Can you have fainting during a vasectomy? Is the Pope Catholic?
‘Going down’ during or after your vasectomy is a real risk for some patients!
If you are the anxious type person or have difficulty in stressful medical environments then you may be at risk of fainting during your vasectomy.
We perform a lot of vasectomy procedures.
His Choice minimally invasive vasectomy is one of the least invasive forms vasectomy out there currently.
We specialize in modern no scalpel, no needle vasectomy. Our patients often tell us their vasectomy procedures were painless…. or as near painless and went much better than they could have imagined.
Yet despite our fantastic results and great patient experiences, we estimate approximately 10% of patients will experience fainting during or immediately after their vasectomy procedure.
Fainting during vasectomy: Why is this even a thing?
When your brain does not get enough oxygenated blood you will faint. The brain will temporarily short circuit and reboot.
When your brain reboots you faint! When the brain comes back on line….then you are all good to go: System update is complete!
Fainting during a vasectomy is a risk of vasectomy. We like our patients to be well informed of all possible outcomes: both serious and non-serious. Fainting is a concern but fainting is not a serious risk of vasectomy.
The process of fainting is not a problem…but what happens to you after you faint (ie hit your head) is definitely more of a concern.
Most people will not faint during their vasectomy procedure but it is possible. It is really hard to faint when you are laying down. In our experience, most patients will faint when they sit up after their vasectomy procedure.
Here is a nice overview on the subject of fainting by Johns Hopkins Medicine: Syncope (fainting)
If you are worried about going down, you should realize most of our patients who faint report no pain during their actual vasectomy procedure. In our experience, if a patient is going to pass out it is usually within the first five minutes of completion of their vasectomy procedure
The majority of patients will be totally fine after they recover.
Fainting during vasectomy: Brain hits the brakes!
Vasectomy fainting happens as a result of reflex syncope. This is more commonly known as vasovagal syncope.
Reflex syncope is the exact opposite of the ‘flight or fight’ response.
During reflex syncope, your brain reflexively responds to a stress by lowering both your heart rate and blood pressure simultaneously.
For some people this reflex is no more controllable than being able to stop from jerking your hand back after you touch a burning, hot stove. Some people have little control over their reflexive vasovagal syncope response(fainting).
The brain controls your body by both stimulation and suppression. Often this happens at the same time. You can better understand how vasovagal syncope (fainting) happens by understanding the analogy of how a person drives a car.
The brain controls the body just like a person who is driving controls the speed of a car by pushing on the gas and brake pedals.
- If you put equal pressure on both the brake and accelerator and the car stops.
- More pressure on the accelerator and the car speeds up.
- More pressure on the brake and the car slows down.
- If you take your foot off the break then the car speeds off.
- If you take your foot off the accelerator then the car stops.
Fainting during vasectomy happens when the brain releases pressure on the accelerator but also starts to put more pressure on the brakes. Your heart rate will gradually slow down and your blood pressure will slowly start to decrease.
When this happens your brain gets less blood and oxygen…and guess what happens: you are going down!
How can you predict if you will faint during vasectomy?
You cannot predict if you will faint during vasectomy; however, we have learned there are two big groups of people who are more likely to faint!
We have observed fainting is more common in two groups of patients:
- People who do not go to doctor’s offices often.
- People with past traumatic medical experiences.
People who do not go to the doctor often are not conditioned to medical stressors.
Women faint far less than men in medical situations. Women frequently access the health care system. They get Pap smears, annual blood work, have babies, and c-sections etc. As a result of repetitive exposure to stressful health care experiences, some patients can condition their bodies to break the fainting reflex.
People who have traumatic medical experiences previously, often as young children, carry those conditioned PTSD responses with them. Many of these people have had traumatic, painful medical experiences. Stressful medical experiences often cause them to relive their prior experiences. These patients are at higher risk of fainting during stressful medical procedures such as vasectomy.
Anyone can faint during a stressful experience. No one is immune. You don’t always have control over a vasovagal reaction.
Vasectomy fainting: Signs of fainting
There are unique signs of fainting that happen right before you go out.
Just before you faint, your heart rate will slow down and your blood pressure will drop. Your brain is slowly stepping on the brakes of the car but also taking pressure off the gas pedal.
When you experience both a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure then your brain does not get adequate blood flow.
Your heart rate becomes slower and your blood pressure gradually begins to decrease. This can happen gradually and without your awareness…until it is too late.
Your brain slowly gets deprived of oxygen carrying red blood cells. You will progressively start to experience:
- profuse sweating
- ringing in the ears
- tingling in your hands
- tunnel vision
- pain in your stomach
- nausea
You will try to fight it…and you may win the fight.
If you don’t when the fight, the above symptoms will gradually leading right into a fainting episode.
Is it common faint during a vasectomy?
To be clear, most patients will not pass out during their vasectomy. For people with a history of fainting, it can be common to pass out during or soon after a vasectomy procedure.
We estimate approximately 1 out of every 10 patients will pass out as a result of vasectomy.
A few will pass out on the table while laying down during their actual vasectomy procedure. It is really hard to pass out while lying down, but we have observed this in many of our patients.
Most patients don’t pass out during the procedure but will pass out within the first several minutes of the completion of the procedure.
Most patients who pass out will report not having felt any pain during their vasectomy.
Is fainting during a vasectomy bad?
In a strange way, the process of fainting leads to its own treatment. We are not saying the brain makes you faint to treat yourself but we are saying after you faint you will get better!
Fainting causes you to lie (or fall) down. After you go down, your heart can more easily pump blood to your brain because it is not fighting gravity. Blood will more easily get to your brain delivering important glucose (sugar) and oxygen. As the brain gets more nutrients, normal brain function returns, blood pressure increases, and awareness of your surroundings begins to return.
Passing out during vasectomy is not bad. Most patients are ‘out’ for less than 10 seconds and they quickly recover and have no lasting effects other than personal embarrassment.
Passing out after vasectomy is only bad if you were to hit your head when falling or if you faint while driving and have a car accident.
- If you were to pass out during the vasectomy, we make sure you are stable, don’t roll off the bed, and try to complete your vasectomy procedure.
- If you pass out after getting up from your vasectomy then we try to protect you from falling and hitting your head. We lay you in a recliner until you recover.
- If you were to pass out after you have left our office then it would be important for you not to fall and hit your head or, if you are driving a car, get into a car accident.
It is rare for a patient to pass out after they have completed their vasectomy and left the office. Most fainting episodes happen within the first five minutes of finishing the vasectomy.
Most patients who faint report having NO PAIN during their vasectomy procedure. Passing out is embarrassing. It is only serious if you hit your head or get into a car accident.
The most interesting of our observations is this…if someone does pass out it is only a one time thing. It is extremely rare to observe a person pass out multiple times.
Do you need a driver for A His Choice Vasectomy?
We do not require a driver to have a His Choice Vasectomy.
Requiring a driver is a big barrier for many patients. It is hard enough for one person to make an appointment let alone two people.
Although passing out is always a concern, we have made the following observations.
- Most patients will not pass out during vasectomy.
- If patients do pass out most will do so within the first 3 to 5 minutes of completing their vasectomy.
- Most fainting episodes will not result in any adverse outcomes.
- It is rare for patients to pass out after they have left the office.
As a result of the above observations, we believe it unfair to penalize all patients because of the fear of an outcome that will only be experienced be a few patients and without any significant complications. This is why we do not require a driver. Instead we leave it up to each patient to make the decision that best suits their circumstances.
For more answers to other commonly asked questions about vasectomy: His Choice Minimally Invasive Vasectomy FAQ
Who should bring a driver with them for vasectomy?
We recommend you bring a driver if you have a history of fainting during stressful events: donating blood, getting a vaccination, sight of blood, having a minor medical procedures or a history of a prior fainting event.
We recommend you bring a driver if you are uncertain of your response.
How can you prevent fainting during vasectomy?
We are not 100% certain you can prevent a fainting episode. Our recommendations would be to make sure you wear comfortable clothing, eat and drink normally before your vasectomy procedure, and, most importantly, do not take any unprescribed anti-anxiety medications or substances before your vasectomy procedure.
Eating before your procedure. We recommend you eat as you normally would before your vasectomy.
Some patients will not eat because they are aware not eating is a standard practice before most medical procedures.
Vasectomy is a minor office based procedure performed under local anesthesia. We do not require our patients to avoid eating or drinking before vasectomy.
If you do not eat or drink you will have lower blood sugars. Lower blood sugars could increase the risk of having a vagal episode.
Drinking before your procedure. We recommend you drink plenty of fluids (not alcohol) before your vasectomy appointment. Do not drink so much that you are going to have to frequently go to the bathroom….but we do not want you to restrict your fluid intake.
Normal liquid intake before your procedure will further increase your blood sugar and make sure you are not dehydrated. Dehydration will contribute to lower blood pressure. If you are well-hydrated this will minimize the chance you could have low blood pressure.
If you do not keep your hydration up before a vasectomy procedure you are likely to be more dehydrated and have lower blood pressure.
Don’t rush out of our office. After your vasectomy we will review your post-operative instructions. This takes some time.
If necessary we will place you in a recliner. We also recommend you hang out in our waiting room or just sit in your car before leaving our premises.
Take time in our office or rest in your car in our parking lot before you attempt to drive home.
Don’t take any ‘additional medications’ or substances before your vasectomy. Some patients will self-medicate with anti-anxiety medications or alcohol/ marijuana. We strongly recommend against trying to self-medicate yourself for anxiety before your vasectomy procedure. These medications may make your fainting episode and recovery worse.
Do not try to self medicate your anxiety before your vasectomy. It could make things worse.
Having a vasectomy: It really is a mental thing!
For some patients, having a vasectomy is more painful between the ears than it is between the knees. It really is a mental thing for most patients.
Ready to have a stress free, single visit vasectomy: Schedule your vasectomy now!
We do see patients who faint after vasectomy on a weekly basis. We have observed patients who are most likely to faint are those who have a prior history of fainting during a stressful event.
We believe the people who are most likely to faint already know exactly who they are!
Most patients will travel to their His Choice Vasectomy procedure without a driver.
So if you can’t find a driver don’t feel bad or like you are alone. You will most likely be fine.
If you have a history of fainting or are uncertain then we recommend you bring a person with you to drive you home in the event you become light-headed, dizzy, or have a fainting episode.
