Post-Vasectomy Pain Syndrome

A small number of men who get vasectomies develop chronic pain in their testicles after the procedure. Your healthcare provider may diagnose post-vasectomy pain syndrome (PVPS) if the pain lasts for three months or longer. The pain may develop immediately after the procedure or months to years later.

What is a vasectomy (male sterilization)?

A vasectomy (also called male sterilization) is a minor surgical procedure on the male reproductive system. A urologist, a medical doctor who specializes in the male reproductive tract, typically performs vasectomies.

During the outpatient procedure, your healthcare provider cuts or blocks off the two vas deferens tubes. These tubes carry sperm from each of your testicles (testes) to the ejaculatory ducts. Before a vasectomy, sperm mixes with fluid in the seminal vesicles. During orgasm, you ejaculate semen and sperm through the urethra in your penis.

After a vasectomy, sperm can’t travel through the cut or blocked vas deferens tubes. Instead, the sperm cells stay in your testicles where your body reabsorbs them. Because there’s no sperm in your semen, you can’t fertilize a woman’s egg, causing a pregnancy. You’ll still ejaculate and orgasm normally.

A vasectomy reversal (vasovasostomy) may be possible if you change your mind about wanting biological children. However, healthcare providers consider a vasectomy to be a permanent form of birth control.

How common is post-vasectomy pain syndrome?

Complications after a vasectomy are rare. Out of every 100 vasectomies, approximately one or two men develop post-vasectomy pain syndrome. Healthcare providers perform about half a million vasectomies every year. So, the incidence of post-vasectomy pain syndrome is very low.