Tell me about your vasectomy!

June 14, 2022 10:00 PM

Have you had a vasectomy that involved titanium clips? Tell me about it!

I have a vasectomy scheduled in a month. I'm quite confident I want the procedure done, but I was a little surprised to learn during the consult that at least one of the cut ends of the vas will be closed with permanent titanium clips. I know the clips are very small, but are they noticeable in day-to-day life or during sex? I am (possibly irrationally) concerned about me or my partner feeling bits of metal poking me (or trying to poke out of me).

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

My anecdote involves having had thirty years of no trouble at all with mine.

They're the closest I'll ever get to owning piercing jewellery; I too harbour an intense dislike of the idea of wearing pokey bits of metal.
posted by flabdablet at 1:01 AM on June 15, 2022

I don't know anything about clips, but the scalpel and cauterization version is definitely a thing that is still done. (I did it last year.) If you're worried, you could consider talking to the doctor about switching to an alternative procedure.
posted by eotvos at 4:06 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I had a partner with that; the only way you can feel them externally is if you pinch the scrotum with more force than I feel comfortable with, exactly in the place where the two tiny clips are. I'm a woman so I can't speak to what they're like internally. The partner was never bothered by them.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:48 AM on June 15, 2022

Unless your sexual habits include seeking out & massaging the vas, they're pretty un-noticable. Even if so, it mostly just feels like a bit of a lump on a strand of undercooked pasta. Nothing poky.
posted by CrystalDave at 7:38 AM on June 15, 2022

I know the clips are very small, but are they noticeable in day-to-day life or during sex?

My partner had a vasectomy, with the clips over a decade ago. I can feel them if I poke and prod and look for them but otherwise can't feel them and do not notice them. My partner has never mentioned them once he healed up.
posted by jessamyn at 8:18 AM on June 15, 2022

I had the cut/cauterization method done but my doc added clips as a backup to prevent a spontaneous reconnect from completing the path.

It's been over a decade now, don't even know they're there.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:29 AM on June 15, 2022

From an anonymous member:

I had this type of vasectomy almost four years ago. For the first few months, I could feel by touch (if I really squeezed) the presence of the titanium clips. But what I was mostly feeling was the swelling of a little sphere of tissue *around* each clip.

After a few months, that disappeared. At this point, I can't actually localize the clips by touch if I try. They are *extremely* small, much smaller than the natural structures inside the scrotum. I'm no longer aware of the clips, and your partner will definitely not feel anything poking them at any point.

I was very happy with my decision to get this type of vasectomy. It's one of the best decisions I ever made, and if anything I wish I had gotten it sooner. No regrets.

posted by taz at 1:38 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Pushing 20 years. Excision, cauterization, and clips. My urologist was a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. Indistinguishable in every possible way. The only time I even remember it happened at all is when I read something like this.
posted by majick at 8:29 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Mod note: From the OP:

Thank you all for your responses! They have been extremely helpful, and I feel much more comfortable with the procedure than I did before.

posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 2:52 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]