# Vasectomy or no vasectomy. That is the question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925 "2000-01-06T02:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/21 "2000-01-07T00:37:00Z")
For some reason, some men get women pregnant later. The tubes retie themselves. It happens on women, too, who get their tubes tied. ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/22 "2000-01-07T00:38:00Z")
\> Do they pump the actual testes full of anesthetics, or just the scrotum in general? The scrotum. What they’re after is the tubes (which they sever and/or tie off), not the testicles. … Unless they’re talking about castration, of course. that’s a different procedure, and I believe that _does_ affect your sex life \. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/23 "2000-01-07T01:03:00Z")
Handy, I think that may be from older procedures. I think originally they snipped the tubes off and just put them back in the scrotum. Not realiziing how happy the ends were to grow back together once they bumped in to each other. My doctor pulled out about a one inch section of each, cut it out and folded over each end and sewed them, before putting them back in. When pulling on the tube, it definately reminded me of a blow to the nuts but only momentarily. I only had that paint on orange crap to deaden the skin of the scrotum to make the incisions, which were only about 1/4 inch each. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/24 "2000-01-07T01:17:00Z")
**Who!** , I think we better wait until the medical people weight in on that 70% number. If it were true, this sounds like one of the highest risk operations posible. Does cigarette smoking have a risk factor that high? Vasectomies are very routine and very safe. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/25 "2000-01-07T01:26:00Z")
Handy, the urologist who did my husbands operation told us he had been doing vasectomies for almost 15 years, and in every case he had seen where the wife had come up pregnant, it later surfaced that she had been with another man. He said he has never seen a real reversal. Of course, where the human body is concerned, nothing is impossible, but the odds are so low as to not be a consideration. Jim, what kind of sadistic doctor did you have? My hubby got IV sedation, _and_ a local injection. ---
**Author:** ![Meow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Meow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meow)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/26 "2000-01-07T01:41:00Z")
My husband had one done. He said the worst part was the pain-killer shots. He was fine after a day or so. Now every time I see some woman struggling with some screaming, snotty brat (or brats!), I say to him, thank you, thank you, thank you for getting fixed!!! : ) Meow! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/27 "2000-01-07T02:28:00Z")
**Lucretia** , maybe he just knew what he was doing. There was practically no pain, the incisions were tiny (after 6 months, I couldn’t find a scar to even prove that I had it), and it didn’t take 30 minutes. I watched the whole thing and dressed and was out in 45 minutes from the time I sat down on the examination table. And I was going to mention the same thing about the pregnant wife, but I thought that was a gimme. ---
**Author:** ![Radix\_Lecti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Radix\_Lecti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Radix_Lecti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/28 "2000-01-07T14:12:00Z")
RE: 70% increase Prior to my procedure I had to have an appointment with my doctor where he explains all the risks and the procedure. According to him THERE IS NO CLINICAL EVIDENCE OF ANY INCREASED RISK OF PROSTATE CANCER The most realistic risk you have is infection which causes a lot of discomfort but is treatable with antibiotics etc. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/29 "2000-01-07T14:28:00Z")
Screaming snotty brats? I’m glad you Can’t have children! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/30 "2000-01-07T16:55:00Z")
Sorry, but PROSTATE CANCER is an old mans disease. No need to concern yourself with it unless you are 70-80 years old. By then youll probably be doing it with 75 year old women. My doc told me that, except for that bonking comment. Anyway, Im due to get it then anyway, there is no way around it, it runs in my family. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/31 "2000-01-08T06:29:00Z")
Who! Me?, you could also look into an IUD for your wife. Like vasectomy and tubal ligation, you don’t have to deal with it at _the moment_. It puts the burden on her, not you, but there’s no surgery, and it **is** easily reversible. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/32 "2000-01-07T20:08:00Z")
I’m sure your doctor did know what he was doing, JimB. Maybe it’s only the really whiny ones that get the good stuff. As a sidenote, when my husband had his done, we were in Misawa, northern Japan, where there is quite a bit of earth-quake activity. We had a friend who wanted one, but refused to get one there for fear that an earthquake would strike at just the right (wrong?) moment, and his testicles would go rolling away across the floor. ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/33 "2000-01-07T20:37:00Z")
I dated a man once who had had a vasectomy a few months before meeting me. Since he was the first man I knew who had one and I was comfortable enough to ask about it, I asked for all the details. He said there was a little swelling for the first couple of days, and that was uncomfortable, but that within a couple of weeks his libido had skyrocketed, and he was ready to go about 4 times a day, as opposed to the once a day or less before. Whether this is common or not, I can’t say, but I’d imagine the no-pregnancy-worries thing would rekindle some of those reckless fires in a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_ME](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2bfe46/32.png) [@Who\_ME](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_ME)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/34 "2000-01-08T04:57:00Z")
Thank you everyone. I think I will call the Dr. on Monday and get it over with. Acutely I can’t wait so I don’t have to put on those Trojan-enz anymore. * * * Careful with that ax Eugene. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/35 "2000-01-08T07:28:00Z")
Trojan-enz?! Does anyone actually USE one any more? I got ‘spayed’ about fifteen years ago. At the time, the doc said there’d be no noticeable change in my sex life. He was WRONG! For a mere $350 and a day’s bitchin’ about a sore bag, I’ve had fifteen years of sexual happiness! And for the record, my doc cut 'em, tied 'em, AND burned 'em, all for one money! It beats a root canal, and in the long run, it’s a damn sight less expensive! * * * I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free… T ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/36 "2000-01-08T13:53:00Z")
I didn’t think they _did_ IUD’s anymore. Something about heavier periods, pain, risk of infection, and success rate… ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/37 "2000-01-08T16:01:00Z")
Youll be using those E-z’s for sometime after the operation…you don’t shoot blanks right away but soon, right? ---
**Author:** ![Radix\_Lecti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Radix\_Lecti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Radix_Lecti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/38 "2000-01-08T17:05:00Z")
That’s right… you’re not actually supposed to work without a net for a month or so. I had to go back in with a “sample” and let them check to make sure. Another thing… you should’nt ejaculate for a good week after the procedure… it supposedly increases the odds of reattachment. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925/39 "2000-01-09T06:21:00Z")
I did a quick search on [GOOGLE](http://www.google.com) All the sites came up with a 1.5% to 2% increase in prostate cancer. HOWEVER, they also all said men who get the operation are more likely to be healthy types in the first place and SEEK a diagnosis. Thus the actual phrase was men who get the operation are 1.5% - 2% more likely to be DIAGNOSED. There is no data supporting (nor refuting) whether or not vasectomy causes prostate cancer The sites aslo said sperm is well know to inhibit prostate infections therefore it is reasonable to assume if no sperm goes through your likelyhood of getting a prostate infection increases. Again there is NO data to support or deny that either, but doctors report an increase in prostate infections after vasectomy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vasectomy-or-no-vasectomy-that-is-the-question/5925.md?page=1)