cannoli

Just had mine done this afternoon. Doc didn't talk much about what he
was doing, but rather made smalltalk (I would've preferred to hear the
play-by-play, but that just wasn't his style, so I didn't push it).

Incisions were made with a scalpel, but then the no-scalpel technique
was used for the actual procedure. Titanium clips were used on the vas.
Couple of stitches on each side to close up the scrotum incisions.

Doc did the right-side one first, which didn't hurt much. The
anesthesia needle didn't hurt much going in the skin, but hurt like the
****ens as he moved the needle deeper to wherever the novocaine needed
to go. The procedure for this side wasn't painful, and I couldn't even
feel the couple stitches at the end.

When he did the left-side ("Mr. Higherthan"), anesthesia was the same
as the right side (unpleasant). This time he made the incision right up
at the base of the penis, in the middle rather than toward the left
(?). During the procedure, he needed to push my testicle fairly hard
(it felt that way to me anyhow) upward, and it hurt bad. He even gave
me more novocaine to help. I was getting quite tensed up in those
stirrups....

Have other folks experienced this "testicle pushing" pain? It felt like
he was jamming that thing all the way up into my stomach! I actually
caught myself accidentally getting vocally loud it hurt so much ("ouch
doc, yow, it hurts!").

Anyhow, I believe the doc is a complete pro, and I feel fine now. Just
curious if others got the pushing sensation like that. Why do they push
it up anyway? Is it to keep the lower snipped end of the vas from
slipping back into the scrotum while they're working?

david

Many doctors feel that cutting the vas deferens high up leads to less
complications due to back pressure, and sometimes they have to tug the
spermatic cord around a bit to get the vas deferens where they want to do
this.

This tugging can be uncomfortable, and on occasions a "Referral pain" can
happen where you get a sharp feeling that you've been booted in the kidneys.
This happened to me on one side, but I can't remember which side now. I had
my vas 8 years ago.

As far as I understand it, as the foetus develops, the testicles and
kidneys form in one blob and separate to move to where they will eventually
be, but are still connected by a neural pathway. When you get kicked in the
nuts you get a sharp pain in the abdomen as well as in the nuts, and this is
because the pain is felt in the kidneys as well, thanks to the direct neural
connection between the two. I understand there are quite a few referral pain
spots in the body, but this is the only one that is relevant here.

So what you may have had is a referral pain. It's momentary, but boy is it
unpleasant! However I'm not sure that pushing would cause this, or why he
needed to push them either. It may have been caused by the general tugging
around that happens during the procedure.

Take it easy, plenty of ice, rest and wear the jockstrap.

--
David
http://www.vasectomy-information.com
http://www.vasectomy-faq.org
http://vasectomy-news.blogspot.com

cannoli

Ahh... interesting. I see what you mean about the "referral pain".
Whatever
the doc was doing down there, when it hurt I reflexively pushed down on
my
groin area (above where he was working). Didn't realize that was
probably
near where my kidneys are. It also makes sense because, even though he
gave me the local anesthetic for my scrotum, that still wouldn't block
any
referral pain coming from the kidneys.

After the procedure, I felt that I'd asked him so many questions
already, I
didn't want to bother him with more. But I'll find out a few more
details and
post here again. Maybe he wasn't "pushing" after all, but it only felt
that way
to me...

cannoli

Ok, talked to the doctor (to satisfy my curiosity). He said he dealt
with lefty the same as he did righty. My initial guess about him
pushing on it was incorrect -- he didn't do any substantial
pulling/tugging/pushing. He pretty much said that some guys just happen
to have more discomfort (or possibly a stronger network for referral
nerves) than others, and I was one of 'em.

Ah... you know what? I think that it was just his bedside manner that
made me think he was pushing on it. During the procedure, I said
something like, "doc, you're pushing so hard on it it hurts", and
probably just to calm my nerves, he replied something innocuous like,
"ok, I'm not going to push so hard".

Regarding the location of the incision for lefty, he just went in
wherever he most easily found the vas. Mine just happened to skirt
toward the center, so that's where he got it.

Interesting comments about referral pain. I too experience
significantly more discomfort during one side (left) then the other.
The pain not so acute where he was slicing and dicing, but more
specifically in the lower abdomen. I assume it was from him moving
things around and slight pulling on the vas. Thanks for sharing!