A Sept. 27 Health article incorrectly said that recanalization involves the return of sterility after a vasectomy. Recanalization involves the accidental return of fertility after the procedure.
| Page 2 of 5 < > |
Snip and Tuck
Vasectomy illustration
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"Well, you know Mark, he had his thing snipped and Kathy ended up giving birth to twins!"
"Bart got whacked and lost his sex drive. And he was single! Talk about a waste of money!"
"Louie, he got snipped at 10 in the morning and he drove home in time for lunch!"
"Our friend went back to have his semen tested six weeks later like the doctor said and he had paint chips in this specimen!"
True, every one of these tales, and all of them with good explanations (including the last one).
The Cut That Refreshes
Throughout the ages, vasectomies have been performed, along with castrations, as punishment.
But in 1918 Eugen Steinach got the idea that "senile" rats, cats and dogs in his labs were "rejuvenated" by the sterilization procedure. Of course, humans were quickly drawn to this idea. Prominent men including (we're not making this up) Sigmund Freud and William Butler Yeats had their sperm exits blocked in hopes it would produce youthful energy.
"Of course, it didn't," said Arnold Belker, clinical professor in the division of urology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and the American Urological Association's go-to guy on vasectomies. While rejuvenation claims were snake oil, the procedure was deemed a safe and effective form of voluntary sterilization. Vasectomies became popular as a form of birth control in the mid-20th century, Belker said. Fears that it causes cancer have been disproved.
But, I wondered, just how many guys do this?
"The figure commonly bandied about is a half-million" per year in the United States, Belker said. "But it's almost impossible to get a real handle on it because so many are done in the office" rather than hospitals or clinics. "It's hard to track them." Besides urologists, family doctors and others in the medical profession can do the deed.
"You can train a monkey to do a vasectomy," said Belker. "It's pretty straightforward. It's minor surgery -- except from the patient's view."
Let's Talk
Any vasectomy is preceded days or weeks earlier by a conference with the doctor who will do the operation. During our initial meeting my surgeon, Daniel Laurent, asked about my background and family and made sure the reasons for getting sterilized were legit.
