Bullet points/instructions for the vasectomy reversal post operative period:

Top Four Questions After Vasectomy Reversal…then other common ones.

1. When can I go back to work? The general rule is to be off your feet as much as possible for 3-5 days. After this, you can drive and be active and if possible wear compression underwear. A desk job requires just being careful. However, if you have a job with a lot of physical activity then you have to gradually and carefully get back to your routine over three weeks. Both the outside stitches and the inside microscopic sutures have to heal. You are more prone to brusing and swelling with a reversal than you experienced with your vasectomy.
2. My stitches are dissolving too soon and not evenly. Absorbable sutures have been used and it is common for the scrotal skin to separate when a portion of the suture line dissolves. This can be different of each side and this is normal.
3. When can I resume sexual activity? Three weeks.
4. When can get back to my work out/exercise routine? Although being active or upper body work outs can be carefully done, it is best to get back into your regular exercise routine at three weeks and gradually.

• You can shower after 24 hrs. For the first two to three days don’t let the water hit the operative site directly.
• A thin layer of Neosporin over the suture sites daily is recommended.
• A formal dressing is not required but one 4×4 gauze between underwear and the sutures may be more comfortable.
• The sutures for the skin dissolve over three weeks. This is not always symmetrical or pretty. One side may heal differently from the other. Some separation of the skin in areas is not uncommon and resolves.
• The feeling of a “lump” under the skin above either testicle is not uncommon. This is where the body is reacting to the surgical procedure and the healing process. (It is not unusual to have a healing lump on one side but not the other.)
• Wear compression underwear for three weeks. (This is preferred to the traditional “jock strap” and keeps the scrotal area tight and helps with the healing process.) Remember on the inside where the actual reversal was performed, there are 14-16 microscopic sutures on each side.
• No sexual activity for three weeks. Slowly returning to your normal exercise routine and intercourse can resume at that time.
• The more you can be off your feet the first week following the procedure the less swelling you will have. Some bruising and swelling of the skin around the suture sites is common.
• The vasectomy reversal healing process is different from the vasectomy you had. There is an expected longer recovery period.
• Patients can begin to acitive and drive if necessary after 5 days. Wearing compression underwear and being careful until the three week mark is important. Again, the more you are off your feet the better.
• The testicles begin producing normal sperm again in 4-6 months depending on the length of time from the vasectomy. (The longer the interval from the vasectomy, the slower return to sperm production.)
• To begin producing the numbers necessary for pregnancy (20 million) takes 6-18 months. “This is a patient journey!”
• If you desire to have an evaluation of a semen specimen to check for the presence of sperm, one would wait until 3-4 months after the reversal. The presence of sperm is a very good sign, however it is not unusual for a longer interval is required for the return of sperm. A home test kit (Spermcheck.com) can be ordered online and can indicate if sperm are present or absent. Yospermtest.com is another online test kit that provides a video and an estimation of the count. If a formal semen analysis is desired which provides an actual count of sperm, an order from us for your local hospital or lab is recommended. (We provide a semen analysis order at the time of the procedure that can be used at your local hospital or lab.)
• If pregnancy occurs, it is usually in the 6-18 month time frame. This can be sooner expecially if your vasectomy done less than three years before the reversal.
• Patients commonly ask about birth defects. The rate of birth defects are the same as normally occurs. Nature is this case protects you. Only the “best and brightest” sperm can make the arduous journing to penetrate/fertilize the egg.
• If pregnany occurs…our office loves to see and share the success stories.
• Finally…we appreciate the opportunity to participate in your care and are sincerely hopeful for your family’s success.

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