Does It Hurt to Get a Vasectomy?

You want to take family planning into your own hands and join the half a million men who undergo a vasectomy each year in the United States. The thought of someone coming near your private parts with a knife, however, gives you pause. 

While perfectly understandable, there’s no need for concern when you have a top urologist like our own Dr. Robert Cornell perform your vasectomy, as he uses an advanced no-scalpel technique.

Here’s a look at what you can expect during and after your no-scalpel vasectomy insofar as your comfort is concerned.

No-scalpel vasectomy explained

The goal of a vasectomy is to prevent sperm from mixing in with your semen, and this procedure accomplishes this goal admirably with a 99.8% efficacy rating. To do this, Dr. Cornell targets your vas deferens, the two ejaculatory ducts that provide passage for your sperm from your testes.

These tubes are located in the bottom of your scrotum, which makes them easily accessible. Rather than cutting into your scrotum, however, Dr. Cornell only makes one, tiny puncture hole.

After making this small access point, Dr. Cornell pulls each vas deferens through and clips it off, creating a blockage that prevents sperm from passing through. Once he’s finished, he simply pushes each vas deferens back into your scrotum.

In all, the no-scalpel vasectomy usually takes less than 30 minutes.

Your comfort during your vasectomy

Dr. Cornell performs the no-scalpel vasectomy right here in our office, and he first makes you comfortable with a local anesthetic. As a result, you should feel nothing during your vasectomy aside from a minor tugging sensation.

Your comfort after your vasectomy

After your no-scalpel vasectomy, you’re free to return home. When the local anesthetic wears off, you might feel some discomfort in your groin, which you can easily remedy with a cold compress (such as a bag of frozen peas) and over-the-counter medications.

While the discomfort is typically short-lived, we do ask that you take it easy for a day or two and avoid strenuous activities, including exercise and sex, for about a week.

We do want to take this opportunity to remind you that, even though you’re feeling great, your vasectomy results require some time to take effect. Sperm can still exist in your ejaculate after your vasectomy, so you’ll need to use another form of birth control until we give you the all-clear. This greenlight comes after we perform semen analyses at the 6- and 12-week marks. Once the analysis shows no signs of sperm, you’re free to rely on your vasectomy to prevent pregnancy.

If you want to learn more about our quick-and-easy, and virtually pain-free, no-scalpel vasectomy, contact our office in Houston, Texas, to set up a consultation.