We always ask our patients if they have any concerns about their vasectomy?
The most common response is ‘Not really…’
Not really usually means “Yes” and we know their biggest concern is vasectomy and pain. Just how bad is it going to hurt Doc?
Many patients want to ask is a vasectomy painful but many are too embarrassed or macho to ask and deep down they know that despite our answer… they won’t be relieved until the procedure is done.
The number one question all patients have when considering vasectomy is,
“Does a vasectomy hurt?“.
You probably are not going to believe this but most patients who have a His Choice Vasectomy will have a near painless procedure and walk out of the office happy and smiling.
Near painless…does not mean pain free…but it does suggest a very low level of pain.
Many of our patients are amazed at how well their vasectomy procedures went. As they walk out of our office we commonly hear most of them say if they had known vasectomy was going to be that easy then they would not have waited so long!
Vasectomy and pain: What is the worst part about vasectomy?
Anxiety and pain are closely related. The more anxiety one has then, in general, the worse the perception of pain. For many patients, the worst part about having a vasectomy is the wait.
Most doctor’s offices are going to make you wait a long time to have a vasectomy. This is for two reasons:
- They all require patients to have two appointments: a consultation visit and a vasectomy procedure visit.
- The appointment ‘no-show’ rates are very high for all of these appointments.
If you schedule your vasectomy with most vasectomy providers your consultation will be three (3) to six (6) months into the future. You vasectomy will then be several weeks to months after that.
Don’t believe us? Call any vasectomy doctor and find out for yourself.
Some patients are absolutely fine with waiting months to have their vasectomy because they are okay with pushing off a procedure they are afraid is going to cause a lot of unnecessary pain.
These people are okay with putting it off for as long as possible.
Others want to get it done as soon as possible.
No matter which person you are, your anxiety is going to gradually increase while you wait for your appointments. On the day of your appointment and if you are like most patients, your anxiety is going to go through the roof.
For many patients the wait and the anxiety are often the worst parts of their vasectomy. Anxiety often influences the perception of pain.
The more anxious a person is then the worse they perceive and report their pain. Those with little or no anxiety usually will perceive pain differently and less intensely.
What is the second worst part about vasectomy? The needle!
If you have been thinking a lot about vasectomy and pain you should know that the worst part of the procedure is the local anesthesia… especially when a needle is used to administer the local anesthetic.
Many patients have a tremendous amount of fear about needles going into their genitals. The reality is most patients usually don’t feel the needle being inserted; however, the local anesthesia may burn slightly as it is administered but that feeling quickly goes away.
Most vasectomy doctors use large gauge (large bore) needles to administer the local anesthetic. These larger gauge needles usually cause more discomfort because too much local anesthetic applied quickly around the vas deferens and the nerves contributes to the discomfort.
If you are not understanding needle bore size then we would like to ask you a question: would you rather be bit by a mosquito, honey bee, bumble bee or rattle snake? Obviously the mosquito bite will cause the least amount of discomfort.
The brain does not like change!
The nerves in the scrotum sense the change in sensation when local anesthetic rapidly surrounds the vas deferens and the brain often interprets this change in sensation as pain. Large bore needles allow a lot of local anesthetic to rapidly surround the vas deferens…although this may sound like a good idea….quick and large amounts of local anesthetic…the brain senses the rapid change in sensation. The chance in sensation causes the brain to perceive the change as pain. This is more commonly associated with large bore needles.
We have a solution to this problem. We don’t use needles during a His Choice Vasectomy procedure. Instead of a needle, we provide no-needle anesthesia.
To do this we use a device called a Mada Jet. This is a hand-held device that allows us to quickly administered local anesthetic through the scrotal skin using a puff of air. The air created by the Mada Jet pushes the anesthetic through the skin . The patient feels a sensation that is very similar to getting lightly snapped on the skin with a small rubber band.
It is over before you know it.
More information: Learn more about the His Choice Vasectomy technique
If you are concerned about vasectomy and pain, we have minimized the wait time by not requiring a consultation visit and we have removed the needle by providing no-needle anesthesia.
Is vasectomy painful? Don’t forget about the actual cut!
Some doctors continue to provide conventional or ‘old-school vasectomy’ and use a scalpel to make a small incision on each side of the scrotum. This older vasectomy technique continues to commonly be performed.
Unfortunately, the older scalpel vasectomy technique is associated with more pain, bleeding, and infection.
These are three things you don’t want when having a vasectomy procedure.
Don’t worry…we also have this one covered because we do not cut your scrotal skin with a scalpel.
Instead of cutting we perform vasectomy using a no-scalpel vasectomy technique. We do not cut the skin to make an opening…we spread the skin to make an opening.
No scalpel vasectomy is done with a small instrument that we use to poke a single, small hole in the skin of the scrotum directly in the center.
We can then gently spread the skin open. The skin is rubbery and elastic. We can poke a small hole, stretch it open, and after we are done the skin will slowly squeeze back together.
No sutures have to be used or removed with our no-scalpel vasectomy procedure. By spreading the skin we do not have to use sutures. The opening will close itself. Sutures will be annoying and hang around for 2 to 3 weeks. Sutures will cause irritation and will contribute to the overall feeling of vasectomy discomfort.
No scalpel, minimally invasive vasectomy is the only way to go when having a vasectomy: one visit, no needle, and one small spread skin opening. No sutures…how much easier can we make it?
What is pain like during a vasectomy procedure?
The majority of our vasectomy procedures are not that painful.
We sent a survey to over 8,000 of our patients who had a His Choice Vasectomy procedure.
We asked our patients what was their pain like during vasectomy? We asked them to rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10.
The average rating given by patients for pain during vasectomy was 2.5, which is in the mild category.
More information: After vasectomy statistics
What is pain like the day after the vasectomy?
We use a local anesthetic that lasts for up to 5 hours after vasectomy.
This allows plenty of time for patients to go back home and take ibuprofen or naproxen. Usually when the local anesthetic wears off, most patients report generalized discomfort rather than pain. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication will help with this discomfort.
The majority of patients report minimal pain after a His Choice vasectomy.
In the survey mentioned above, we asked patients to rate their pain the day after their vasectomy procedure on a scale of 1 to 10.
The average rating given by patients for pain the day after their vasectomy was 3.2, which is in the mild to moderate category of pain.
We also asked patients if they required narcotic pain medications after their vasectomy procedure.
Approximately 97% of patients reported they did not require narcotics when recovering from their vasectomy procedure.
Vasectomy: A great experience when you go with us!
Vasectomy does not have to be painful when you have a His Choice No Cut Minimally invasive vasectomy.
Most patients will experience a low level of discomfort after a no-needle vasectomy. We advise patients to resume sexual activity two days after their vasectomy procedure and they can resume strenuous activity a week after their vasectomy has been completed.
Most men walk out of our office smiling from ear to ear after having one of our vasectomy procedures!
For a near painless vasectomy contact His Choice Raleigh for more information about having a no-needle, no-scalpel vasectomy.
We are located in Raleigh North Carolina and provide minimally invasive vasectomy and vasectomy reversal.
Although a vasectomy is not usually considered a fun procedure to eagerly look forward to, we like to think we make having a vasectomy as easy as possible. We do everything we can to minimize risk and provide a safe, easy vasectomy experience.
Want to get started with vasectomy?
If you want to get started with your single visit, minimally invasive vasectomy procedure then we are here to help.
More information: Scheduling your single visit vasectomy
We encourage you to watch our informative educational videos and read the content on our website.
You can schedule directly from our website…no need to even call and speak to a person!
