Vasectomy Aftercare and Follow-Up

On the day of the procedure, plan as quiet a day and evening as possible. No, you are not going to watch your child’s basketball game, unless they are so good that they play on TV. If you have in-laws who can take kids for the weekend, great. If you have a partner who will pamper you, that is even better.

• Take Ibuprofen by mouth, with some food, and/or acetaminophen as directed, for the first 24 hours, and then as needed.
• Place an ice pack or frozen peas on top of the scrotum on the first day and evening, and then as needed for the first 24-48 hours. You will hear all sorts of arbitrary formulas of how much time on, and how much time off. Mike’s suggestion is to have the ice pack on as much of the time as you can without giving yourself frostbite.
• Elevate the scrotum from underneath with a towel or pillow. This is to encourage inflammatory fluid to travel back towards your abdomen, rather than to the bottom of the scrotal sac.
• Expect some bloody fluid to seep out from the skin entrance and simply apply a fresh gauze if needed.
• You may take a shower the day after the procedure. I suggest that you wait on a bath or hot tub.
• You may be up and around your home the day after the procedure. It is not a good day for gardening or doing household repairs. It is a good day to binge-watch a series you have heard about.

• Increase your activity as tolerated to normal, but non-strenuous, activities. This means you can plan to go to an office and/or drive a car, but you should avoid riding a bicycle, stacking wood, or engaging in sexual activity.
• Whatever activity you are doing, if you begin to ache, stop that activity. This is the opposite of, “No Pain, No Gain.”
• Bath or Hot Tub now fine.

• Gradually increase to more strenuous activities as long as you do not feel any pain. If you begin to feel pain then you are just not yet ready for that activity.
• Somewhere between two and four weeks you likely will be comfortable having an ejaculation.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT SAFE FROM MAKING A BABY UNTIL WE HAVE PROVEN THIS WITH A SEMEN SAMPLE.

After at least 3 months, AND, at least 15 ejaculations, please produce a semen sample in the privacy of your home and follow the mailing directions provided by PVSA. The cost of this test is included in the fee you paid at the time of the vasectomy. If it shows no sperm then you are all set. If any sperm are seen at three months, then the risk of fathering a child is very low, but not yet zero. If this is the result you get, please check-in with our office, and we can help figure out the next steps and when to repeat a sample.