What was your SO’s vasectomy recovery like?

[ProfessorArtNerd]

My H is getting a vasectomy on Friday. He thinks he will be incapacitated for weeks. I vaguely recall when my dad got one, he was lounging on the sofa for a day or two. And he’s not really a go-getter type either.

What’s your experience, please?

[acr]

My DH was one of the few with a bad recovery. It was a combo of not taking it easy long enough (2-3 days) and bad luck. He ended up with a big ol' infected hole in his scrot that he had to pack with medicated gauze for weeks. So that was fun.

But even with that experience, he certainly wasn't incapacitated.

[ssmjlm]

DH had his on a Friday and basically laid around all weekend rotating frozen peas. He went back to work on Monday.

[underwaterrhymes]

I think he was down for like 2-3 days? He had some pretty bad back pain, which surprised us, but he was back to normal pretty quickly.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Apr 19, 2023 9:23:40 GMT -5 acr said:

My DH was one of the few with a bad recovery. It was a combo of not taking it easy long enough (2-3 days) and bad luck. He ended up with a big ol' infected hole in his scrot that he had to pack with medicated gauze for weeks. So that was fun.

But even with that experience, he certainly wasn't incapacitated.

I didn’t want to “like” your post, but thank you!

[dcn]

He had kind of a rough procedure - the dr had trouble on one side. But he rested a day or two and was pretty much fine. He had some residual shooting pain on that one side for months though which sucked for him. He still worked and exercised etc.

[calamity]

He had it on a Friday and laid low with some peas for the weekend. Generally it's a pretty easy recovery I think.

[eddy]

He took it easy on the weekend according to doctor orders. He really wasn't in much pain, but limited movement. Made sure he wasn't lifting things etc. 

The only thing I remember being different is he couldn't mow the lawn the first week. Otherwise everything was normal. My husband never misses an opportunity to be dramatic and he barely complained lol. 

[mysteriouswife]

H was down a few days. Maybe a week max. He was ready for sex within 2 weeks

[mrsslocombe]

Day of: barely any pain, around the time we went to bed he started to feel a little achy.
Day After: his most uncomfortable day, he said it wasn't really "pain" it was more just achy/discomfort
Two Days After: still using advil regularly and icing, only felt aches when it was about time for more advil
Three Days After: no more ice or advil, basically felt normal.

He does not work out or have a physically demanding job, so it wasn't like he was prevented from doing his usual routine.

Randomly about two months after the procedure he had one day with a lot of pain, like he had been kicked in the balls. It was just one day, never happened again. No idea why.

Other than that one random day, he says recovery was basically nothing. I know that's not everyone's experience.

ETA: He had it right before the pandemic, so he didn't end up getting his sperm count until 7 months after. He was completely clear, the doctor told him he didn't need to be retested. 

[penguingrrl]

H was down for maybe 2-3 days. It was fairly simple, he said it was easier than getting his wisdom teeth out, at least for him.

However, it took a lot longer than we expected to be cleared post surgery. His doctor required two samples with no sperm at least a month apart before saying it was effective (which was good, I liked caution on this) and it took like 4 months for the all clear.

[dancingirl21]

He had it on a Friday, laid around most of the weekend icing, and went back to work on a Monday. He has an active job so took it easy the first few days back but was fine after that.

ETA: it took a good 6+ months to be given the all clear. He had to go back 2 or 3 times to give samples.

[candreco]

Yeah, DH's was like 2-3 days of soreness and just taking it easy, but he was absolutely not incapacitated.

[muffin0]

My husband drove himself home. (I was on standby) he used ice for a day or two, and he admittedly used it as an excuse to be lazy, but was able to sit in his chair for work just fine. 

Edit : he does not work a physical job, and our kids were older so they weren't asking to be picked up or anything. He wasn't about to run a marathon or do any exercise, but he was never incapacitated.

[mpc]

My DH was "down" for about 2 weeks. He didn't have any issues really... I liken it to a man cold on steroids. During those 2 weeks he did work from home, but laid on the couch the whole time and whined and gave lots of pained looks to his junk.

[DotAndBuzz]

H laid around for maybe a day and half. Day 3 we went house hunting, he was fine.

Get a couple bags of frozen peas or reusable rice bags to rotate the freezer for him.

[macmars45]

H lounged for 4 days on doctors orders. He wasn't allowed to lift more than 10 lbs or have a kid on his lap which meant I did 90% of the care for our 2.5 year old by myself during that time.

It will always grind my gears that men have an outpatient surgery and get to lounge for days while I pushed a whole human out of me and cared for him while they stitched me up before my epidural wore off.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Apr 19, 2023 9:35:58 GMT -5 eddy said:

He took it easy on the weekend according to doctor orders. He really wasn't in much pain, but limited movement. Made sure he wasn't lifting things etc. 

The only thing I remember being different is he couldn't mow the lawn the first week. Otherwise everything was normal. My husband never misses an opportunity to be dramatic and he barely complained lol. 

that’s so funny you say this, bc the lawn is BAD right now and he’s moping that he will have to mow it tomorrow before work. He said “I have to do it before, I won’t be able to do it for weeks after” which is what prompted my post

[glitzy07]

My husband has a pretty physical job, so I think he took an extra day off. But if I remember correctly he had the surgery on Thursday and was back to work on Monday. Lounged all weekend but felt pretty good by Sunday.

[eddy]

As his partner, it is important to sort of mentally plan that you will be doing some of the heavy lifting for a couple days at least. There are lifting and weight restrictions. I used the example of mowing the lawn. That was too much force to push in the first week and his doctor advised against it. Lifting kids can be off limits. I can't remember the actual weight restriction, but I do know I was doing more during that time.

It helped me to understand what he could and could not do. Then I could plan ahead.

[picksthemusic]

He had it on a Friday, then had an ice pack on his junk for a couple of days. He took ibuprofen and rested. He could still walk and do things around the house, but I let him rest for the most part. He said he was pretty sore, but the ice and ibuprofen help.

As far as getting back to business, that took a bit for him to be comfortable, almost 2 months. He did the follow up sample, and once we got the all-clear, he felt much better about things. It was a few more months before he stopped talking about ejaculation feeling weird. Not painful, but just weird.

[jinkies]

Well my H had a panic attack, the doctor declined to proceed and told him that he needed to reschedule at the hospital so that he could be sedated, and then he never rescheduled. They never even touched him and he still talks dramatically about how traumatic it was.

So... hope your H's goes better!

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Apr 19, 2023 9:56:18 GMT -5 macmars45 said:

H lounged for 4-5 days on doctors orders.

It will always grind my gears that men have an outpatient surgery and get to lounge for days while I push a whole human out of me and cared for him while they stitched me up before my epidural wore off.

There are definitely layers to my exasperation, and this is another!

[thebreakfastclub]

My H had his on a Thursday. He watched TV in bed that afternoon. The next day, he went to Lowes and puttered around the house. He did not consider it a big ordeal.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Apr 19, 2023 9:24:20 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

DH had his on a Friday and basically laid around all weekend rotating frozen peas. He went back to work on Monday.

This was my dh's experience as well, and he is a baby.  He definitely was out of commission Friday evening and all of Saturday, by Sunday was up and around a bit but was still milking it.

My bff's dh, who is much more hands-on than my dh, volunteered to watch all 5 of our kids (theirs and ours) for something the day after his and swore he was fine for something (I totally forget why, but I remember it wasn't even something major, just like she and I wanted to go somewhere and my dh was working, and she was like, oh bring your kids over, my dh will watch them, and I was like didn't he just get snipped yesterday, and she was like yeah but he said he's fine and said to bring them).

[macmars45]

FWIW, my H is happy to talk to other guys about how great the vasectomy is in terms of birth control and the actual procedure/recovery.

The only one H didn't convince to look into it is my asshole BIL. My sister got her tubes tied instead. They have 4 kids and my sister was DONE!

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Apr 19, 2023 10:00:02 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Well my H had a panic attack, the doctor declined to proceed and told him that he needed to reschedule at the hospital so that he could be sedated, and then he never rescheduled. They never even touched him and he still talks dramatically about how traumatic it was.

So... hope your H's goes better!

Mine talks about the humiliation of having to show two doctors his junk. Like. Sir. Redirect that complaint to someone who cares

[7costanza]

I only remember him lounging with ice the day of the procedure, he maybe took some advil for a couple days but was back to normal pretty quickly. I think we did have sex too quickly though because I do remember he had significant soreness after the first time.

[mae0111]

My DH was one of a few that had a terrible recovery. His DR was removed from the practice shortly after DH's surgery. He swelled to the size of a grapefruit, could not stand up due to the pain. Could not wear real pants (jeans or khakis) for like 2 weeks. He obviously couldn't go to work (this was pre-COVID). The only thing that gave him relief was getting in the pool because everything floated.

It was awful. But it was also a rare and strange complication.

[flygirl]

The incapacitated “for weeks” is killing me