It's different for everyone. The pain experienced varies wildly and for different durations. Some people get aspirin after and others get an opiate. Some people get laughing gas before/during and others a valium or xanax. There's also a semi rare condition where you experience pain long after the procedure.

I'm one of the unlucky ones who had years of pain afterward. I think the complication rate is underreported, by a lot. I went back and asked for help with the pain and they basically told me I was imagining it.

Also, it's not really helpful to dismiss any accounts that don't fit your narrative as "just a shit doc." Even if that's true, most laypeople can't distinguish a shit doctor from a good one. FWIW, the doc that did mine had several interns watching and learning during my procedure, so apparently he was the best they had.

I think it’s also a matter of when it was done. I had the old kind with needles and scalpels and it was pretty rough. The newer procedures have a few benefits:

• No-scalpel vasectomy: a small puncture hole is made instead of a cut. The vas deferens is located, pulled through the hole, cut, and sealed. This method usually does not require stitches because the puncture is so small.
• no-needle” vasectomy: uses a special device called a Madajet, which delivers a puff of local anesthetic through the skin using compressed air, numbing the area before the procedure begins

I would think either or both of these options would eliminate most if not all of the major discomfort/pain issues.

News flash: lots of doctors out there are shit and it’s not like you exactly know how bad they’re gonna be yanking and slicing your junk until they’re in the act. Source: had a shit doc do my vasectomy.

I don't want to discount others' stories, I'm sure at least many of them are true. Every body is different and every doctor is different. It still seems to be an all-around safer approach to birth control with less frequent side effects than the methods there are for women, at least to my understanding.

My partner is on enough meds for other things that figuring out a hormone balancing routine on top of that seemed burdensome. When I got my gallbladder removed, I told them to just add on the vasectomy while I was out already.

I was a bit concerned when I woke up, as I thought it was supposed to be relatively painless and my crotch was killing me worse than the pain from the gallbladder stuff. Once I could stand up though, I figured out the supporter they put on my had been bunched up and was cutting off circulation or pinching a nerve or something like that, so once I fixed that, it was just mild discomfort.

It's nice not having to worry about the effectiveness of other birth control methods now. I found the whole concept very liberating. I'd whole-heartedly recommend it, but like any other operation, there is going to be a non-zero chance of risk. For most people, it's a mundane thing you will rapidly forget you even did it, but like anything else, the people who take the time to post about it are going to be the ones with negative experiences, so diy research can end up being a bit disproportionate.

You're the one spreading misinformation. While yours might have gone smoothly, it's a medical procedure with real risks of complications, some of which are permanent, and not everyone has a good experience regardless the skills of their surgeon.