Traces of blood in the semen after a vasectomy are normal and generally nothing to worry about. But it can lead to some understandable concern when the man resumes normal ejaculatory activity so it’s important to know what’s normal and what should be concerning.
Is it normal to have blood in your semen after a vasectomy?
A small amount of blood in the semen during the period immediately following a vasectomy is normal and isn’t anything to worry about. This issue often resolves itself and doesn’t indicate a larger problem.
During the operation, small amounts of blood can enter the vas deferens. This blood can find its way into the semen and may be visible during ejaculations. After a number of ejaculations, this blood is cleared from the reproductive tract and shouldn’t reoccur.
Recommended products for recovery
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JockstrapsPapi Men’s Cotton Jock Strap 3-Pack
Ice packsTheraPearl Ice Pack with Gel Beads
Home Vasectomy TestSpermCheck Vasectomy Test Kit
Donut-shaped pillowErgonomic Innovations Orthopaedic Seat
When to call your doctor
Most doctors would probably agree that you don’t need to worry unless you’re still seeing blood in your ejaculatory fluid after more than a week.
As a general rule, you should get in touch with your doctor if you have any concerns about your recovery after a vasectomy. If you’re seeing blood in your semen and it’s worrying you, make the call!
You should also call your doctor if you’re seeing a large amount of blood, or if the blood is accompanied by any kind of unusual pain.
References and further reading
Vasectomy-Information.com has a strict sourcing policy. We rely on evidence-based medicine, peer-reviewed studies, reputable clinical journals, and medical associations. Learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and up-to-date by reading our editorial policy.- Blood in semen (haematospermia). NHS. Published July 18, 2019. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/blood-in-semen/
Same Juan as below, just an update:
Ejaculation #10 was the first one that seemingly had no blood. Just a bit of pink on the first pump out. It still didn’t feel 100% “normal”, let’s say; but nothing I can truly describe well. It’s possible it was also just all in my head.
I’m at ejaculation #13 now and everything is finally completely normal. No blood, no distinguishable difference in amount/look from before the vasectomy, no odd feelings. I’d say after these las three (11, 12 and 13), I can report everything is back to normal.
I go in January 7th for the sperm test to see if there’s anything left. By then I should be well over 25 ejaculations, so I hope nothing it found.
That will probably be the last I report here. I thought it’d help others if I came by soon as I could to report it’s about a month and a week and 10 ejaculates for things to be 100% where they were pre-op.
Hey everyone,
It looks like most comments are from years ago, so I’m very late to the party, but I wanted to contribute my story because it helped to read yours.
I had a no-scalpel vasectomy 3 1/2 weeks ago. The first three ejaculations no blood, the subsequent two very pink and in it all, and the following two less pink and only on the first “pump” (the rest comes out with the regular semen color we all know and wish for after this thing).
My discomfort lasted about a week, the second week it all felt “weird” (minor discomforts and then some strange pulling feelings and even noises when about to ejaculate) and by week 3 it all kind of normalized (with the exception of the blood part).
Since it all looks to be getting better, I’m not gonna contact the urologist’s office yet. The blood in the semen started a bit later as I said; but given that there is less and less (apparently) in every ejaculation, I take that as an improvement.
I’ll report back when this bleeding goes away. I’ve read every possible article out there and there’s no definitive information. You see anywhere from “it’s not normal AT ALL” (even from doctors) to “a couple of months after”, so I’m gonna go full “personal experience”.
I hope this helps you guys. All in all, it’s a pretty brave thing to do to take this cut so she doesn’t have to do anything other than enjoy the sex.
Cheers
Hello, from 2019! Ejaculated last night, 5 days after my vasectomy, and I was also quite surprised and a little freaked out by the blood. I hope it stops soon, but good to read it’s not uncommon.
Wow… the laughing hurts.
13 days post-procedure— the blood mixed in with the jizz has really increased the total load volume, which I’m kind of proud of— I tried appealing to my wife’s affinity for vampire novels, but she ain’t having the bloody jizz thing… at all.
Local anesthetic wasn’t bad at all— but my left side felt like an effin vice grip ripping my testicle out. If I have to go in again to get this fixed, I’m taking a flask of whiskey and Ativan beforehand. Oddly enough, the right side was only mildly uncomfortable. I’m not sure when it happened, but my left side (vas deferens) seems to have swollen up — feels like the whole tube is at least a cm in diameter. It’s also pretty tender still. I don’t want to go back in, so think I’ll just ignore it. At least until this annoying scrotum aunties fall out…
Still too late to use a condom?
Since 2008 men have been looking to this site to see if it is normal if there is blood in their semen after surgery. Yet there are no answers, I imagine, if all of us endured black and blue balls for a few days (some weeks) and have come here (no pun intended) to share our stories – you’d figure someone would have an answer?! I guess we’re all somewhat normal after the surgery, scalpel, cauterized, or whatever – I too share the same bloody jizz as the rest of you!
Perhaps M.D.’s should better prep their patients for the after “care.” When I came home and rubbed one out (to make sure it worked), I was horrified that I now had a strawberry swirl explosion, rather than the usual. 20 days later, still swirling. I can only hope I am as normal as the rest of you!
P.S. I find if I don’t shoot off for more than a day, it is more bloody than if I am using it more often!
I had my factory shut down about nine days ago and felt pretty good about three to four days later. No bruising or swelling, and I haven’t felt any clots. But I also have the blood in the semen like many of you have mentioned. My doctor never told me about this potential side effect. I’m not really comfortable with the fact that I could be getting blood on my girlfriend when we have sex.
For any of you with the same problem, did it go away or did you have to see your doctor? If you did see your doctor, what did they say? Am I shooting blanks yet?
Get the sedative! Not so much for the pain but to calm your nerves so you don’t clench up and make it harder for the Dr. and yourself. As far as the blood, I had some first time, a little more next, and now I’m looking it up. I guess we’re the weirdo’s guys, yeah us! Not panicked yet, I’ll call the Dr. if it doesn’t at least diminish after a few more. I better not have to go back though…
I had my procedure 8 days ago and noticed blood in my semen for the first time today. Freaked me out as the doctor didn’t say anything about that. However, as far as the procedure and after effects, based on what I’ve read, I either had a great doctor, or I just lucked out. I had the no-scalpel and no-stitch procedure where the incision on my scrotum was too small for a stitch, and inside he cauterized the tubes. I had very minimal pain and swelling the following day.
I would recommend this procedure over the “traditional” scalpel procedure for sure. My dad and brother had the scalpel, and their experience was much different, i.e., more painful than mine. Only 18 loads to go, and I’m sterile! Woo Hoo!
I had my vasectomy about 10 days ago. I did a self-test to make sure that I was functioning and had no blood in my semen. After that, I resumed regular intercourse on day 7. Since, with ice, rest (I mean lots of rest, I took Vicodin on the first day and day two, so I slept a lot!) then made sure I didn’t move around a lot, and I saw no bruising at all, although when I didn’t have ice on my testicles there was some swelling. Now on day 9 and 10, I have blood in my semen. This isn’t like flecks or rust, its blood. I am going to contact the doctor that performed my procedure and ask about this.
All in all, the surgery was painless, I was a little worried, but not too much and my wife is happy since this means we aren’t going to have more kids.
Hi Rich. What did your doctor say about this? What was the remedy? This sounds like what I’m currently going through, and our story sounds identical.
I must admit that I’m starting to get worried even though there’s no pain.
I, too, was not warned by my doctor about the blood in my semen. I had the surgery done 4 days ago and was completely freaked out today. I will have to say that the pain is different for different folks. I had very minimal pain whatsoever. No bruising. The doctor’s office in Monroeville, PA, was great. Not a big fan of the numbing shots, but everything else went fine.
So glad to hear I am not the only one with blood in my semen. The bruising was unreal… black balls and quarter way up the shaft for a week! And the pain was more than people let on, but in the long haul, it beats not having a 5th child!
I had my vasectomy ten days ago, my first two ejaculations looked normal, but since then I have seen a tiny amount of blood, sort of looks like tiny flakes of dried red paint, not sure how else to describe this? Also, a tiny amount of red in the overall semen, I was a little freaked when I first saw this, because my urologist never warned me that this could happen. But I had already read this from several websites before my vasectomy was performed, or I really would have freaked out!
Everyone told me the vasectomy procedure was no big deal, with hardly any pain, boy, was that a lie! I consider myself a pretty tough person when it comes to pain, but I would never want to have to go through that ever again! I had the traditional scalpel vasectomy performed, and it hurt like hell, glad it’s all over! Very glad to see that I’m not alone with this blood in the semen thing, from what I’ve read, it should eventually clear up.
It has been a month since I had mine, and there is still blood, so I decided to read up and boy after reading the above I almost p***ed myself, kind of took my mind off the blood.
Thanks, Brandon, for your wording.
Hey, how did things end up for you? You sound exactly like what I had 4 weeks ago. Now I still have brown semen coming out.
After about 20 ejaculations, I still have red blood in my semen… Is that NORMAL?
Thanks, JT.
I am concerned. Two weeks after my open-ended vasectomy and still blood in semen. Wth? The procedure was painful, and I do not want to have to go through surgery again. The up-end may not be completely sealed. I am waiting for the doctor to get back to me.
I had a vasectomy one month ago. I have ejaculated about 10 times, and the last time I had a fair amount of what looked like fresh blood in my semen. I hear that some dark or rusty-colored blood is sometimes normal, but mine looks fresh. I tried to contact the Dr. that performed my vasectomy, but it is the weekend. So should I be worried?
Glad to hear I’m not alone on this one then, makes me feel a whole lot better.
I had a vasectomy a month ago, but I still get blood in my semen. Sometimes there is no blood. It seems like every other ejaculation contains blood. Is this normal even after a month after the procedure and about 20 ejaculations after?