Post Vasectomy Pain Forum

5 weeks post vas

Post Vasectomy Pain
#1

I wish I would’ve found this website before deciding to have a vasectomy 5 weeks ago. The procedure was painful (had to be renumbed on one side), and recovery has been miserable since.

By the end of week two I still had very tender testicles and epis causing quite a bit of discomfort, and sharp pains with an erection, so I went on 7 days of 600mg ibuprofen x3 daily for 7 days. The nsaid helped reduce discomfort and I was able to start sexual activity with no sharp pain. This was a major relief at the time. But at end of week 3, only days after ending ibuprofen regimin, I had increased pain on right side and was diagnosed with epididymitis. I just had 5 week anniversary, and finished up my cipro for epididymitis. The pain associated with epididymitis is gone, but I still have extremely sore/achey testicles, and have a few bouts of shooting pain in testicle/vas area the past few days. It’s hard to walk any amount of distance without my thighs rubbing my testicles and pain/achey/soreness flaring up. I plan to follow back up with urologist this week.

I get I’m only 5 weeks post vas, but until I found this website, everyone I had heard of getting a vas was fine within days. I’m starting to get worried. Has anyone here had issues up to a couple months post vas that resolved on their own? How worried should I be?

Thanks in advance.

#2

Hey man, sorry you are here. There’s been plenty of people that had pain for months after their vasectomy and it slowly resolved with time.

So, hang in there because it’s still early for you.

This site is a wonderful source of information, but at times, for me personally it caused a lot of anxiety.

As hard as it sounds, just try to stay positive and don’t let the anxiety of the situation over take you. You still have pretty decent odds.

3 Likes
#3

Just an update – it’s been a few days since my first post and I have an appointment with uro who performed vas on Monday.

I was wondering if I can get some feedback from the group on something— As I stated in my previous post, my pain had been mostly aching/sensitivity of testicles area mainly in the back where epi is., and mostly on right side (although backside of left testy is still sensitive and achy just to a lessor extent). At 2 weeks I did 7 days of ibuprofen (600mg x3). This was the best I had felt since the procedure. I felt I was 85%+ back to normal. After the 7 days I had a few good days, not as good as when on ibuprofen but damn close. I felt good enough to try riding stationary bike with bike compression shorts. This was 23 days post vasectomy. I rode lightly for 35 minutes, with only a little discomfort (although I did take 600mg ibuprofen as a CYA beforehand). I could tell I was more sore later in the day as a result, so swore off biking for another couple of weeks. It was about a week after this bike ride that pain increased on right side and I was diagnosed with the epididymitis and went on 10 days of cipro. I finished the cipro, and felt okay while on it just sore and achy, and the increased pain on left side had been reduced. But I had a flare up while at the park on Sunday. I took no meds or NSAIDs Monday and just went about my day as normal. But I could still feel lingering pain from flare up, and it was not a great day. I woke yesterday morning with constant aching in both testicles/epis but more pronounced on right side. The couple days since the flare up had caused pain to gravitate to right side flank and my lower back. It felt like the aftermath of a groin kick. So I scheduled the follow up with Uro, and went back on the ibuprofen. Took first dose of ibuprofen at noon yesterday, and also tried using a cup for first time (on recommendation from this board). The afternoon was amazing! Aside from the general discomfort of wearing a cup, I felt 90% back to normal. Around dinner time the ibuprofen had started wearing off and I could sense some of the achiness returning, but it was more tolerable with the cup while moving around because it helped keep my massive thighs from banging away on the boys while I parents a 3 and 4 year old. But, wearing a cup for hours has it’s own discomforts, so I took it off in the evening and took another 600mg ibuprofen before bed, and for a pretty decent night’s sleep.

So having now written toy guys a small novel for context, hear is the feedback I’m looking for–. Given that I’m just shy of 6 weeks post vas, and since ibuprofen seems to knock my pain in half (or better), and that I was recently diagnosed (empirically) with epididymitis, do you guys think the pain I continue to experience is simply the epididymitis still resolving itself??

After having read a lot of content on this page, I am think it is a good thing that a lot of my discomfort up to this point is resolved with 600mg of ibuprofen which I imagine rules out nerve damage. What do you guys think-- should I be optimistic about my pain resolving itself in next few weeks based on what I described above, or have others had success with NSAIDs short term, only to be left with long term pain?

Any responses or feedback would really be appreciated. I’m really stressed about this, and I feel like I’ve lived on this board since discovering it.

Thanks!

#4

The a few days to 2 weeks seems to be a load of rubbish ( maybe if clips instead of cut, as recovery faster and no ball droopage) Our experience, it took a good 3 months for any normality to return. A feeling that the balls are heavy or a pulling sensation with a dull pain , Along with pain where tubes were caurterised. If you overexert yourself, you put yourself back a few days. Good support is essential, as balls seem to hang lower and get in the way or sat on(saxx vibe are good boxers, have a pocket pouch for support) Keep an eye out to ensure the incision site heals OK ( not too lumpy) some bio oil when healed will help. You will ejeculate some blood for a few times that’s normal. Careful after, getting any knocks to the area, as the pain can linger, for a few days more so than before a vas.

#5

Polly -. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post, I really appreciate it. I’ve noticed that the majority of the pain I’m still having 6 weeks post vas is triggered by contact. This is an issue as I’ve got a desk job where I sit a lot, and to make things worse I’ve got massive thighs. So sitting/walking can trigger pain, and it’s like once I set things off down there I ache the rest of the day. I’ve been double-bagging with briefs and a jock strap, and I’ve been wearing a cup intermittently. The cup helps a lot, but after a few hours the pressure it puts on my groin becomes unbearable and the change in how I walk while wearing it (like I just got off a horse) is killing my hips. So only using it sparingly now.

I’m still hoping this is just residual pain from epididymitis still clearing up. I have follow up appointment with uro on Monday.

#6

Update:

I’m now 6 weeks and 4 days post vas, and had a follow up with uro yesterday.

I know there is a lot of animosity towards uros on this board, and justifiably so, but so far I think I’ve lucked out with my uro. He was anything but dismissive regarding my lingering pain, and after a physical exam, he said that based on the fact that I’m still close to procedure date and that the physical exam was good, he was hopeful things would continue to improve with time. It was obvious he was going out of his way to be as reassuring as possible, echoing what many have said on this board (“it’s still early”). He seemed genuinely empathetic to my situation, and said that in his years of practice (and presumably thousands of vasectomies performed), he’s treated about 100 guys just like me with lingering pain/discomfort a month after procedure and they all recovered with time.

So right now it’s “tincture of time” with NSAIDS as needed. He also gave me his personal number in case things get worse on a weekend.

The bummer is that I’m awfully sore after the physical exam.

#7

Hey Vesto, sorry you are still dealing with this, but you are right that it sounds like you have a good Uro. At least he didn’t hit you with “I have never seen this happen before”. Sounds like he was honest with you and cares about your outcome.

He is right, you are still early, and time is still on your side here. Just do your best to relax and not be too anxious about it.

1 Like
#8

Thanks Lee. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

#9

UPDATE: I hit the 12-week mark last Friday. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I’m doing much better. Aside from still wearing the jock strap, I have stopped regular usage of all other methods of pain management. I no longer ice or take NSAIDS daily. I still have some intermittent discomfort throughout the day, and it’s almost always triggered by sitting for a long time or strenuous activity. So I’ve improved to the point where I feel like I could live the rest of my life in this condition and not feel like I need to pursue other remedies. That being said, im certainly not back to normal. I can still get bothered by prolonged physical activity, and I’m still slowly trying to get back to riding my bike regularly. Biking seems to be the only activity I still take NSAIDS for beforehand and ice after. On my 3 month anniversary I went for a 45 minute ride, and followed it up with a near two hour ride (partially off road and bumpy) the next day. I had noticeable soreness the rest of the day after the second day of biking, but it was totally worth it. Over the next few weeks I’m hoping to ditch the jock straps altogether, and stop taking the NSAIDS before bike rides. I’ll probably still ice post-ride for foreseeable future as I hopefully increase ride frequency.

It’s incredible the progress I’ve made the last 4 weeks, and I’m grateful to be able to play with with my kids again and not have to hold back. I can wear jeans for the majority of the day and not pay dearly for it.

I hope I can post an even better update here in the coming weeks. Thanks everyone for your support.

#10

My epididymis ruptured after one of the bike rides on left side, so I’d be very careful with cycling

#11

Vesto, glad to hear you are still making improvements. If I were you, I would think long and hard about biking. Biking can be very hard on your pudendal nerve and your epis.

If you want to avoid any set backs and not slow down your progress, I would consider holding off on any biking for a while. I am not saying don’t exercise, but try to find some things that are less impact that doesn’t put so much stress down there. Possibly an elliptical machine? I am also not saying for you to give biking up forever, but maybe just give it some more time. I know you are anxious to get back to life as usual, but i think the more time you give yourself up front can pay off in dividends later.

#12

@SomeGreyBIoke Yikes! What kind of riding were you doing?

#13

I exercised ,not with cycling, I took up swimming as the water seemed to support my testicles

#14

I’ll definitely heed the advice of those above. I think I need to manage my expectations better, and be a little more calculated about increasing frequency and length of rides. I might consider limiting myself to only 2 rides a week of no more than an hour as long as post-ride soreness doesn’t get worse or continues improving. I’ll also be sure the rides are days apart, and only ride my fat bike or cyclocross bike which have more volumous tires to soak up bumps in the road. But you guys are right, I should find some other exercise to partake in while transitioning back over to bike.

#15

@Vesto, did both road and mtb, you can either take my advice or not, but I’d stop cycling and any activity that puts any pressure on scrotum alltogether. There are guys on the site who ended up with paniful setbacks lasting 30 months after bike rides.

After my epidydimis ruptured, I had epididymectomy performed, which made my testicle so unbearably painful, that I had to have radical orchiectomy.

I wish I were warned, and good luck!

#16

@Vesto - great news! I too have made improvement since our last discussion but now I am getting some abdominal pains that are really annoying. My abs feel tight.

Did you ever experience that?

#17

UPDATE:

I just crossed the 5-month mark and I wish this was a more positive update. As some of you may have read in other posts of mine, I had a setback at the end of May. April 20th to May 20th was the best 4-week period ive had since the vas. i had, for the most part, stopped all icing, NSAIDS, and supportive underwear. I would still notice discomfort at times throughout the day, and would still get a little sore from sitting for long periods of time, or very long walks. But aside, from limiting strenuous activity, I felt like I was mostly back to a normal life.

Then in late May both epis flared up and started to really bother me. I took ibuprofen regularly for 2.5 weeks, iced regularly, and limited activities. I also started taking Zyflamend and keeping a daily pain log. It took about a month for me to get back to anywhere near how I was feeling in mid-May, but I was happy things were slowly trending the right direction. Before today I had strung together 5 consecutive days of daily pain levels of 2 or less. That was with only occasional icing and wearing normal briefs. I was thrilled about it. But then today the “zingers” (quick sharp pain) started in the left testicle and have persisted all day. I’ve only experienced zingers maybe 4 times since my vas, and only once did they last more than a few hours. So I’m pretty bummed right now as I write this because I was coming off a really good week, and now I’m dealing with some pretty painful shooting pains which I’ve seldom dealt with previously. I’m hopeful they’ll be gone tomorrow morning and I’ll continue trending the right direction. We all have bad days when it comes to this stuff I suppose. Anyone have any good tips on dealing with zingers?

Assuming the zingers aren’t a prolonged thing, my plan is to reassess at 6 month mark and as long as I’m improving, or at least not getting worse, I’ll wait it out until month 9 and make the same assessment. If I get worse, I might pursue other treatments. I won’t consider reversal until after 12 months, and only of Im worse off than I am now (sans zingers). I think my daily pain log will be helpful in these periodic assessments.

Ill try to keep posting updates. I’m hoping for the best for all of you guys