Vasectomy is a surgical procedure for male sterilization.
The surgery involves cutting or sealing the tubes that carry sperm to the semen, thus preventing pregnancy.
Around 50 million men have had a vasectomy, accounting for 5% of all married men in their reproductive age.
Also, over 500,000 vasectomy procedures are performed every year in the United States.
If you underwent this procedure, you’re probably wondering whether you can ejaculate after. That’s exactly the main objective of this post.
Scroll down to learn more about ejaculation after vasectomy.
Do you still have ejaculate after a vasectomy?
Yes, you still have ejaculate after a vasectomy. The only thing that changes is that the ejaculate won’t contain sperm.
People tend to use the term “sperm” for ejaculate, i.e., the fluid that a man ejaculates upon reaching orgasm. But ejaculate isn’t just sperm.
It also contains water, plasma, mucus, and small amounts of nutrients. After a vasectomy, the ejaculate will contain everything it usually does except sperm.
Men who undergo vasectomy don’t notice any changes in their ejaculate because it will look the same. Their sexual partners also don’t notice anything.
In order to truly understand how vasectomy enables you to retain ejaculation, it’s important to address the procedure itself.
The surgery lasts 30 to 60 minutes. The urologist performs vasectomy with local anesthesia, meaning you’re not asleep during the procedure.
To perform a vasectomy, the urologist makes a small hole or two incisions on the scrotum surface. This is done to reach vas deferens tubes.
Then, the urologist cuts each tube so it’s unable to transport sperm to the urethra from the testes. The incisions are sealed with stitches.
As you can see, only the tubes that carry sperm so it can join seminal fluid are targeted. That’s why you can still ejaculate, but there will be no sperm in the fluid.
Ejaculation after vasectomy: what to expect
You will still be able to ejaculate after a vasectomy, but there are a few things to know first.
Right after vasectomy
For the first few days after the surgery, it’s normal to feel pain and discomfort in the testicles. Swelling is also present. These symptoms tend to go away within 72 hours after a vasectomy.
Make sure to contact your healthcare provider if you have a fever, unusual pain, continued bleeding, and extreme swelling.
Having sex or masturbating right after the procedure is not recommended. You will have a small wound on both testes, so it’s important to avoid irritating them. The doctor will inform you when you can resume your daily activities.
Once you start having sexual intercourse (or masturbating), you may notice first few ejaculations are relatively uncomfortable. You may also notice the presence of blood in semen. These problems should go away quickly.
Rare are the situations when discomfort persists for a few weeks or longer. When that happens, it is called post-vasectomy pain syndrome, affecting 1% to 2% of men who had this procedure.
During sexual intercourse
You won’t have to wait too long after a vasectomy to have sexual intercourse and ejaculate (see below).
During the first few months after the surgery, you will still need to wear a condom. Contrary to popular belief, vasectomy doesn’t work instantly.
Men tend to believe that once they do a vasectomy, the effects are immediate, and there is no risk of pregnancy.
However, sperm is still present in the tubes for a few weeks or months. You will need to ejaculate around 20 times or even more than that to be entirely free of sperm.
During sexual intercourse after a vasectomy, you should wear a condom, or your partner may want to use birth control. Stick to these contraceptive methods until the doctor analyzes semen.
The semen analysis is usually performed at least three months or 20 ejaculates following the procedure, whichever happens first.
The main purpose of this test is to measure how much sperm remains in semen. Therefore, if the seminal fluid is free of sperm, the doctor will let you know, and you’ll be able to have sexual intercourse without a condom if you wish.
At this point, around 20% of men will still have sperm in their ejaculate. That’s why some doctors recommend getting semen analysis six to 12 months after the procedure.
While vasectomy prevents pregnancy, it does nothing to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The only contraception method that prevents these infections is a condom. Abstinence is also an option.
In order to prevent STIs, you will need to wear a condom. This is particularly important if you are not in a monogamous relationship and have sexual intercourse with multiple partners.
Masturbation
Once swelling and discomfort go away, you will be able to masturbate. Doing so earlier, even if you don’t ejaculate, could be risky and uncomfortable. The best thing to do is wait for full recovery before masturbating.
Unlike with sexual intercourse, you don’t need to take special precautions when masturbating. There is no risk of STIs or pregnancy with masturbation, of course, which is why you don’t need a condom.
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How long should you wait before ejaculating after a vasectomy?
After the procedure, your doctor will give you instructions on what to do or avoid for the time being. That also includes how long to wait before ejaculating.
Ideally, patients should refrain from sexual intercourse and ejaculation for seven days after vasectomy. That also includes masturbation, of course. Sometimes, it may take longer than that; it depends on your recovery.
It’s useful to mention that you can resume everyday activities within 48 to 72 hours after the surgery.
Strive to avoid strenuous activities after that point to be on the safe side. Consult your doctor regarding vigorous activities, and they will let you know whether you can resume or not.
What happens if you ejaculate too soon after a vasectomy?
As mentioned above, you should wait about a week or a bit longer before ejaculating after vasectomy.
Why?
The reason is simple; ejaculating sooner than that could reopen the incisions and increase the risk of infection. After the vasectomy, you will have two incisions. Some men may have stitches in the scrotum.
So, if you ejaculate too soon after vasectomy, you are at a higher risk of pain and bacteria entering the stitches. This could lead to unnecessary and preventable complications.
Ejaculating too soon, in rare cases, could lead to a condition called sperm granuloma. Sperm granuloma happens when a lump of sperm develops bumps or cysts along the vas deferens tubes or epididymis. Even though it is not a serious condition, sperm granuloma could be painful and require surgical removal.
Other potential problems of ejaculating too soon (through masturbation or sexual intercourse) after vasectomy include bruising or soreness around the scrotum, permanent tissue damage, the buildup of scar tissue, blood clots in the scrotum, and blood in semen.
What does it feel like to ejaculate after vasectomy?
It feels the same. Many men worry about this and assume something will change with their ejaculation. They are concerned it may feel weird or unusual.
However, vasectomy doesn’t affect your sexual function and pleasure. You will feel the same way you always do.
The sensation of ejaculation as you’re achieving orgasm isn’t any different from the sensation you had before the procedure.
What happens to sperm after a vasectomy?
A common misconception is that the production of sperm after vasectomy stops entirely. The truth is your testes will still produce sperm the same way they did before. The purpose of vasectomy isn’t to block sperm production, but to its outcomes.
Sperm is produced in the testicles within seminiferous tubes, a network of tiny tubes. Not only do seminiferous tubes produce sperm, but they also help move it along. Testosterone-producing cells surround the tubes and stimulate the development of sperm.
Before the sperm passes into the vas deferens, it travels through a duct that adds proteins, which improve its performance. Under normal circumstances, sperm would go from the vas deferens into the urethra.
However, since vasectomy seals the vas deferens tubes, the sperm can’t pass into the urethra and reach the semen. As a result, the lining of the epididymis absorbs most of the sperm.
The epididymis is a tightly coiled tube attached to each testicle; it stores sperm and transports it. In other words, the body reabsorbs or dissolves your sperm.
Generally speaking, seminal fluid contains a very low amount of sperm. That’s why neither you nor your partner will notice any difference in ejaculation after vasectomy.
Conclusion
Vasectomy is a procedure to prevent pregnancy. Although it is one of the most commonly performed procedures, vasectomy is poorly understood. There are many vasectomy misconceptions that people firmly believe.
For example, people believe they won’t be able to ejaculate after vasectomy. A vasectomy doesn’t stop ejaculation.
You can still ejaculate, but the fluid won’t contain sperm. That is the only difference. Vasectomy doesn’t affect your sex drive or sexual function and satisfaction.
Keep in mind you should still wear a condom to prevent pregnancy for about three months (or longer) after the procedure until sperm clears out.
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