I didn’t choose vasectomies. Vasectomies chose me.
“Years ago, I got really good at vasectomies. Word got out that I was a doctor who could do a painless vasectomy, and the more procedures I did, the more patients came to me.”
I get asked why vasectomies are all I do. The answer is that I did not set out to create a vasectomy-only practice. Years and years ago, I became very good at performing vasectomies. Word spread that I could make the procedure comfortable, patients referred their friends, and those friends referred more friends. It became a positive feedback loop. Eventually, vasectomies filled my schedule, so I decided to make them my priority.
Another question I hear is, “Why doesn’t every doctor perform vasectomies this way?” I believe the answer goes back to my own vasectomy.
When I finished urology residency, I knew how to perform a vasectomy, but I was not yet truly good at it. It takes practice. I tried to make the procedure as painless as possible, but it always seemed to hurt a little. Because I was trying my best, I assumed that was simply how vasectomies were going to be.
Then I had my own vasectomy. I asked one of my partners in Fort Worth to perform it. He was an older, talented surgeon whom I respected, and he was the person who taught me how to perform a no-clip vasectomy.
I will never forget the experience. The first side hurt. It only lasted several seconds, but it was painful enough that I said, “Ouch.” I thought to myself, “Well, vasectomies hurt a little.”
Then he performed the other side—and I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
At that moment, while I was still lying on the table, I thought two things: first, he should have numbed the first side better; and second, I needed to get better at vasectomies. If one side could be completely painless, both sides could be.
I spent the next several years studying and refining my technique. Eventually, I reached the point where the only thing patients felt was the numbing injection. I could not eliminate the sensation of the needle itself.
Then I found the needle-free injector. Instead of a conventional injection needle, patients feel only a quick snap—if they feel anything at all. Because I had already spent years refining the rest of the procedure, needle-free anesthesia was the last piece I needed.
That experience is why my technique developed the way it did and why vasectomy became the focus of my practice. Other physicians may reasonably use different methods, but this is the approach I would want used on me, so it is the approach I use for my patients.
“It’s funny how things work out. I ended up specializing in vasectomies because my old partner hurt me on one side and didn’t hurt me on the other.”
