Changes after Vasectomy
In 2010, we repeated the
survey of 2005/2006 with a
slight modification. Here are the results of that survey:
| Since your vasectomy, how have the following changed? |
Much Less |
Slightly Less |
No Change |
Slightly More |
Much More |
| Sex Drive (Libido) |
1 (1%) |
6 (6%) |
81 (75%) |
18 (15%) |
4 (4%) |
| Ability to obtain and maintain erections |
1 (1%) |
6 (6%) |
96 (89%) |
5 (5%) |
0 |
| Rigidity (stiffness) of erections |
1 (1%) |
5 (5%) |
94 87%) |
7 (6%) |
1 (1%)
|
| Strength of orgasm (climax) sensation |
0 |
3 (3%) |
95 (88%) |
6 (6%) |
4 (4%)
|
| Semen volume (the amount of fluid that comes out when you ejaculate) |
0 |
17 (16%) |
80 (75%) |
7 (7%) |
2 (2%)
|
|
Yes |
No |
| Some men have scrotal or testicular pain in the
month after vasectomy. For most men, there is no lingering pain of any
sort. Do you still have any pain in the scrotum, testicles or
surrounding areas during or after sex or after physical activity that
was not present before your vasectomy? |
5* |
103 |
| Overall, are you happy that you had a vasectomy |
107 |
1** |
| *- |
Six patients initially responded
"yes" to the question about persistent post-vasectomy pain: |
| 1. |
Patient #100 provided his name.
When we called to ask about his Yes response to the pain question, he
denied having any pain at all and said that he had
answered the question in error, so we decreased the number of Yes responses
to 5. |
| 2. |
Patient #106 provided his name. When we
called to ask about his Yes response to the pain question, he said that he
had had some discomfort just before ejaculation, but that it was
"90% gone" as of 10/27/10, and that he is happy
with the vasectomy and wants to be on our referral list. |
| 3. |
Patient #61 did not provide his name so we could not
inquire about his Yes response to the pain question. But in his survey, he
indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy and that he
would have had it sooner if he had known as much before the
vasectomy as he did afterwards. |
| 4. |
Patient #93 did not provide his name so we
could not inquire about his Yes response to the pain question. But in his
survey, he indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy. |
| 5. |
Patient #95 did not provide his name so we
could not inquire about his Yes response to the pain question. In his
survey, he did not answer the question about whether he is happy that he had
had a vasectomy. |
| 6. |
Patient #108 did not provide his name so we
could not inquire about his Yes response to the pain question. But in his
survey, he indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy,
and he added "Excellent service", in the comments section. |
| |
So one identified man answered Yes to pain in error,
and 3 of 4 anonymous men who answered Yes to pain said they were
happy that they had had a vasectomy. No men who answered Yes to
pain indicated that they were not happy that they had had a vasectomy. Could
there be cases of chronic post-vasectomy pain among the 292 men who did not
return their surveys? Yes, but our letter included an earnest plea to
contact our office to be seen at no charge for any problems thought to be
vasectomy-related. |
| |
|
| ** - |
Only one patient indicated that he
was not happy that he had had a vasectomy. |
| |
Patient #76 provided his name so we were able
to contact him. He had had 8 children by 4 different partners.
After his vasectomy he noticed that his sex drive was "Slightly less", that
his erectile function (ability and rigidity) was "Slightly less", and that
his semen volume was "Slightly less". We called in a prescription for Viagra
on 10/27/10. |
| If you always knew as much as you know now about the vasectomy process ... |
Yes |
No |
| ... might you have had a vasectomy sooner? |
64 (62%) |
40 (38%) |
| ... before the conception of your youngest child? |
3 |
97 |
We hope that this information will be useful to men as they determine whether or
not to proceed with vasectomy. Other personal comments about vasectomy
experiences are in our Vasectomy
Testimonials page.