: swelling... I've always been told that the twins themselves usually grow to impressive size following the surgery. If they don't, that's good to hear.

[plnnr]

There have been several threads related to this, but I'll throw out my story once again.

My vasectomy was performed by the good Dr. The Marquis de Sade. He specifically used the extra dull tin snips and the rusty scalpel.

I've never hurt like that before (yes, he used lidocaine - too much, in fact).

Long story short - I had a systemic reaction to the lidocaine and nerves and have never been so sick in my life.

I could have done an equally effective job with two bricks.

[Algernon]

Originally posted by plnnr
I could have done an equally effective job with two bricks.

I know this is a bump... but this made me laugh so hard I just had to let plnnr know.

And, to reiterate my story told earlier in the thread... I had no problems, little pain, and only moderate swelling in my one scrotum and two testicles (~grin~).