Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Long term pain and side effects after the old snip

Had it done in 1976. Walked into surgeon's office on a Friday, sat up on the exam table, read the diplomas on the wall while waiting, one was a certificate presented by The 38th Parallel Army Medical Association for service during the Korean Conflict (if my memory is correct). Well, you know what what through my mind.

Doc came in and we discussed the procedure, then I was escorted to the table where the deed would be done. Doc gloved up and grabbed my right testicle. He pulled down on it. Then switched to the left one. He asked why my right testicle was so tight, he couldn't get it to drop much. I related the hernia and hydrocele repair where they used a nylon mesh reinforcement. Doc yanked on it again, then said he might want to send me to the hospital and do it under general anesthesia. I mentioned that I had reacted poorly to general anesthesia during my last three surgeries. Okay he says, "I'll try it here, but if I have trouble I'll send you to the hospital".

So he gets out the syringe, a big one with a long needle, and fills it with lidocaine. Now I had worked at a horse breeding farm, and I knew exactly where he was going to inject that stuff, right in the scrotum and cords, but hopefully I'd not be a gelding when it was over. The lidocaine burned for a second, then everything went numb, just like the dentist's office, or when they sutured the tendon together in my hand. He pulled on the right one again, gave another dose of lidocaine up a bit higher, then pulled really hard on it, made an incision in the scrotum, probed around for the vas diferens, and tied it off before snipping. He repeated the process on the other side, closed up the incisions with a couple of stitches, and made a grave warning.

"I had to pull pretty hard on that right one", He said.

I had noticed when I felt myself sliding down on the paper table cover.

"So it's likely to be sore. Go home, lie down or sit back in a recliner, and put an icepack under the scrotum for ten to fifteen minutes, then remove it for 20 minutes, and repeat for two days. Do not stand or do any walking around for two or three days. Make an appointment to come back in two weeks to have the sutures removed."

I followed his instructions exactly, no pain, very little swelling and bruising. Everything went swimmingly. I was back at work on Monday. Then I returned to have the stitches out. He came in the exam room, swabbed my scrotum with alcohol clipped the sutures and pulled them out - and pulled the alcohol through the raw holes! GREAT BALLS OF FIRE - that lit me up! Other than that, it was a good experience.

My coworker later went to Kaiser and had it done based on my good experience. But he didn't listen to doctor, even had sex within the first two days, said he wanted to, "Try it out". His turned blue, developed a cyst next to his anus that had to be opened up, scooped out, drained and packed with gauze, and they put him on antibiotics for a couple of weeks. Worse, he had to have the packing removed. He said that Kaiser wanted him to get his $1 copay worth. Rule #1: Always follow medical advise when it comes to your testicles, they can really become angry if abused.