u/Billy_Bowlegs

It has now been 24 hours since I got my vasectomy done. My lengthy day 1 experience is documented in this thread.

Yesterday evening was fine. Not much that I would even classify as pain. Mostly just discomfort like I got thumped on my nuts. I’ve been icing myself regularly and that helps along with pain meds the doctor gave me. I slept fine just like normal.

In my original post I talked about how painful it was on my right side due to my testicle retracting a bit during the procedure. If I had any advice for anyone going forward it would be to tell your doctor if you feel anything. Talk him through it and he will give more lidocaine. He quickly responded to my pain, but I tried to tough it out when I didn’t need to. I still feel a bit of pain along that line going up to my stomach when I stand up or bend my leg outward, but it’s very minor 1/10.

I’ve noticed a small swollen bump under the skin which is likely one of the tubes that were tied off. It’s sensitive to the touch, but everything in my scrotum is really. On the plus side, my scrotum and testicles appear to be the same size as yesterday, so overall I’d report minimal swelling if any so far. I have a small incision on the front of my scrotum maybe 1/4 inch with a few stitches in it. It’s barely noticeable.

I’ve been up walking around off and on. We have a newborn here so that requires some movement to take care of him. I went to the mailbox earlier without issue.

So far the recovery hasn’t been bad at all. Some say that it gets worse on day 3, so I’ll drop another update tomorrow and then probably stop unless I have any issues after. I just wanted to give a detailed account for anyone going into this in the future. Since I’ve hit 24 hours I’m clear to take a shower, so that is what I’m headed to do 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.

Extra points for creativity in an apocalypse.