Is A Vasectomy Painful? Not With His Choice No Cut Vasectomy!

August 28, 2024

If you have thought about having a vasectomy, then you have probably asked yourself, “Is a vasectomy painful?”

You are probably expecting us to tell you “It does not hurt.”

We will not be telling you this because 100% of vasectomy patients will experience some pain before, during, or after a vasectomy procedure.

We like to be upfront with patients. Vasectomy is not a pain free procedure….but having a vasectomy is not as painful as some imagine it to be.

His Choice Vasectomy is one of the most minimally invasive forms of vasectomy, but even minimally invasive vasectomy involves some degree of pain or discomfort.

We consider vasectomy an easy, office based procedure. Although we know having a vasectomy is easy, we are also aware pain is the number one concern patients have when considering vasectomy.

Almost all patients will report some pain when having a vasectomy. The reality is most patients will have a very low level of pain from vasectomy. In fact, we prefer to use the word discomfort because pain is too strong of a word to describe a His Choice Vasectomy.

Vasectomy: More painful between the ears than between the knees!

We jokingly tell patients vasectomy is more painful between the ears than it is between the knees! The worst part about having a vasectomy is the wait and the anxiety.

Most doctor’s offices make you schedule two appointments: a consult appointment and a vasectomy procedure appointment.

You will wait a long time for these appointments. The length of time can contribute to increased anxiety. Even if you are good at suppressing your anxiety, the morning you wake up for your vasectomy and the moment you drive into our parking lot your anxiety will be off the charts!

For many patients, the anxiety in their heads will influence the perception of pain between their knees!

When you have a vasectomy with His Choice, we try to minimize the amount of time you have to wait for your vasectomy procedure. Not only do we minimize the time you must wait, but we also allow you to schedule a single visit vasectomy procedure appointment. This helps to decrease the overall fear and anxiety patients have about a vasectomy procedure.

Only when your vasectomy has been completed will you truly understand how the anticipation of your vasectomy was much worse and more painful than the actual vasectomy procedure.

How painful is the local anesthetic used for vasectomy?

Most vasectomy patients will say getting the local anesthetic is the worse part of their vasectomy. Especially if the doctor uses a large bore needle to administer the local anesthetic.

You do not have to worry about a needle when having a His Choice Vasectomy, because the local anesthesia is administered without a needle!

Instead of a needle, we use a hand-held device called a Mada Jet that uses a light puff of air to push the local anesthetic through the scrotal skin. Most patients describe the sensation like getting lightly tapped on the skin with a small rubber band.

The local anesthetic may be described as painful…but this is mostly because patients don’t really know what to expect. Often the patient’s anticipation and anxiety about vasectomy influences how they perceive pain.

The local anesthetic works almost immediately. This anesthetic will last for several hours after your vasectomy has been completed. Once the local anesthetic wears off, you will not be in severe pain.

Most patients will describe a general feeling of tenderness but they will not be in significant pain.

Is the vasectomy procedure painful?

Everyone thinks their vasectomy procedure will be painful. You may be surprised to know having a vasectomy does not have to be as painful as you may have imagined!

We sent questionnaires to over 8,000 of our His Choice Vasectomy patients one month after their vasectomy procedures and asked them to rate their pain level during their vasectomy.

Patients were asked to rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10.

A 1 was the lowest level and a 10 was the highest level. The average pain rating during their vasectomy was 2.5.

This means most patients rated their PAIN DURING A VASECTOMY procedure as mild.

Some reported their vasectomy procedures were not painful. A few said they experienced moderate pain. A minority of patients (<3%) rated their pain as severe.

The vast majority His Choice Vasectomy patients reported having no pain or mild pain during their vasectomy procedure.

How painful is a vasectomy in the first 24 hours?

Our statistics demonstrate, most patients rated pain during vasectomy on the low end of the scale.

The nerves in the scrotum are very easy to numb with the local anesthetic. These nerves also easily ‘forget’. This means once the local anesthetic wears off in 3 to 5 hours, patients will not experience any severe increase in pain.

In fact, we recommend that our patients not use frozen peas or ice on their scrotum. You heard us correctly. Frozen peas and ice are not required!

Usually over the counter anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen or naproxen) is all that is required to control pain after vasectomy.

We also asked patients to rate their pain the day after their vasectomy procedure. Patients were asked to rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10. A 1 was the lowest level and a 10 was the highest level. The average pain rating during their vasectomy was 3.2.

This means that most patients rated their PAIN THE DAY AFTER A VASECTOMY as mild. Some reported their vasectomy procedures were not painful and a few said they experienced moderate pain. A small minority of patients rated their pain as severe.

The majority His Choice vasectomy patients experienced mild pain the day after their vasectomy procedure.

How painful is a vasectomy recovery?

Most of our patients are surprised at how well they feel after having a His Choice Vasectomy. All patients will have some degree of pain or discomfort but this pain is easily managed with over the counter anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen, etc).

We advise patients to go home and ‘take it easy’ the first 12 to 24 hours after their vasectomy procedure.

What does ‘take it easy’ mean? Essentially it means avoid repetitive bending, lifting, or any activity level high enough to make you sweat.

We also recommend patients go home and take a single does of commonly available over the counter anti-inflammatory medication: a 800 mg of ibuprofen (each over the counter ibuprofen is 200 mg…so take four tablets total) or 440 mg of naproxen (each over the counter dose of naproxen is 220mg… so take two tablets total). If you are allergic to these medications then you can take acetaminophen.

After this first dose of anti-inflammatory medication then you only need to take these medications if you feel you need additional help with discomfort.

The vast majority of our patients do not require strong pain medications before, during, or after a His Choice Vasectomy. This is another reason we can offer single visit vasectomy. This is also why patients will travel long distances to have a His Choice vasectomy.

In the same survey above, we asked patients did they require strong, narcotic pain medications within the first 30 days after their vasectomy experience.

The majority of patients (over 97%) reported they did not require narcotic pain medications after their vasectomy procedure.

We advise patients they can resume normal activity, including sexual activity, 48 hours after their vasectomy.

Will your vasectomy be painful?

We recommend you don’t search the internet to ‘research’ your vasectomy procedure. Searching the internet and even using artificial intelligence, is not going to be able to tell you if YOU will experience pain and how bad YOUR pain will be.

Definitely don’t rely on social media for information about vasectomy.

You will only learn about the disaster stories or see the overly dramatized experience of ‘influencers’ only trying to get views or likes.

The story of the average person who has a painless vasectomy does not get attention.

We also recommend you do not compare your experience to the experience of others you know who may have had a vasectomy.

It is very common for many doctors to perform traditional vasectomy (vasectomy that requires a scalpel and skin sutures).

The complication rates are higher with traditional vasectomy when compared to a minimally invasive His Choice Vasectomy. Patients who have a traditional vasectomy will report higher levels of pain compared to patients who have minimally invasive vasectomy.

Every person’s experience will be different. We like to use the earthquake analogy to explain pain experienced during vasectomy recovery.

After vasectomy pain is similar to earthquake aftershocks

All patients will have some degree of pain at some point in time during their vasectomy experience. In many ways, having a vasectomy is very similar to experiencing an earthquake and dealing with earthquake aftershocks.

An earthquake is a sudden, serious event and before you even realize what is happening the earthquake is quickly over. This comparison is true for vasectomy.

Every earthquake is different. Most earthquakes are mild. Some are barely noticeable. A few earthquakes are serious and devastating. The same is true for the after vasectomy experience.

The experience of pain after vasectomy is very similar to experiencing earthquake aftershocks or seismic tremors after an earthquake. These aftershocks come and go after an earthquake.

Some earthquakes do not produce any aftershocks. Some earthquakes have serious aftershocks that will continue for days to weeks after vasectomy.

Usually over time the aftershocks decrease in severity. Not only do they decrease in severity but they also decrease in both magnitude, power, and frequency.

The same is true for episodes of pain after vasectomy and each person’s vasectomy experience will be different.

Most patients will have some ‘vasectomy aftershocks’. They will have episodes of pain that last for several hours to several days. Most importantly over the counter anti-inflammatory medications will help with these episodes of pain.

Overtime these vasectomy aftershocks will decrease and dissipate. Usually they have stopped by the time of the 3 month after vasectomy semen sample but in some patients these vasectomy aftershocks can continue to for up to 12 to 18 months after having a vasectomy.

In almost all patients these aftershocks are easily controlled with over the counter anti-inflammatory medications. They will eventually stop and not pose a serious problem.

Having a His Choice minimally invasive vasectomy will allow you to have a vasectomy in a single visit without sutures or needles and allow you to get back to your normal routine as quickly as possible.

For more information: His Choice Minimally Invasive No Scalpel Vasectomy