DIET:You may return to your normal diet as soon as you arrive home.
ACTIVITY:
We recommend that you should take it easy for the first 24-48 hours. You can resume desk job immediately and can walk around but you should avoid any lifting or straining. After the first 48 hours, you can resume most of the routine activities except heavy lifting or sexual activity (ejaculation or intercourse). Any lifting that causes pain in the scrotum is deemed heavy. This may cause pain and reset your recovery clock. Such activities should be avoided till you are pain free. Most typically, the pain or soreness resolves in a week. You should plan to wear athletic support or a jockstrap without cup for a week or till you are pain free. This will keep the scrotum immobilized to some degree and keep the swelling down. Ice packs are not necessary for our minimally invasive procedure.
WOUND:
The puncture wound will seal in 1 or 2 days. You can shower safely after 48 hours. If there is generalized redness, especially with increasing pain or swelling, let us know. The scrotal bruising is uncommon after the no SNIP vasectomy but can happen making the skin ‘black and blue’ as blood in the tissues spread. Sometimes the whole scrotum will turn colors. The black and blue is followed by a yellow and brown color. In time, all this coloration will go away without any intervention.
HYGIENE: You may shower 48 hours after surgery. You can discard the gauze dressing after you take shower, but you should continue to wear the jock strap till you are pain free. Tub bathing should be restricted until the 7th day.
MEDICATION: We recommend that you take Aleve or Motrin for 3 days to prevent inflammation. A short course of antibiotic prescription will be sent to your pharmacy.
PROBLEMS YOU SHOULD REPORT TO US:
a. Fever or 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit. b. Moderate or severe swelling under the skin incision or involving the scrotum. c. Drug reactions such as hives, a rash, nausea or vomiting. d. Any other untoward side effects
FOLLOW-UP:
Your follow up appointment is set up approximately 3 months after the procedure. You will be given an lab order for semen test and a collection cup at the time of discharge. This should be performed about 12 weeks after the vasectomy. You should go to a lab that does the testing on site. We recommend fertility clinics for this purpose. Collection centers like Quest and others are not recommended. For your convenience, we have put together a list of recommended labs. Call lab for directions on specimen collection before bringing in the specimen. You should use PROTECTED intercourse until you have a negative semen analysis.
