Our team is available to you anytime for questions or concerns you may have after your no-scalpel vasectomy procedure at our Edmonton vasectomy clinic.
Please read the information below to know what to expect after your procedure.
Recovery Period
After the vasectomy you should rest for 48 hours, even if you don’t feel like you need to. Most men can return to work by the second or third day after the procedure. If your work involves heavy labour you should take up to a week off, but if you do light work you can get away with just a few days off.
After the procedure there may be some soreness, and some men take mild painkillers. Others report that they experience virtually no pain afterwards.
Do’s and Don’ts After a Vasectomy
Please follow your doctor’s instructions for post vasectomy care in order to speed healing and recovery.
Key points include:
- Do not take any NSAID’s (anti-inflammatories) or aspirin for one week before your surgery or 24 hours after surgery. Acetaminophen is fine to take at any time.
- Avoid alcohol 48 hours before and after surgery.
- Wear loose fitting clothing on the day of your surgery.
- Wear underwear with good support (or an athletic supporter) coming in for your surgery, not boxers.
- For the next few days continue with the supportive underwear, including when sleeping.
- No strenuous activity for one week after the operation. That includes no heavy lifting, cycling, going to the gym, bending, etc.
- After surgery, go home, sit or lie down, apply ice pack to the scrotal area and if uncomfortable, take acetaminophen. (No NSAID’s for 24 hours).
- You can take a shower the evening after your vasectomy. Avoid bathing, hot tubs, swimming pools for a week until the small opening in the scrotum created during surgery is sealed. This will help prevent infection to the operative area while the small hole made for your no-scalpel procedure heals over.
- No sex or ejaculations for one week.
Detailed Patient Instructions After Vasectomy
After your vasectomy, you should go home and rest for the remainder of the day and evening. Minimize any kind of activity.
Some men have no pain at all while many others have aches in the groin. That’s because the testes originate from the abdomen as an embryo and share some of the same nerve supplies.
Anything in the scrotum may be perceived in the abdomen as well.
Please plan on being a couch potato for the first two days after your vasectomy procedure.
Even if you feel OK to walk around the very best thing for your speedy return to your regular routine is to rest and maximize the rate of healing.
The First 48 Hours
- Take the medication in your Premium pack as ordered.
- Stay off your feet as much as you can for the first two days.
- Use an ice pack on your scrotum for 20 minutes every hour (except when you’re sleeping) for the first two to three days after your vasectomy. You should repeat the icing as often as you can in the first week. You can make your own ice pack by putting ice in a plastic bag and wrapping it in a dish towel, or use a bag of frozen peas. Gel packs also work well.
- There may be a small amount of bleeding from the skin opening. This is normal. Put the antibiotic ointment on the gauze and change the gauze twice a day. Do this until there is no more blood, then just wear the scrotal support over your underwear without the gauze for the next 7 days. You may take a daily shower starting in the evening after your procedure. Avoid taking baths for 48 hours after the surgery.
- For the first 24 hours, continue to avoid any alcohol, take 2 tablets of extra-strength acetaminophen every 6 hours and ice the area regularly.
The First Week
- Do not strain yourself. Do not have sex or lift anything heavier than 15 pounds.
- Keep the incision clean and dry, although it is acceptable to take a gentle shower after your surgery.
- Wear your supportive underwear or scrotal support for the entire week unless doing so causes you discomfort.
- Leave some clean gauze with antibiotic ointment applied at the opening in the scrotum for a day or two. It is possible that this practice may further reduce post-operative infection rates.
- Call Dr. Lohlun if you notice ongoing bleeding or a swelling bigger than a marble around the opening or in the scrotum.
- Call Dr. Lohlun if you get a fever, your scrotum gets very red or you notice any unusual discharge.
- Remember no sex or ejaculation for a week.
- Light blood in the semen is normal in the first few ejaculations after your vasectomy, and no cause for concern.
- For the entire first week, avoid any exertion, exercise, extensive walking, climbing, jogging, or sports, etc.
- When pain and tenderness are minimal, you may return to your usual activity but on the first day back start off at ½ your usual workout.
- It is normal to have some discoloration of the skin (blue and black) around the puncture site a few days after your vasectomy. This will gradually go away.
- You might notice a lump on each side of your scrotum after your vasectomy for the new few weeks That is a scar where we cut and sealed your vas. It usually feels like a knot the size of a pea and may swell to the size of a marble and be tender for a few weeks after the procedure but then becomes smaller and non-tender.
After the procedure, Dr. Lohlun is available on his cell phone at: 780-469-5299 for your concerns should any arise.
Post-Vasectomy Semen Testing
Because you are not sterile right after your vasectomy, temporary birth control is needed until 2 follow-up semen samples confirm that no motile sperm are present.
You will be given 2 sample containers and lab requisitions for semen tests to be done at 2 and then 3 months after your procedure. You present a lab requisition to the semen analysis lab at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton (directions will be included with your form).
Please do not bring samples back to our office. We will call you with the semen test results if you take the Premium Service Package, or you may have follow up appointments at the clinic instead
Confirm Vasectomy Surgery Effectiveness
By the time of the first sample, two months after your procedure (and after at least 20 ejaculations), 70% of men are sterile. By the second sample, three months after your procedure, up to 95% of men are sterile. A few percent of men may require up to six months and repeated samples to confirm sterility. These tests are very important!
The chance of a sperm passing through the blockage in the sperm tubes is extremely small, especially once the sperm tubes are cut, cauterized and then separated by the fascial sheath barrier. But failure is possible; the incidence of failure is estimated between .1% and 1%, and varies with the skill and experience of the operator and with the approach used to block the tubes. It is for this reason that testing semen samples is essential.
We are pleased to report that the vasectomy technique we use, over many thousands of surgeries, has demonstrated an outstanding success rate with a very low complication rate. At our affiliated clinics the incidence of failure is 1 in 1000 vasectomy surgeries performed.
Important information on post-vasectomy semen analysis
- Please abstain from having sex or ejaculating for two days before you collect your specimen.
- Collect the semen by masturbating directly into a sealed, sterile specimen container. If you lose a portion of the semen, throw the container out and collect your specimen at another time.
- If you’ve misplaced the container, please get another one – ask for a urine analysis container. Please do not use any other type of container.
- Close the container tightly. Label it with your first and last name, date of birth, plus the date and time you produced the sample.
- Deliver your specimen to the laboratory immediately (within 1 hour) after collection, keeping the container warm in your pocket or next to your body en route.
Call Us to Book!
780-469-5299