Vasectomy Recovery: My Experience From Day 0 to Day 10

Intro

In this post, I'll explain to you in as much detail as possible my recovery, experiences, and tips regarding my vasectomy, from the day of the surgery through day 10.

I already wrote about vasectomy before. If you're thinking about having one and want to start from the beginning, I recommend reading Thinking About a Vasectomy: My Honest Thoughts Before the First Appointment.

This is the first part of my vasectomy recovery series, where I'll document my personal experience throughout the recovery process.

Instead of putting everything into one huge blog post, I'll keep the updates separated into different posts covering different stages of my recovery.

Before we start, if you're still thinking about having a vasectomy, I'd highly recommend checking out this Reddit thread r/postvasectomypain.

I found it too late. If I had seen it earlier, I would definitely have thought more about whether I should have my vasectomy.

If you've already had a vasectomy and you're experiencing pain and/or issues months after the surgery, feel free to check out the Reddit thread I recommended as well.

This is my personal experience, not medical advice. Recovery can be different for everyone, so if you're concerned about your symptoms or recovery, speak to your doctor or urologist.

So, let's start.

Where I did my surgery and how much I paid

I'm not going to advertise the exact clinic, as I'm not promoting anyone. All I can say is that my surgery was done in Nuremberg, Germany.

The price was €650 with everything included: the first consultation and ultrasound examination, the surgery itself, and 2 sperm tests, one 4 weeks after the surgery and another one that should be done at 8 weeks after the surgery.

What I didn't like was that no one mentioned the €160 payment if you decide not to have the surgery after the consultation appointment with the ultrasound test.

But, to be fair, I said I was 90% certain I'd do it.

Day 0, surgery day, Friday

I woke up at 06:30 in the morning.

Hell, I slept, but as if I didn't. I was pretty nervous.

Quick coffee, quick morning routine, and get in the car.

Every minute closer to 8am, the time I had my surgery scheduled, was more and more intense.

07:59am, we (my wife, our baby, and I) were in the clinic.

I was frozen, literally frozen, first of all because of the surgery and then because it was pretty cold outside that day (so cold my nuts decided to go all the way inside 🤣).

At 8:30am, I was invited by the nurse into the OR.

She said, "Take off your shoes and your shorts and come inside."

So I did it.

Hell, I can't explain the movie that was playing in my head. I've had bigger surgeries, but I think I was more scared of the thought that someone was going to cut and operate on my jewels.

Entering the OR, the nurse told me to lie on the bed and relax. She explained in detail what they were going to do and how they were going to do it.

She asked me if I was nervous, to which my answer was, "As hell I am."

The doctor came in, and the usual preparation before surgery started.

I already thought I was going to collapse from nervousness, but my heart rate was just perfect: 80 bpm.

Local anesthesia came into play.

Yeah, I felt the pricks, and immediately after them, they started opening my scrotum.

I felt nothing, to be honest, until they got to the vas.

The moment they pulled it, I had a feeling as if I was going to vomit.

The doctor stopped for a second and asked me if I could feel anything.

I said no, and they continued with the procedure.

I was feeling a little bit of pulling and something I can describe as someone pinching my testicle, with a little bit of pain from time to time.

The left side was done. I think it took about 10 minutes.

They moved to the right side.

Again, pricks and again that puking feeling, but this time it was more intense.

They explained to me that many men have a shorter vas on the right side and therefore they had to pull a bit harder.

Overall, the whole experience wasn't painful, and the doctor and nurse, especially the nurse, were trying to talk to me as much as my German language allowed them to.

The surgery was finished in about 30 minutes.

Everything went smoothly.

I got out of the OR, the nurse explained what I should do from then on, and the doctor gave me a prescription for bandages, ibuprofen, and jars for semen testing later on.

On my way home, about 30 minutes after I left the clinic, I suddenly got a really short pain, as if someone had squeezed my testicles really hard, but it lasted maybe 10 seconds at most.

I got home, took ibuprofen, used ice packs, put on tight underwear, and went to bed.

I kept taking 1 ibuprofen 400mg every 4 hours and cooling down my scrotum with ice packs (from the freezer, yeah, you read that correctly, from the freezer) as if there were no tomorrow.

I would put an ice pack in a thin cloth and place it over my underwear on my scrotum and inner thighs.

I stayed in bed as much as possible.

The only routes were to the toilet, the living room to eat, and eventually the terrace to smoke a cigarette.

Nothing else.

Day 1, Saturday

I slept on the sofa so that my baby or wife wouldn't accidentally hurt me in their sleep.

I slept on my back.

I hate sleeping on my back, but I didn't want to put any unnecessary pressure down there.

Still no real pain. At least, no serious pain.

The testicle-squeezing feeling was still there from time to time for a few seconds.

I continued taking my ibuprofen every 4 hours and using ice packs as much as possible.

No swelling, no bruising, and a little bit of blood on the bandages.

When the baby fell asleep around noon, I took off my bandages, let my scrotum air-dry, and put on new bandages.

Day 2, holy mother of god, Sunday

Again, I slept on the sofa.

Better safe than sorry.

I woke up pretty early, had a banana so I could take my ibuprofen, had a coffee, and chilled for about one to one and a half hours before the baby woke up.

This was the first time I walked a bit.

My wife asked me if she could sleep for another one or two hours because she was tired, and I said yes.

I walked our baby to the bathroom, changed her nappy (note that I wasn't lifting my baby. She's 19 months old and a little bit heavier than my maximum allowed load xD).

We watched TV, had breakfast together, and she wanted to go out on the terrace.

I helped her put on her clothes slowly, and on our way to the terrace, she slipped and started falling face-first onto the floor.

So I reacted instinctively and quickly grabbed her.

Holy mother of god, I had a feeling as if everything had ripped apart down there and inside for a few moments.

I took our baby outside, went back to take an ice pack, and quickly looked down there to see if everything was okay.

Luckily, everything looked okay.

Ice pack on, and I went outside to take care of my little princess.

The pain continued throughout the day, sometimes more, sometimes less.

After my wife woke up, I went to lie down.

I was supposed to be back at work on Monday (tomorrow).

I continued with my ibuprofen, ice packs, and lying down.

And of course, around noon, I changed my bandages again after letting my scrotum air-dry, as they were full of liquid.

Day 3, Going back to work? Monday

Again on the sofa, sleeping on my back.

I woke up with pain.

Not unbearable pain, but constant dull pain.

I called my family doctor and went there.

She checked me, and everything looked fine as far as she could tell.

She told me to continue with what I was doing, just to be careful about situations like the one from the day before, and to rest as much as possible for the week.

While waiting there, sitting caused me more pain.

Standing was painful too.

Finally, I arrived home, went straight to the freezer to pick up my lovely ice packs, and went back to the sofa.

Again, in the afternoon, I took off my bandages, let my scrotum air-dry, and put on new bandages.

I continued with ibuprofen and ice packs throughout the day.

Hell, I need a shower. I can't anymore.

I smell like a hospital all over, but my family doctor told me not to and to wait at least one more day.

Day 4, Tuesday

Sofa, lying on my back, some unpleasant dull pain, ibuprofen, and changing bandages as usual in the afternoon.

Nothing happened in particular that was worth writing down, but in the evening, I finally had a wonderful, quick shower.

But yeah, the waterproof bandages filled up with water and were keeping the water inside them, so I took them off.

I avoided spraying water directly onto the scrotum area and instead let the water slide down my body.

I didn't really wash down there, as I wanted to avoid unnecessary rubbing and chemicals.

I dried myself with a towel, but I left my scrotum wet to air-dry, as I wanted to avoid any unnecessary contact with it.

Still no real pain, signs of infection, swelling, or bruising.

Day 5, Wednesday

Sofa, sleeping on my back, ibuprofen, ice packs.

I started moving around the house a bit, doing some light house chores, filling up the dishwasher, emptying it, picking up toys from the floor, but slowly and carefully.

I was still changing my bandages in the afternoon, as there was still some oozing from the wounds.

Shower in the evening again, with the same issues with the bandages, so I took them off again.

I didn't like how my wound on the left side looked.

Day 6, Thursday

Sofa, lying on my back, ice packs, ibuprofen, the usual already 🤣

No pain, no swelling.

A tiny little bruise appeared next to the wounds, something like when you pinch your skin on the edge and then get a tiny little blood clot trapped under the skin.

I contacted my urologist who did the surgery.

He asked me for some pictures before I drove all the way there.

I sent them to him, changed my last bandage, and he replied after a few minutes that everything was okay, that it was completely normal, and that I should continue with the bandages for 3 more days.

The rest of the day was more or less the same as any other day before.

I just added one more activity to the list: staying alone with the baby while my wife did what was supposed to be a 2-hour job that turned out to be 8 hours.

But again, without lifting the baby.

If she needed to get somewhere higher, she would do it herself with my help and the help of furniture.

Be creative.

Don't lift.

Day 7, Oh my god, this hurts, Friday

Sofa, lying on my back, ice packs, ibuprofen.

No pain, no swelling, no infection, no fever.

Tiny bruises were still visible near the wounds.

I made my favorite pie for breakfast for us.

I wrote the full recipe and explained step by step how to make it here Serbian Savory Pie (Carska Pita) Recipe.

I didn't feel any pain or discomfort, so I was happy to think that everything was slowly getting better.

We ate.

Since I had no more bandages and my wife didn't have time the day before or today because she continued her work from yesterday, she placed our baby in a baby cart for me so I could take her with me to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy is literally 1 km away from our home, so that would be 2 km and a few meters more, as there is a grocery shop on the way to the pharmacy in both directions.

So we started slowly.

I swear to God, I have never walked so slowly and gently.

Halfway there, the pain started.

I had pain in my lower abdomen and inner thighs.

My testicles were burning, and I had a feeling like I had stones in my scrotum.

We barely made it to the pharmacy.

I bought bandages, and on the way back, we sat at the bus stop.

I just couldn't walk anymore.

I was seriously thinking about calling my wife to pick us up, but I am a man, right?

So we continued slowly to the grocery store.

We did a really small amount of shopping, just what could fit in the bottom tray of the baby cart.

We started moving slowly towards home.

I knew there was one more bench where I could sit and rest.

Hell, the pain was really strong.

The burning sensation and heaviness in my scrotum just got worse.

Again, I was so close to calling my wife, but we didn't, as we had left to give her some space and time to work.

We arrived home.

It was time for another ibuprofen, ice packs, and the sofa.

The pain disappeared shortly after, but the burning sensation and heaviness continued all day.

And as if that wasn't enough, while I was lying down on the sofa, our baby wanted to lie with me and cuddle, but she accidentally hit me and squeezed me with her hand exactly at the spot.

Of course, both wounds started oozing a little bit more than before.

I put the baby to sleep.

She sleeps best in the afternoons when I lie down with her and keep her in my arms.

(I didn't mention this before, but I was doing that every day, and always with a pillow between her and me to protect me from accidents with her legs or something similar.)

I changed the bandages, put on an ice pack, went back to the sofa, and watched TV.

Later that same day, my wife had another job, so I basically took care of our baby the whole day.

Day 8, One wound is closed, Saturday

I stopped taking ibuprofen.

400mg, 7 days, 4 times a day was more than enough.

I don't like medication, so this was really something I should write down as an achievement.

No more ice packs, but I was still sleeping on the sofa, just in case.

My bandage on the right side had been dry since yesterday.

Not a single drop of anything.

Yaaay.

Usual day, normal-ish activities.

My wife was tired again, so around 11am she went to sleep for another 2 hours.

She slept until 2pm with our baby.

I put the baby to sleep at around 12:30, and she fell asleep in my arms around 1pm/13:00.

I went out to enjoy a bit of coffee, and then went inside to try to do a little bit of something I like.

It was around 2:15pm/14:15, and I had 15 minutes before the baby woke up at 2:30pm/14:30 and my wife woke up with her.

And there my wife had already started complaining and crying about something that was apparently, in her head, my problem, so I turned off my laptop as I lost the will to do anything.

Anyway, the rest of the day went sort of smoothly.

The only pains I've noticed since day 0 are literally just a small, tiny pinch or poke.

I don't know how to explain it, but I still think it's glue from my bandages irritating my skin.

That night, I was alone on the sofa, and to be fair, I got an erection.

I got horny, and I really wanted to test that one out, but since my wounds on the outside were still open, I didn't want to, or was scared to, test the inside pipe works.

Day 9, Wound that I thought was closed oozed today, Sunday

I woke up from the sofa.

First time in a week, I slept on my belly.

Beautiful 😊

But since I'm checking my bandages daily, many times a day, I saw that my bandage had gotten wet again.

A little bit of disappointment 🥺

The baby woke up around 9am.

My wife is still asleep at the time I'm writing this (11:58am).

I already made a first little snack for our baby, and I made a pie again for all of us.

And slowly, when I have a chance, I'm writing this blog.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work.

I'm not happy about it, but hey, my urologist said that I'd need only 2 days (the weekend) and that I'd be able to work again.

So don't think that way, and avoid going back to work for at least a week, even if you're only sitting at work, as I tried to do some work while sitting at home and it didn't work out.

The rest of this day went okay.

I changed the bandages as usual in the afternoon and once after the shower.

Day 10, Slight pains, discomfort, first work day, Monday

I woke up earlier and did my daily routine. I wrote about it too.

You can read about Morning Routine I Don’t Fully Understand.

I sat in the car, and there I already felt slight discomfort as the seat was too close to the steering wheel.

My wife had driven on the other days, so I had kind of stretched my testicles or squeezed them a bit.

The discomfort and pain continued throughout the day as I was moving a lot.

My job requires a lot of movement, as I am a maintenance person.

Driving between two objects I was working on was really uncomfortable.

I had a feeling like someone had really squeezed my testicles and was holding them like that throughout the whole drive.

After some time, I couldn't stand, nor could I sit anymore.

I had that feeling again, like the bottom of my scrotum was burning and was full of stones.

The pain was affecting my inner thighs and lower abdomen, and from time to time, my left and right testicles.

The right testicle was definitely winning the competition for giving me pain.

Sadly, I had to stay two hours longer at work as something went wrong after our phone server update, so I had to wait for the technician to come back and fix it.

I couldn't wait to get home and lie down for a bit.

Because of the pain I was experiencing, I couldn't walk properly, so I ended up with pain in my legs, back, and shoulders.

Hell of a first day.

And again, the normal night routine: prepare the baby for sleep, put her in bed, take a shower, change the bandages, and have a bit of TV time.

Tonight, I'll sleep in our bedroom with my girls. I miss them.

This is Part 1 of my vasectomy recovery series.

Next: Vasectomy Recovery: Days 11-17 (coming soon)

Written in Germany