Vasectomy Q & A
What is a vasectomy?
How do I prepare for a vasectomy?
If you’re ready for a vasectomy, it’s time to go shopping. You’ll need to buy a week’s worth of jockey briefs or other supportive underwear.
You don’t need a sedative for a vasectomy, but if you want one, you’ll need to arrange for a friend to take you home after the procedure. You also have to shave your scrotal hair the night before your procedure
What happens during a vasectomy?
At EVU, your surgeon gives you a long-acting pain medication that feels like a sharp snap — remember rubber band wars?
Your surgeon makes a tiny incision on your scrotum, then they clamp the vas deferens tubes in two different locations, cutting away the space in between to lessen the risk of the separated tubes reuniting.
Finally, your surgeon seals off the ends of the tubes with stitches and cauterization (the stitches disappear after a week). That gives you three levels of protection from sperm traveling from one side of the tube to the other.
What happens after a vasectomy?
After your vasectomy, you get to be a couch potato for three days. You must avoid all strenuous activities, such as:
- Sports
- Biking
- Weight lifting
- Bull riding
- Sliding down the banister
You can also try to get out of household chores during your recovery period, but do so at your own risk.
Unfortunately, you can’t have sex, take a bath, or use a hot spa for about a week, either, and you’ll have to wear those supportive briefs mentioned earlier.
Can I still impregnate my partner after vasectomy?
That’s highly unlikely. Only 15 out of 10,000 of all vasectomy couples — just 0.15%! — get pregnant within a year of the operation.
You need to use another birth control method for at least two months after your procedure, because there are still millions of eager sperm hanging out in your tubes. Just make sure that you wait for your EVU specialist’s all-clear after testing your post-vasectomy sperm count.
Ready for Snip City? Call Drs. Mehan and Wadhwa at EVU or use the online booking tool today.
Welcome to “SNIP CITY!” Why Should You Choose Dr. Rahul Mehan and Dr. Wadhwa and EVU Center for Your Vasectomy?
During their career, Dr. Mehan and Dr. Wadhwa have performed thousands of safe, affordable vasectomies for men. A vasectomy is one of the safest, easiest, and most reliable forms of permanent birth control. The average procedure takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. It’s an in-office procedure, so you’ll be back home taking it easy on your couch within a few hours.
Dr. Mehan and Dr. Wadhwa are amongst the most accomplished urologists in the East Valley.
Dr. Mehan, Dr. Wadhwa, and East Valley Urology Center staff understand that the decision to have a vasectomy is a sensitive one, and we make sure your time with us is as comfortable as possible.
Pre-Vasectomy
The vast majority of vasectomies are performed in the office; the actual procedure usually takes approximately 15 minutes for most people. Currently, we perform vasectomies most on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
At EVU Center, we give you the option of taking a mild sedative prior to the procedure. Should you take this option, we require that a spouse or friend take you home afterward.
At your request, we will gladly provide you prescriptions for your medications at your Vasectomy Consultation. We ask that you shave the scrotal hair the day prior to the procedure.
Also, please purchase jockey briefs, or similar supportive (bike-short type) underwear. UnderArmor, Jockey, and Champion are good options. We ask you to wear this for about a week after the vasectomy.
The Procedure
Relax! We will make things as comfortable as possible. Your procedure will be over in just a few minutes!!
There are several ways to perform a vasectomy properly. Dr. Mehan and Dr. Wadhwa’s technique involves using a long-acting pain medication. This will give you an extended period of pain relief. This may feel somewhat like getting thumped with a rubber-band, but this is truly the most uncomfortable part of the procedure. Thereafter, we make a small incision in the scrotum, about the length of this line —- to perform the entire procedure.
The vas deferens, which is about the size and caliber of spaghetti, is gently grasped, and anesthetized. We then clamp the vas deferens in two separate locations, a segment in-between the clamps is cut and removed. The ends of the tubes are closed off with sutures and then cauterized. This provides 3 levels of protection from sperm getting from one side to the other. The small incision is then closed with a small stitch that absorbs and disappears over 10 days. Usually, within a few months, the incision is no longer visible.
Post-Vasectomy
Go home and relax, it’s OVER! Seriously, we ask that you plan 72 hrs of relaxation after the vasectomy. Watch movies, sports, read books, but whatever it is, be a couch potato.
The kids or dog are going to want to jump in your lap the second you get home, so be careful! We ask that you wear your scrotal support/tight underwear for at least one week after the vasectomy. Also refrain from sports, including biking, running, weightlifting, bull riding, and sliding downstairs for at least one week. Several men have tried (unsuccessfully) to get out of general household duties, but we advise that you do so at your own risk. You can shower the day after the procedure, but no swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, or tub-baths for at least one week.
Pain medications are typically only needed the day of the procedure, and typically most men can do fine with a few Advil/Motrin/ibuprofen for the next few days.
You can resume intercourse about a week after the procedure. It is critical to understand that there are several hundred million sperm that are still in the vas deferens ahead of the area that was clamped, cut, sutured and cauterized. Pregnancy is still possible after a vasectomy. It is important that you continue using some form of contraception until a semen analysis is shown to be negative. Approximately 30 ejaculations, or two months after the vasectomy, we will have you perform a post-vasectomy semen analysis test to make sure that you have ‘cleaned the pipes’.
