Vasectomy is one type of birth control practice specific to just males. It is a permanent type of birth control, unlike some other birth control practices that could be used only for a temporary time. It is considered a safe and effective surgery.

Opting for a vasectomy requires tests to confirm the absence of sperm in your semen, verifying if the procedure was a success or if it should be repeated. A vasectomy typically keeps your sperm from leaving your body and, in this way, provides a form of long-lasting birth control.

This particular surgical procedure shuts off the ends of the spermatic duct known as vas deferens which are tubes that conduct the sperm.

Is a vasectomy 100% effective?

Medically, the only proven way to avoid getting pregnant would be to avoid sexual intercourse altogether. Despite this, the failure rate of a vasectomy is very low. Statistically, one out of ten thousand people who opt-in for vasectomy are likely to have their sperms cross the end of the tubes of the separated vas deferens. This truly highlights the low probability of failure. For many years, vasectomy has been proven to be a safe and workable birth control practice. To this end, some routine checks are usually done on the semen samples to ascertain if the operation has been successful.

How prominent are these vasectomies?

An estimated five percent of the population who are married men and are in their virile and reproductive age, have electively opted to have a vasectomy.

Procedure details

What needs to be done before a vasectomy?

The process pathway involves:

Consultation: Vasectomies are intended to be permanent birth control measure. Thus, you need to seriously discuss this with your doctor or healthcare provider to ensure you are ready to take this step. You need to come to terms with the fact that a vasectomy is a permanent form of birth control and not one you can suddenly choose to undo; albeit there are ways to overturn the vasectomy, the chances of its success are quite low we consider the following when assessing suitability:

Do you have a medical history of any blood disease or excessive hemorrhaging?

Are you allergic, mildly, or chronically sensitive to the local anesthetics, including Caine drugs like lidocaine, benzocaine, or even procaine which function as sedatives and reduce consciousness of pain? Or could it be antibiotics that serve to tone down bacterial infections?

Skin inflammatory diseases involving your scrotum, especially the pimples around the scrotal area, can be infectious.

Do you have a history of a regular aspirin intake or drugs that resemble aspirin in functionality that could affect bleeding?

Have you had recent surgeries relating to a hernia around your external genitalia regions, such as your groin or scrotum?

Do you have a history of genital or urinary tract infections in the past or lately?

Consent form: At this stage, it would be required for you to append your signature to a document known as a consent form, thus validating your reasonable understanding of vasectomy and its attendant risks. By implication, this means you fully understand that this particular surgical procedure isn’t a given to be a success.

A vasectomy is an elective procedure in which you should not be coerced into deciding to have it done if you are not sure whether it is the best decision for you.

How is the vasectomy procedure done?

A vasectomy can be done in two ways: incision vasectomy and the second which is ano-scalpel vasectomy. In the two types of vasectomy, you will need local anesthesia to dull pain-sensing around that scrotal area. The anesthetic is given in the form of an injection.

The two vasectomies separate the spermatic duct, also known as vas deferens, transports the sperm and then closes the tube-like ends. This way, sperm are stopped in their tracks from moving through. If this is done successfully, the sperm are prevented from mixing with the semen when the man ejaculates.

The vas deferens are cut into two and afterward tied, pinned down, or cauterized. The sperm ducts are now closed up using electrical current.

What happens after you have a vasectomy?

Pain/Bruising

There is usually mild discomfort and bruising and swelling too around that area. To assuage this pain, you might need to take pain relief once every four hours after the surgery. You could also opt for the use of ice packs.

What happens to the sperm after a vasectomy?

If the sperm can no longer be conducted through the normal route of the vas deferens, which has been blocked, what then is their fate, you would likely ask? After a typical vasectomy, the testicles would still carry out their function of producing the sperm, only that they would simply die and be absorbed by the body just in the same way every cell would undergo apoptosis and then be replaced afterward.

Possible Risks/Benefits

What are the possible risks of a vasectomy?

Some minor risks could be:

Pain

It must be said that any surgical procedure could, in the long term, affect the nerves either the positive or negative; thus, there is a resorting resident pain. Even though pain around the scrotal area can occur in people who haven’t had a vasectomy done, the testicles being very sensitive to impulses, can resort to what is known as testicular pain. It isn’t yet medically proven whether vasectomy heightens the chances of having this said testicular pain.

Congestion in the scrotum

With vasectomy comes a sense of pressure caused by your sperm in the testes, where production of sperms occurs; In the epididymis, where sperms are temporarily stored and in the vas deferens, the duct through which the sperms are conducted from within to outside. This discomfort persists for at most three months after the vasectomy. And, it gets less painful in due time.

What are the benefits of a vasectomy?

While the very prominent advantage of opting for vasectomy is its effectiveness, there are other benefits many people fail to consider and thus miss out on when looking for which birth control practice to do. There is an over 99.99% chance of avoiding pregnancy with vasectomies, leaving less than 0.1% of its possible failure. Vasectomy does share a common feature with the female version known as tubal ligation. Like vasectomy, tubal ligation is done as a one-time surgical procedure to prevent the woman from getting pregnant permanently. However, in comparison with this tubal ligation, vasectomy is:

• A much simpler surgical procedure that provides lasting contraception.
• Much more productive and effective.
• Possible to be performed on an outpatient basis, without the patient not necessarily admitted.
• Much safer if you consider the possible complications that can erupt from the procedure.
• Much more cost-effective.

Recovery

What is the duration of time of recovery after a vasectomy?

Many people are capable of returning to their work in less than a week. At other times, you may require to stay out of your work for at least one week, especially if your work is very demanding and tasking. However, you can still resume within two to three days after the surgical procedure, unless the work is uncharacteristically strenuous.

When is it advisable to have sex after a vasectomy?

Before you begin to have sex, you should consider other birth control means until your sperm counts reveal that your semen is clear of any sperm. Usually, this semen analysis is best carried out two to three months after a vasectomy. We advise refraining from intercourse for 2 weeks post procedure.

After a vasectomy, can I stop other birth control methods right away?

The answer is NO. There is the possibility of the sperm staying in the vas deferens for weeks, even running into months after a vasectomy. It would be best to have a semen test analysis done at least two to three months after the surgery. If there is sperm found in the semen, the semen analysis is repeated normally within a month.

Until this test is repeated, you should continue with the birth control practices to prevent the occurrence of a pregnancy.

Can I have a vasectomy reversed later if I decide?

Vasectomy can be reversed if you have nursed that question in your mind for a while. So, it is possible if you choose to do a reversal. Albeit, it must be said, it can be very costly to do and isn’t usually covered in the medical insurance scheme. In all fairness, people do have a sperm bank where they store their sperm may be in preparation for situations such as this one.

These reconsiderations are usually common with those who in the past had partners they didn’t want to have children with, but now with their new partners, they have had a change of mind. However, you should still bear in mind before doing a vasectomy that it is a permanent birth control practice.

This, therefore, means that if you are married or are in a very promising relationship, you both certainly need to bring up the issue of vasectomy; it should no way be relegated to the background. So, if you are contemplating reversing the vasectomy earlier, you would need ample time to consider if you wouldn’t be better off with the vasectomy.