This is a common question and maybe more common for me than other urologists. Why?
I make one mid-line opening using the no scalpel instrument. This is done at the peno-scrotal junction (upper aspect of the scrotum in the middle.) Through this opening the right side vas deferens is brought to the surface and the vasectomy is performed. This vas then returns to the right. Same thing is done on the left. (Many urologists make two openings, one on each side.)
What can be confusing to the patient is that days or weeks later he notes the mid-opening that is healed, but he feels a small knot on the left or right. What is going on? Something must be wrong.
The knot is where the body has begun the healing process. This varies from left to right, so that one patient may feel something on the right another the left. Because the opening is in the middle the assumption is that the swelling should be in the middle.
Now you know why it is left or right. The middle is where we access the left and right vas deferens but then it returns to its normal location and the healing process then begins.
If it is a small area and minimal discomfort, then this is the normal healing process and no need to call your doctor.
We offer vasectomy conscious sedation, fair all inclusive pricing for self pay patients and accept most all insurances. Call us when you’re ready to consider a vasectomy. We’ve done thousands.
A vasectomy takes about 15 minutes and I do them through a single “size of a grain of rice” opening.
A reversal, in my hands, takes about two hours and more commonly uses two incisions (3/4 inch on each side of the upper scrotum over the course of the vas deferens) and requires an operating microscope and microscopic suture.
I tell patients that it is a minor procedure, minimal blood loss or other complications, but it does take two hours to do. Bruising and some scrotal swelling is more common and there is a longer recovery period.
So…to the question…same structure (the vas deferens) different procedure.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled “The Voice of the Irish.” As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country.
After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.
Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover–the famous shamrock–to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For centuries, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick’s death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon.
Call or email to schedule vasectomy with in office pre-medication or ASC conscious sedation. Either way we cater to cowards. Check out Dr. McHugh’s free eBook on a vasectomy.
The interval of time from the vasectomy.
Studies have shown success is related to the timing of the vasectomy which in turn is related to the ability of the testicles to begin producing sperm again in adequate numbers to achieve pregnancy.
Click on “Success Rates” in Menu to see how the interval of the vasectomy affects success.
From The Atlantic
A handful of studies have tried to pinpoint a number of children that maximizes parents’ happiness. One study from the mid-2000s indicated that a second child or a third didn’t make parents happier. “If you want to maximize your subjective well-being, you should stop at one child,” the study’s author told Psychology Today. A more recent study, from Europe, found that two was the magic number; having more children didn’t bring parents more joy.
In the United States, nearly half of adults consider two to be the ideal number of children, according to Gallup polls, with three as the next most popular option, preferred by 26 percent. Two is the favorite across Europe, too.
Ashley Larsen Gibby, a Ph.D. student in sociology and demography at Penn State, notes that these numbers come with some disclaimers. “While a lot of [the] evidence points to two children being optimal, I would be hesitant to make that claim or generalize it past Western populations,” she wrote to me in an email. “Having the ‘normative’ number of children is likely met with more support both socially and institutionally. Therefore, perhaps two is optimal in places where two is considered the norm. However, if the norm changed, I think the answer to your question would change as well.”
About 500,000 vasectomies are performed each year in the U.S. Although the procedure is cheaper, faster, safer, and more reliable than female sterilization (1 pregnancy in 100), only 9% of sexually active men in the United States get vasectomies, while 27% of women get tubal ligations.
Well, yes. However, just because you can reverse a vasectomy, doesn’t mean that you will achieve pregnancy.
I have done several thousand vasectomies and several hundred microscopic vasectomy reversals, so…here are some things to consider “before” you decide to have a vasectomy.
So…you don’t want to have a vasectomy unless you are pretty darn sure you don’t want to have any more children. An option is to bank sperm before the vasectomy. This costs about $200 a year.
Conclusion: If you think there is any possibility that you might want to have more children do not have vasectomy. Depending on a reversal, even in the best scenario of surgeon and time interval from the vasectomy, is a risky endeavor.
On the flip side: If you have had a vasectomy, the chances of achieving pregnancy is essentially zero. In this setting having a reversal is very reasonable as any chance at pregnancy with a reversal is better than no chance. This is the reasoning most couples have when deciding to pursue a reversal.
First interesting thing: Getting an infection is uncommon. Most urologists do not place a suture in the small opening necessary for doing the procedure and this may be protective.
Second interesting thing: If there is a sperm granuloma or some swelling or tenderness under the scrotal skin, it usually resolves on its own and…is it almost always just on one side. In my experience it is rare to have an issue with both sides of the procedure. Each side is independent of the other. Go figure!
More questions? Go to the vasectomy page and read the eBook.
