Thursday, June 07, 2007

The no needle vasectomy


The vasectomy is probably the safest and easiest form of permanent sterilization, yet many men are fearful of the procedure. Understandably. While most men simply fear the pain that the think they'll have during the procedure, some fear the needle itself the most. Needle-phobia, also called trypanophobia, is a real condition in which people have irrational, strong fears fears of needles and injections. It affects 10% of the general population. For people who have this phobia, having an injection in the scrotum is too much to bear and can be the deciding factor over whether they have a vasectomy or not.

For these people, I use a technique known as the no-needle vasectomy. The lidocaine, which is the numbing agent, is placed into a glass chamber in a special jet injector. I then place the blunt end of the jet injector against the sterilized skin and press a button. The injector then shoots 0.1cc of lidocaine into the area and instantaneously numbs the area. All that the men feel is a little flash discomfort, then nothing else.
I have now done many no needle vasectomies and have found it to be an easy and effective technique that can assuage the fears of the needle-phobic man.