I had 2 days of sitting on the couch. After that I was skate skiing. The doctor was a little surprised. It was a week before I hit the saddle.
Trying to help anyone considering the procedure.
Well I am in 4 days into recovery and still experiencing some swelling⦠I have three young kids so its nearly impossible to just stay on the couch with little to no movement so Iām not sure how that is impacting my recovery. My doctor told me a solid week before resuming any physical activity including cycling and lifting weights. Personally, I feel like I can start lifting weights within a few days from now but until the swelling goes completely away, not as confident on getting back on the bike for at least another week.
In regards to those considering the procedure. Here are my thoughts post procedure.
The initial numbing and incision was way more painful than I expected⦠I think they underestimated the amount of local anesthetic that I needed, because I felt a second injection and after 5 minutes my nerves and discomfort subsided. After that initial 10 minutes, you are experiencing more of a nervous mindset since you can feel things happening in a very sensitive area but luckily not feeling any type of pain.
If I was going to do it again. I would personally go under which is definitely an option, but might cost a little more based on your insurance. I had a few friends that took that approach and said they woke up only seeing and feeling the swelling post procedure but obviously no other pain that I experienced. For what itās worth, I have spoken to others that have had a better experience with the ālocal anestheticā operation and some with a similar experience that I went through, so much of it will depend on the doctors experience and your threshold for pain. I am a cancer survivor and went through 6-months of chemo, so I am accustomed to injections and previous surgeries, but this is definitely a different type of experience. I am a total believer in the procedure and more than confident that I feel be back on the bike soon, but just trying to help anyone considering the procedure to have some more recent insight to the process.
I hope this helps⦠Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Mine was all good until 23 years laterā¦last year, always knew one side had more scar tissue/bad knot than the other but it really started to hurt, dull persistent ache and a sharp pain in my right rib area, took me a while to link the tow tbh. Went on and off for about 6 to 9 months and then it just disappeared, very odd.
This can occur years after a vasectomy. One theory is that there are some āblowoutsā that develop upstream from the vasectomy that cause a local inflammatory reaction/immune response. Itās part of the reason vasectomy reversals are less successful the further away you get from the initial procedure.
Unfortunately one of the problems is occasionally physicians donāt wait long enough for the local anesthetic to fully kick in. Itās not unusual for a busy physician to do a bunch of vasectomies back to back and therefore rush things a bit. Often waiting a few more minutes can result it a much better effect of the local anesthetic.
I had the snip on Sat 10 March ā18, and had the Monday and Tuesday off work only because the adoc told me too. Iād have been perfectly fine for work, but the doc said, and heās clever and everything⦠He also said something about not exercising for 4 weeks or so, but Iād stopped listening by thenā¦
I got back on the Turbo the following Saturday to see how it felt (perfectly fine) so took my eldest daughter for a shortish ride (4miles or so).
On Saturday 24 March, I equalled my 10m PB on the E2/10 Time Trial Course (near Newmarket, England)
Nothing to be afraid of assuming your doc is half competentā¦
@Kuttermax Thatās very interesting, I suddenly started getting a bad back when I woke up and lifting my left leg at the hip (putting on socks) was very painful. TBH this thread has made me realise how long ago this issue went away actually but it was eclipsed over last summer by excruciatingly painful pelvic (and other close by areas) floor pain so that was huge distraction.
Makes total sense⦠I should add that my doctor changed a few weeks before the surgery and I didnt want to wait until April so I went with a different surgeon with seemed to have less experience.
I donāt mean this to sound Austin Powerās like, but my doc did the procedure with laser vs the usual mechanical devices, so Iām not sure if that helps to aid the recovery time, but seemed to in my case.
One day of strong pain relieve, and 2 to 3 weeks before relatively back to normal. Plus my wife let me train more
I had an atypical but not all that rare experience.
Tube one snip went fine. Tube two the lidocaine hadnāt taken full effect yet and I went to the moon and back down when the doc went to that area. Procedure was finished but canāt say I enjoyed the process. Doc was sheepish about it and apologized.
Took about 4 weeks before I was comfortable getting back on the bike and a good 9-12 months before all was fully normal ādown thereā. Was very diligent about the post-op peas and rest but took a while to fully heal up.
Iād do it again, but just to note not everyone is riding like nothing happened two days after the snippage. Plan for a month and be happy if you require less time would be my approach.
MC
Reviving the discussion:
Procedure wasnāt any worse than a visit to the dentist IMO. A lot more anxiety, obviously, but not more discomfort due to the local.
Today is day 4 of recovery. Iāve done pretty well staying off my feet. Honestly the most discomfort I have right now is from wearing the jock strap for three days⦠but I think it really helps! Iām still taking a Tylenol every few hours, but now itās mostly the incision discomfort.
Surgery was Thursday morning, I donāt plan on anything until next Friday when I hope to spin a little on the trainer. We will see. I donāt plan on starting anything until two weeks from Monday, 17 days post op, but will probably try the bike before then indoors.
A little swelling, a little bruising, nothing abnormal yet, but Iām not going to push this thing either.
Following up, I took 8 full days off from pretty much any activity. This also included a three-day driving trip, so that was good for keeping me from trying to ride too soon. I rode Friday (surgery was Thursday the previous week), kicking things off with Taku with a supporter on under my bibs. No issues. Rode Carter on Saturday without additional support, just bibs, no real problems there either.
This morning (Sunday), I rode Baxter in resistance mode with support under bibs again. The supporter is more uncomfortable than anything else, but I figure itās good to be cautious still, particularly when I doubled the length of the session and was going to spin upwards of 120rpm for the first time.
If allās well later today and tomorrow, Iām planning Geiger for a bit more intensity in the morning. After that, Pettit +1 for an easier hour with a couple of āsprintsā. If that goes well, Iāll do my normal opener (Truuli -2) Wednesday and kick off my General Build on Thursday with the ramp test, four days earlier than I initially planned in my post above.
Itās a minor op TBH. I used frozen peas to reduce swelling on day 1, and was just cautious about movement for a couple of days. Remember this is what your pain reflex is for. If you do something that causes pain in the area of the incision, stop and do something else. That is what pain is for!
Yeah, itās minor till itās not. Have had friends do too much too soon (less than a week) who ended up with grapefruits for a couple of days. No thank you!
Sometimes the outcome has unintended side effects, ask your doctor. The percentage is super low, but it can happen, unfortunately I know. I can exercise all day long but other bodily functions are a little painful. Iāve gotten some second opinions and well Iām stuck with it.
Hi guys, I take your point but I hope you get mine. If you feel pain after an operation, any operation, stop doing whatever it is that is causing the pain and give your body time to heal. Donāt do too much too soon: thatās what causes the problems
I agree. That stance wasnāt clear from your first post; I actually thought you were dismissing it. While your point about pain is a good one, for me I felt that if I was feeling pain the damage might have already been done, and I didnāt want to risk that. So I forced myself to not do anything for more than a week. If it had gone longer than that, so be it.
Overall, weāre in violent agreement. While some will read this thread and think, āIām back on the bike in three days!ā, thereās no way Iād go that route. Even with a clean operation and no ill effects to this point, I didnāt feel ready to do much of anything physical on a bike or otherwise until a week later.
FWIW, fourth ride now 11 days post-op, Geiger. 36:00 spent at 90%ish of FTP, no issues. I think Iām pretty much good to go at this point, at least on the trainer.
Reviving this again -
Did you have no scalpel procedure or scalpel (if that is even done anymore)? The recovery range on this thread seems to be somewhere between 1 day and 6 weeks.
I have an appt in a week and am debating either rearranging my plan to have a recovery week after or punting until the fall when Iāll care less if I canāt train for a few weeks. Otherwise if I do nothing Iāll be doing a FTP test a couple days after followed by starting HV build (which seems a tad optimistic).
Mine was scalpel, single stitch each side. They removed a section of ātubingā on both sides.
I just wouldnāt risk training, personally. Youāre not going to lose much if anything in the time off. Hell, you might come back stronger or refreshed. IMO, wait till thereās zero discomfort, then wait another day and come back EASY. I rode/raced a hard metric century 16 days after without issue, but Iād been back on the bike for a week at that point.