Post-vasectomy pain syndrome is a chronic and sometimes debilitating genital pain condition that may develop immediately or several years after vasectomy. Because this condition is a syndrome, there is no single treatment method, therefore efforts focus on mitigating/relieving the individual patient's specific pain.
When pain in the epididymides is the primary symptom, post-vasectomy pain syndrome is often described as congestive epididymitis.
Symptoms
The range of PVPS pain can be mild/annoying to the less-likely extreme debilitating pain experienced by a smaller number of sufferers in this group. There is a continuum of pain severity between these two extremes. Pain is thought to be caused by any of the following, either singularly or in combination: testicular backpressure, overfull epididymides, chronic inflammation, fibrosis, sperm granulomas, and nerve entrapment. Pain can be present continuously in the form of orchialgia and/or congestive epididymitis or it can be situational, such as pain during intercourse, ejaculation or physical exertion
Information taken from Wikipedia
From a personal perspective I can agree with much of the above, especially with regard symptoms. I can also define PVPS as hell on earth. It destroys so many aspects of your life and affects so many other aspects.
When pain in the epididymides is the primary symptom, post-vasectomy pain syndrome is often described as congestive epididymitis.
Symptoms
- Persistent pain in the genitalia and/or genital area(s).
- Groin pain upon physical exertion.
- Pain when achieving an erection and/or engaging in sexual intercourse.
- Pain upon ejaculation.
The range of PVPS pain can be mild/annoying to the less-likely extreme debilitating pain experienced by a smaller number of sufferers in this group. There is a continuum of pain severity between these two extremes. Pain is thought to be caused by any of the following, either singularly or in combination: testicular backpressure, overfull epididymides, chronic inflammation, fibrosis, sperm granulomas, and nerve entrapment. Pain can be present continuously in the form of orchialgia and/or congestive epididymitis or it can be situational, such as pain during intercourse, ejaculation or physical exertion
Information taken from Wikipedia
From a personal perspective I can agree with much of the above, especially with regard symptoms. I can also define PVPS as hell on earth. It destroys so many aspects of your life and affects so many other aspects.
It can also affect up to 43% of men!
Being a sufferer PVP and having an unsuccessful operation to cure and taking more pills then I thought any healthy middle aged man could possibly have to take I can say that the pain is frustrating, but more frustrating is the medical communities indifference to this condition. After many comments by sufferers, including myself, on the NHS direct website the authors of the website finally accepted this condition but still don't give it the concern they should.
ReplyDeleteI'm just waiting for the funding request to be processed for a reversal and I fully agree that the NHS and Dr's don't give the concern they should. The surgery where the vasectomy was carried out gave false info, the Pain Management Clinic actively delayed things by 5 months and my own GP surgery has been stalling for over a 12 month with regard referral's and now actually responding to the CCG for info (2.5 months and still no response).
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced one GP is dense! He was adamant "the damage has been done and it is pointless sending you to a consultant and you must just learn to live with the pain" - 1. He had no concept of how much pain there is. 2. He didn't want to spend surgery budget on a referral.
They treat this issue so casually and as a minor concern whereas it needs serious consideration as it is a major concern...but sadly as long as the NHS and idiot Dr's trot out the old line and mantra of there is no risk itis a safe operation people like you and me will end up with Post Vasectomy Pain syndrome. We'll then face more surgery and more drugs than I thought possible!
Last months prescription (as are most months) would have come to £60+ that's for 3 different strengths of Zomorph, Oramorph, Lanzoprazol & Citalopram & anti emetics...that much morphine should give a clue as to how high the pain can be.
I'm actually quite worried at the minuet as pain is picking up again after a 2-3 week period of being low, this is usually the pre cursor of a rapid onset of pain
I also questioned patient.co.uk on the information they provide for possible complications including persistent pain. They agreed to update their website based on the information provided by the NHS and BAUS on both their patient and professional reference vasectomy pages. I thought this was important especially some Drs, including mine, often refer patients to www.patient.co.uk for information. The medical community needs to give men the full details to allow us to make an informed choice rather to be mislead like myself. It should be pointed out that most, between 70%-90%, are completely pain free, however a smaller but significant are not.
ReplyDeleteI suffered bilateral pain. Bilateral epididymectomy cured one side but left me with a hydrocele that prevents cycling and getting cold, but did not cure the other. I am on pain management pills with very limited success. Ultimately, I still have problems on both balls.
I wonder if we have grounds for litigation?
Anyway, keep up the good work in promoting your case and making PVP or PVPS or CTP (or any other acronym for persistent pain in balls after vasectomy) more widely known.
YouHaveBeenWarned
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