Birth control has long been relegated to the fairer sex, but more men are taking charge of this area of their reproductive health with a vasectomy. In fact, 500,000 undergo the simple operation each year in the United States.
At our practice, urologist Dr. Robert Cornell and our team offer a wide range of men’s health services to Houston area patients, including vasectomies. As a vasectomy specialist, Dr. Cornell offers a no-scalpel procedure that provides men with superior protection against impregnating a woman.
If you’re on the fence about whether a vasectomy is right for you, here are 5 reasons why many of our patients opt for this type of birth control.
One of the primary reasons why so many men choose a vasectomy is because of its 99.8% efficacy rate. Through a vasectomy, Dr. Cornell prevents your sperm from reaching your semen by blocking your vas deferens. In other words, by preventing your sperm from even reaching a woman in the first place, your protection doesn’t rely on less-reliable methods that attempt to block your sperm once they’re already inside a woman.
Thanks to our use of the no-scalpel technique, the surgery is a minor one, and Dr. Cornell performs it right in his office using only local anesthesia. During your vasectomy, Dr Cornell makes a single surgical puncture in your scrotum, through which he’s able to block your vas deferens. This minimally invasive approach greatly reduces your surgical risks and your recovery time.
After your vasectomy, you’re free to return home, but you should take it easy for a day or two and offset any soreness with ice and over-the-counter medications.
Another great benefit of a vasectomy is that it’s a one-time procedure. Dr. Cornell performs your vasectomy in his office and then tests you at six weeks and 12 weeks to ensure that there are no sperm in your semen. During this time you should use other forms of birth control as lingering sperm in your system may still be present in your semen. Once both of your semen analyses come back negative, however, you’re in the clear.
After your vasectomy, your testes still produce sperm, but rather than making their way into your semen, your body reabsorbs them. This means that there’s no effect on your hormones, and should you choose to reverse the procedure down the road, you’re still able to produce viable sperm.
Many men opt for a vasectomy to take the onus off of their partners. The birth control options for women largely involve hormonal solutions that can create some unwanted side effects. As well, depending upon the type of birth control your partner uses, the method can be an ongoing hassle. And the procedure to block a woman’s fallopian tubes is more involved than our in-office, no-scalpel vasectomy.
If you have more questions regarding a vasectomy and whether it’s right for you, please contact us at 281-607-5300 or use our convenient online scheduling tool to request a consultation.
