Chad’s experience: Vasectomy with scrotal hematoma

I decided to have a vasectomy 2 years after my divorce with 3 children in the middle. I wanted one at 19 years old but the doctor said I was too young and I listened to him, glad I had some children before undergoing surgery. Had a Traditional Scalpel Vasectomy in early 2011 by a Doctor that was rather young and fresh in the field even though he had meaningful experience doing Vasectomies, sometimes even 3 of them within a single day. My doctor sold me on the belief that sperm production is reduced or slows down after vasectomy, but my research now shows sperm and hormone production remain unchanged, that backup and buildup of sperm in the testes can lead to blowouts anywhere in the system up to where it was cut and tied off, though it seems to inevitably get reabsorbed back into the system. Complications that pressure can build if the reabsorption rate is too slow because sperm count is too high and can leak out and form into blobs adhering to the spermatic cord sometimes causing pain. A major factor in whether you might experience problems I’ve read is your sperm count, if it’s low then sperm can be reabsorbed quickly enough to avoid problems so I recommend getting your sperm count checked before considering this procedure.

The surgery was more painful then I expected, the right side not so bad but the left side a lot more painful tugging, even felt electric shocks up through my stomach probably from cauterization, seems that the doctor cut some troublesome nerve while slicing through the skin which I believe led to my hematoma and now intermittent and rarely occurring post-vasectomy pain (I feel they probably shouldn’t cut so near the base of the scrotum where these nerves are thickest and prone to causing hematoma, duh!).

Surgery was successful in that it rendered me infertile, confirmed after 2 months, though the evening of the surgery a hematoma complication ruptured within the scrotal sack resulting in an initial infilling to the capacity of the scrotum area. Liquid blood drained over 2-4 days and ending in an egg-sized lump of clotted blood on the left side of the scrotum. The pain was mild of about a 2 for the majority of the recovery though intensity could flare up briefly from time to time. Sexual activity seemed to cause some minor complications for days following the activity and then towards day 60 a blue ball type feeling from jostling or touching or even letting them fall into the underwear for several weeks. Now at 6 months testicles feel somewhat fragile, though not sore or painful, I believe this is from the backup and buildup of sperm being obstructed from delivery.

To provide more details on the hematoma, I found that as it shrunk it liquefied the clotted blood and drained out through the original incision side staining many pairs of underwear and a rather hot bath 2nd degree scaled only the hematoma area. At one point the original incision site appeared to have built up puss to about a toothpick diameter which later seemed to clearly be drainage from the hematoma and not an infection. The surface area of the hematoma appeared as a hardened shell about the length of an index finger and by Day 84 had gone down to the length of a fingertip. Some tubing initially about the size of a fat crayon and even now 6 months later the size of a pencil connects the base of the family jewels to the scrotal wall. There is basically no more pain at this late stage which is a relief as less than one percent experience pain past 3 months. Hematomas are said to reduce totally in 3 months though mine is small about the size of a grape after 3 months, yet still noticeable. Initially, I felt the benefits of becoming infertile through vasectomy significantly outweighed the risk of problems and complications thereafter, even to live through another hematoma and associated pain. But now, after 6 months and doing this research about complications and blowouts that seem inevitable because sperm production continues as before, I find myself wondering what have I gotten myself into though still extremely grateful for my infertile state. If you are serious, I would suggest doing a sperm count first with the following consideration – low count probably the minimal risk of problems whereas high sperm count could mean a high risk of late-term problems and complications.

As a parting thought, Vasectomy or tubal ligation are the only absolute protection against a financial burden for the next 18 to 21 years to life (If the child is seriously mentally handicap then child support doesn’t end – bet you didn’t know that!). I would rather have had or at least looked into the RSIUG but it’s not available in the United States, and probably won’t be available for the next 10 to 20 years, which time period is the peak for me to accidentally end up having more children and probably with the wrong kind of women leaving me with pathetic visitation rights and a monthly bill up to half my income.

Statistics show if your first marriage fails the second marriages are much worse and don’t last as long. I figured why practice safe sex for the rest of my life when in a committed relationship or after getting remarried? And women can be tricky, one girlfriend even tried to impregnate herself using her fingertip after playing with me, and after I had used protection, it was pretty obvious and sad, it should be a joint decision. If you don’t have any ambitions on being financially secure then your more likely to just do it and have more children and not care about the child support burden, but if you want to provide for yourself and your family without having responsibility for more children then a vasectomy may be the right choice. And you can still be a father without being THE father.

Submitted by Chad