Do you feel like your family is complete? Is it time to consider your family planning options?
Caring and experienced, Dr David Ward performs vasectomies under general anaesthetic at Albany Health Campus and Albany Day Hospital.
If you’re thinking about having a vasectomy, feel free to make an appointment with Dr Ward in Denmark. He can answer all of your questions before you make a decision.
A vasectomy is a minor surgical procedure that sterilises a man, preventing him from fathering children. Essentially, it is a highly effective form of contraception.
During the operation, the surgeon cuts and seals off the vas deferens tubes that carry sperm from your testicles to your penis. This stops your sperm from mixing with your semen and reaching your penis.
A vasectomy is a safe and permanent means of contraception. You may choose to have a vasectomy because:
You will not be sterile immediately. It takes about three months for sperm to be cleared and for you to be considered sterile. Following your procedure, it’s important to have your semen tested at the three-month mark to make sure there are no sperm remaining. You cannot assume that you are sterile until this test comes back clear.
A very small proportion of vasectomies fail, so it’s important to use contraception until a semen test is clear.
Physically, a vasectomy makes no difference to your sex drive or performance, other than a very small reduction in the volume of ejaculation fluid.
Testosterone and semen production also remain unaffected (apart from sperm no longer being mixed into the semen).
Many men report that their sex life actually improves because they no longer worry about contraception failure like they did with other methods.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Common side effects of a vasectomy include:
This can usually relieved with rest, ice packs, simple pain medications and supportive underwear.
More serious complications are extremely rare and can include:
