Overview

Why is it done?

For men who are confident they will never have children, a vasectomy provides a secure and reliable form of birth control. The effectiveness of vasectomy in preventing pregnancy is almost 100%.

An outpatient procedure, a vasectomy has a low risk of complications or negative side effects. Vasectomy costs are far lower than those associated with female sterilisation (tubal ligation) or the long-term expense of birth control for women.

You won't need to use birth control before intercourse, such as a condom if you have a vasectomy. The vasectomy does not provide any protection against STDs.

How to prepare

• Safety measures: On the day of the procedure, take a shower or bath. Make sure to thoroughly wash your genital region. If necessary, trim your hair. To prevent driving-related movement and pressure on the surgical area, make arrangements for a ride home after your procedure.
• Medicines and food: A few days before surgery, your doctor may advise you to stop taking aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, or other blood thinners.
• Personal items and clothing: To support the scrotum and reduce swelling, bring a pair of form-fitting underwear or an athletic supporter to wear after the treatment.

Prior to the process

Your doctor will want to consult with you to ensure that a vasectomy is an appropriate method of birth control for you before performing it. Be ready to discuss the following during the first consultation (appointment).

• Knowing that a vasectomy is a long-term procedure and is not recommended if there is even a remote possibility that you might want to father children in the future.
• If you're in a relationship, consider how your partner feels about the decision.
• You have more birth control options.
• What vasectomy surgery entails, how to recover from it, and potential side effects

A vasectomy is generally performed under local anaesthetic at a doctor's office or surgical facility, meaning you'll be awake and receive medication to numb the surgical region. Typically, a vasectomy procedure lasts between 10 and 30 minutes.

After the surgery is done

A vasectomy doesn't offer immediate pregnancy prevention. Until your doctor says there is no sperm in your semen, use a different method of birth control. You must wait several months or longer and ejaculate 15 to 20 times or more to remove all sperm from your semen before engaging in unprotected sex.

Six to twelve weeks after surgery, most doctors perform a follow-up semen examination to make sure there are no sperm still present. To evaluate your sperm, your doctor will need some samples from you. Your doctor will have you masturbate, ejaculate into a container, or use a specific condom without lubricant or spermicide to catch semen during sexual activity in order to obtain a sperm sample. The presence of sperm is then determined by microscopically examining your semen.

A vasectomy is a reliable method of birth control, but it won't shield you or your partner from STIs like chlamydia or HIV/AIDS. Therefore, even after a vasectomy, if you are still in danger of contracting an STD, you should use other kinds of protection like condoms.

Risks

You shouldn't get a vasectomy if you have a testicular illness or chronic testicular pain.

The possibility that you might later decide on wanting to father a kid is a potential issue with vasectomy. Your vasectomy might be reversible, but there is no assurance it will be successful. Reversal surgery is more difficult than vasectomy, can be costly, and occasionally is futile.

Additional methods, such as in vitro fertilisation, are also an option. These methods are, however, expensive and occasionally ineffective.

The majority of men who undergo a vasectomy experience no adverse effects at all, and serious complications are quite uncommon.

Following-surgery side effects may include:

• Infection at the site of surgery
• Bleeding or a blood clot in the scrotum
• There is blood in your sperm.
• Testicular fluid accumulation might result in a dull pain that gets worse after ejaculation.
• Inflammation is brought on by sperm leakage.
• An injury to your scrotum
• 1% to 2% of patients who undergo surgery may develop chronic discomfort.
• If your vasectomy fails, which is unlikely, pregnancy could result.
• Spermatocele means an abnormal cyst that forms in the epididymis.
• Fluid gets accumulated in the sheath that encloses a testicle, causing the scrotum to swell.

Many men think that getting a vasectomy may result in major issues, but these worries are false. A vasectomy won't, for instance:

• Cause a lot of pain. During surgery, you can experience some moderate discomfort and pull or tugging, although severe pain is uncommon. Similarly, you might experience some pain following surgery, but for most guys, the discomfort is mild and subsides within a few days.
• Damage your sexual organs in the long run. There is extremely little chance that surgery will harm your testicles, penis, or other reproductive organs. The loss of a testicle can occur in extremely rare circumstances when the blood supply is damaged, although it is unlikely to occur if your surgeon is proficient.
• Affect your sexual performance. Other than prohibiting you from fathering a kid, vasectomy has no effect on your sex drive or masculinity. Even more sexual satisfaction has been reported by men following vasectomy.
• Increased chance of developing specific cancers. Although there have been some questions in the past concerning a potential connection between vasectomy and testicular or prostate cancer, there is no proof of such a connection.
• Your chance of developing heart disease. There doesn't seem to be a connection between vasectomy and cardiac issues, similar to cancer fears.