Can Men Get Epididymitis From Vasectomy?

Compared with female tubal ligation, male vasectomy has a shallower incision and is a simple, minimally invasive, safe, and effective sterilization measure. According to "World Vasectomy Day", a global non-profit organization that focuses on male reproductive health, vasectomy is one of the most reliable birth control methods by separating the vas deferens that transports sperm and blocking sperm transmission. The operation is theoretically reversible. That is, it is possible to reopen the channel. But the cost is high.
 

However, vasectomy may lead to complications, such as bleeding, infection, painful nodules, epididymal stasis, sexual dysfunction, and even impaired reproduction. Among them, epididymal stasis may occur for a specific reason. The testis constantly produces new sperm that can only stay in the testis and epididymis, gradually die, decompose, and disappear after being absorbed. But if the sperm produced cannot be discharged through the vas deferens, it will cause symptoms of obstruction of the epididymis, resulting in epididymitis.

 

Patients with epididymitis as a result of vasectomy will experience the following symptoms.

 

1. When the patient suffers from epididymitis, the testis is chronically swollen, hard in texture, and smooth in surface, with mildly tender epididymitis symptoms, loss of normal sensitivity, and some testicles gradually shrinking, and the epididymis is relatively enlarged.

 

2. Patients with epididymitis will have scrotal pain symptoms. Pain in the scrotum often occurs suddenly and can radiate along the spermatic cord to the groin and lumbosacral region. The pain is usually severe; the tenderness is evident, and the swelling progresses rapidly. It can double the volume of the epididymis within 3 to 4 hours. The body temperature can be up to about 40 ℃. There may be secretions in the urethra, accompanied by cystitis and cloudy urine.

 

3. There is pressed tenderness in the groin area, as the scrotum is enlarged, and the local skin is red and swollen, including the formation of an abscess, dry and thin skin which is easy to fall off. Abscesses can also rupture on their own. As the boundary between the swollen and stiff epididymis and testis is evident at first, the testis and epididymis become a hard mass after a few hours. The spermatic cord thickens due to edema, and secondary testicular hydrocele occurs a few days later. There may be secretions in the urethra.

 

4. The symptoms of epididymitis are diverse. There may be a pain in the scrotum, a feeling of bulging. The pain may radiate to the lower abdomen and the inner thigh of the same side. It can be judged whether the epididymis is slightly enlarged, hardened, and has tubercle, local tenderness, and enlarged ureter at the same side during the examination.

 

For the treatment of epididymitis, it is feasible to use topical physiotherapy, antibiotic iontophoresis, and spermatic cord closure therapy. As for the drug treatment, the patient should choose to use erythromycin, doxycycline, lincomycin, and other antibiotics that are easy to diffuse into the male reproductive tract.

 

However, antibiotics alone are ineffective in treating epididymitis because of the pathological changes after the acute phase of epididymitis, local fibrosis of the epididymis, and scarring, which often hinder the entry of antibiotics into epididymal tissue. If the patients use oral herbal medicines to treat epididymitis, the effect will be better.

 

Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill produced by Wuhan Dr. Lee's TCM Clinic with 30 years of medical knowledge and clinical practice can effectively cure epididymitis. If the patient takes this prescription orally, it can eliminate the inflammation of the epididymis, restore the standard shape and function of the epididymis, adjust the body comprehensively, replenish the body's energy, treat both the symptoms and the root, and make the body reach the best state.

 

Epididymitis is divided into acute epididymitis and chronic epididymitis. Even chronic epididymitis has acute symptoms. After the symptoms disappear in the acute phase, the drug should be used for four to five days, and the chronic phase should continue for two to four weeks to consolidate the curative effect.

 

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