6 Things We Want You to Know About a Vasectomy

You’re happy with your family life as it stands and you want to take future family building off the table. If you’re considering backing this decision up with a vasectomy, know that you're in good company. Each year in the United States, about half a million men undergo a vasectomy.

At Midwest Regional Health Services, our skilled team of men’s health experts offer vasectomy services. Based on our considerable experience with this relatively easy sterilization procedure, here’s what we want you to plug into your decision-making.

1. Vasectomy: An easy, outpatient procedure 

The first thing we want you to know is that a vasectomy is a straightforward procedure that we can perform in mere minutes, right here in our offices. When you come in, we administer a local anesthetic for your comfort and then we only make a very small access point in your scrotum.

From there, we isolate your vas deferens, the tiny tubes that deliver sperm into your semen, and we either clip or sever the tubes to prevent sperm from mixing in with your ejaculate.

Once we finish, you’re free to go home, where you can take it easy for a day or two as you recover.

2. A vasectomy doesn’t change sexual function

When we perform a vasectomy, the only thing we’re doing is preventing sperm from mixing in with your semen. Everything else should function the same so there are no changes in your sexual performance.

3. Vasectomy does a great job preventing pregnancy

One of the reasons why vasectomies are so popular is because they're very good at what they do: preventing pregnancy. A vasectomy boasts an impressive 99.9% protection rating against pregnancy, making it one of the most effective forms of birth control.

4. A vasectomy doesn’t deliver immediate results

When we sever your vas deferens, sperm can still linger on the active side of the new blockage, which means you can still ejaculate sperm for a little bit after your vasectomy.

So, immediately after your vasectomy, you’ll need to use a backup form of birth control until we don’t detect any more sperm in your ejaculate. This typically takes about 8-16 weeks, during which you should endeavor to ejaculate at least 20 times to clear your system of sperm.

And please wait for us to give you the all-clear before you rely solely on your vasectomy for birth control.

5. A vasectomy doesn’t protect against sexually transmitted infections

Please know that a vasectomy protects against unplanned pregnancy and not sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Only abstinence and condoms work in this regard.

6. A vasectomy can be reversed, but it’s not simple

It’s important that you’re sure that your family building days are done before you opt for this approach to birth control. While a vasectomy can be reversed, the procedure is far more complex than the original sterilization — it’s a proper surgery —  and there are no guarantees it will be successful.

We hope we’ve answered some key questions about the vasectomy and we’re here if you have any more. If you’d like to sit down with one of our men’s health specialists to determine whether a vasectomy is right for you, we invite you to contact us at 402-745-1145 to schedule an appointment at our offices in Omaha or Gretna, Nebraska, today.