Okay I have a question for you guys. My mother in law found out that my husband is going to have a vasectomy after he and I have one more kid. So now she is on the war path to convince him not to. She says that there are to many risks. Both my husband and I think she's nuts but I wanted to have more info on it to shoot back at her next time she brings it up.

What are the risks of having a vasectomy?
Is there a risk of incontinence or impotency?

Thanks!

Okay I have a question for you guys. My mother in law found out that my husband is going to have a vasectomy after he and I have one more kid. So now she is on the war path to convince him not to. She says that there are to many risks. Both my husband and I think she's nuts but I wanted to have more info on it to shoot back at her next time she brings it up.

What are the risks of having a vasectomy?
Is there a risk of incontinence or impotency?

Thanks!
The only question i have is what business it of hers of something so personal that she is putting her two cents in??????????????????

My advice is to schedule a consultation with a urologist. He can answer all your questions. My hubby had it done and we heard so much "stuff" about it.
The doc told us that he wouldn't be impotent, the doc answered all my hubby questions, some were wild. Please see a md about your questions.
I was in the room for my hubby's , it was nothing like having a child. He was lucky. My husbands brother had one as well and everything is ok. Best advice, tell him to follow the md advice to the letter. Take it easy, even if he feels ok, take it easy..

Besides this is not any of her business

Oh we will definately consult a doctor before doing it. And it is several years down the road. I was just curious about the risks since my mom-in-law was trying to put the fear in us about it :rolleyes:

It's none of her business and my husband is so funny when he is talking to her and she brings it up.. he just says "Mom, if I had a list of topics I never wanted to talk to you about THIS would definately be on it!" :)

How she found out was we were visiting them recently and talking about having another kid in a few years and how I wanted to adopt a 3rd child way down the line, but we'd probably have one more biologically. And my husband beign the comedian he is just added "yeah then I'll probably get sniped.. figure it's the least I can do since she's having the babies" And that's how it all started. My hubby has been regreting opening his mouth ever since. :)

Don't you just love mother-in-laws!? :p

Everyone's experience is different. Even though this may be several years down the road you may want to go see a urologists now. Your questions will be answered and then when your m-i-l starts you can give her the facts.

Check out my thread about my post-vasectomy experience.

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=150874

It has been two months now and I am still very sore on one side - All normal according to the doctor (who told me a few weeks ago that I could experience this pain for years to come).

Right now, it's not constant, but I will occasionally experience a sharp sort of stabbing pain without warning. And my testicles are very sensitive now - and that's not the GOOD kind of sensitive either.

On a side note, I had two consultations prior to my surgery with different urologists. The second one sounded good, answered all my questions, and discounted all my fears. However, when I returned to him after six weeks of continued pain, I must say that I was treated a bit like a bother. He told me then that he was five years out from his surgery and he still had pain - so I should just get used to it. I quote here... he said "some guys like us just have sensitive testicles." Of course, during my consult I asked about the potential for chronic pain (because I'd read about it in several locations). He said then that it was nothing to worry about - and isn't it funny that he didn't mention his five years of pain at all....

So OK, a little pain, I'm sure I'll get used to it. What I wonder about is if I got lied to about the potential for long term pain - exactly what else was kept from me regarding potential long term health risks?

Whatever the case, the doctor has my $700 for 15 minutes of his time. What a business huh?

Patient BEWARE.

Hi,

I had a vasectomy 18 years ago with no problems what so ever.

In fact, I've never heard of people with problems as a result of having one. I know several others who had this done 10 years or more ago with no problems.

Could it be the way we men are shamed when we complain of anything that bother's us when it comes to our health?

I didn't know anyone who'd had a vasectomy with problems either, until after I had mine and mentioned to a couple of buddies about the lingering pain. Then, wouldn't you know... they both admitted to experiencing pain on one or both sides for a long time after the procedure.

And it took me all of five minutes just now to find a "legit" vasectomy related website - one trying to sell vasectomies at that - which discusses the potential for long term term in as many as 1/3 of the men who have vasectomies. Here's one example:

* Link Removed Per Board Guildlines *

ModSix
Moderator

My ex husband had one about 6 years ago and right afterwards he felt just fine.

A few weeks later he told me there was blood in his ejaculate and he was a bit tender. He discussed the issues with his doctor who told him it was fairly common and nothing to worry about. He never told me about severe pain and I think both the tenderness and the blood went away within a few months.

Not sure how he's doing now since we've been divorced for almost 4 years and it's not a subject that comes up in conversation often. :p

If you are having a C-section I would say you should be the one to get sterilized...but if not then I think even with the small chances of minor complications it would be safer for him to get the procedure. There are many more complications for women than men in that area.

A GPMD did my Vasectomy in his office about 35 years ago. Very simple procedure. No problems what so ever. BTW it cost $75. back then.
I asked him if he would guarantee that my wife wouldn't get pregnant. He said... No, but he would guarantee that I wouldn't make her pregnant.

I know a lot of guys that had Vasectomies and I have never heard of any problems.

There are certainly risks beyond, unfortunately, what many doctors will tell you. As one poster said, some men feel there is nothing that can be done, so they don't bother to seek help. Whenever a tube in the body is tied off, it is an open invitation for infections, just like the appendix. Same with the female having her tubes tied.

Many men will have no problems, others will experience some degree of discomfort that they may never even associate with the vasectomy, and others will have lingering pain. In those cases, a reversal sometimes helps, in other cases it makes things worse.

Odds are things will go well, but it is not the risk-less procedure that many make it out to be. There is a non-profit web site on the order of 'don't fix it', which goes into some of the risks. It it definitely an anti-vasectomy site, but it is worth lookinig at.

Vasectomy surgery is very minor. There is some small risk in "any" surgery no matter how minor.
One thing for sure, it is not minor surgery when it's done to a female... therefore the risk factor increases many times.

I think it's a shame that some men will put their wifes through major surgery because they are so gutless.

Tell that to the thousands of men who are in chronic pain from a "very minor" elective surgery.

The topic of birth control is a difficult one and, of course, the female should not be expected to do it all. If either person is to get sterialized, it should logically be the male. However, this minor surgery does, more than we think, cause long term complications. Most men do fine or have only marginal discomfort that they may not even attribute to the vasectomy as it may occur years later, and some men will have some loss of sensitivity for some reasons, but men should not rush into this surgery and while using condoms for another ten years as an alternative may outweigh the risks, people do need to know what could happen.

Calling men "gutless", in my opinion, only serves to force them into doing things without adequetly studying the risks and alternatives.

What I'm saying is that there is always some risk in any surgery. Nothing is 100% risk free. People have cosmetic surgery everyday.. most have no problems but some have terrible problems but does that stop people from having cosmetic surgery... of course not.

A person has to decide for himself if the benefits out weight the small risk. In my opinion there is no doubt in having a Vasectomy for I have 35 years of experience.

BTW have you had a Vasectomy?

My opinion? Giving birth is an "elective" medical proceedure with a ton of very serious risks. If women go through that then I don't think it's much to ask the husbands and fathers to go through this. Don't get me wrong I DO want to know all the risks before my husband has it. That is why I asked the question about this in the first place. :) And in the end it is his decision alone to make. I agree that no man should feel forced into this... no more then any woman should feel forced to be sterilized or forced to have kids.

But I think what lelu was implying by the term "gutless" is that there are a lot of guys out there that won't even entertain the idea of this because they are to sqeemish about pain.

Anyway, thank you all for your imput on this. Given me a lot of info. Thanks!

I have a question. In late January I had a vesectomy. Everything went pretty much normally....Currently I have no swelling or bleeding or anything like that. I think I am more sensitive now than before...it takes less to cause pain. ANYWAY - I have noticed that if I get "excited" but do not have intercourse, or whatever that I actually have pain radiating from there up through my lower back. This started after the surgery. I have been embaressed to ask about it because I had heard about guys using that as an "excuse" (or so I thought). Is this normal?

About the sensitivity and pain you are having now - I was told by my urologist (post-surgery) that it is normal, and that it may always be that way. I am more than three months out now and still have pain on the left side. And that "kicked in the groin" feeling happens with just the slightest thing.

On a side note, I continue to see posts by women complaining about how much they have to go through to have children, so the least a man can do is have a vasectomy.

Well, here's a news flash for all those women - the carrying and delivery of a child is a very NATURAL thing. It's been happening for eons. Sure, there are risks - and generally, most women (in our society anyway) are very well aware of the risks associated with having a child.

On the other hand, vasectomy is a very UNNATURAL procedure. Two tubes in a man's body are burned, clamped, or tied off, so that the millions of sperm that he manufactures every day that usually travel along those tubes can not escape the body or be reabsorbed in the NATURAL way. And unlike pregnacy, most men have the procedure with really very little information about the long term effects.

Second thought here has to do with all this discussion about "risk." Well, if your definition of risk begins and ends on the operating table, then yes, vasectomy is relatively risk free. But if you consider risks to be anything that could happen as a result of a procedure or condition, then it is quite different.

My experience has left me a little bitter about the whole thing - and now curious about what else I have not been told. My doctor, with the wave of a hand, blew off all the talk about: 1. Possible prostate cancer connection, 2. Impotence, 3. Chronic testicular pain, 4. Auto-Immune disorders, and everything else I read about. HOWEVER, when I went back after two months and told him I still had pain, he said that he still has pain 5 years after his vasectomy, so just get used to it. SO WHAT ELSE DID HE KEEP FROM ME?

Argue that the risk is minimal and that men need to stop being babies about it all you want... All I know right now is that there are millions and millions of sperm cells spilling into my blood stream every day that were not there before. And I'm left to wonder what that might do to me.




I have a question. In late January I had a vesectomy. Everything went pretty much normally....Currently I have no swelling or bleeding or anything like that. I think I am more sensitive now than before...it takes less to cause pain. ANYWAY - I have noticed that if I get "excited" but do not have intercourse, or whatever that I actually have pain radiating from there up through my lower back. This started after the surgery. I have been embaressed to ask about it because I had heard about guys using that as an "excuse" (or so I thought). Is this normal?