post vasectomy biking

[borgbike]

Ahem, cough, cough. Anyone have any thoughts to share here? I spoke with the prep nurse and the urologist just before the operation and didn't get too much other than, "Don't bike for a good long while and use your common sense." I appreciate the common sense part but also know that I don't have a good enough understanding of my internal plumbing to use common sense. For example, I don't get why some areas are currently bruised (from the op not from any biking) and some areas aren't. I don't think the Doctor biked or had ever been asked the question before.

I did have an internet chat yesterday, while I lay supine in pain recovering, about a mutual friend in Chicago who biked home from his procedure. He ended up with black and blue grapefruit sized testicles. Yikes! I knew enough not to make that mistake.

I did some cursory internet searches. Probably should do some more, but why not keep it real, and local, and ask here.

Thanks!

p.s., My wife is still not buying my griping about the pain.

[roberte]

I think I was off the bike 'til a bit after the stitches were gone. You want the incisions to heal completely.

And monitor closely for any signs of infection. That's no fun at all.

[poser]

The doctor actually gave pretty sound advice. I had this procedure earlier this year, about a week before a good friend did (and a year after my riding partner). We all had different experiences - so common sense plays a big role.

For all of us though - the first 3 days are critical. Don't do anything! Just hang out in bed. Watch a blazers game. Catch up on your reading list. (I did my cross training schedule for the year). Every guy I know who breaks this rule suffers the consequences.

I didn't get on a bike for 2 weeks. Then I tried a 3 mile ride. I ached pretty bad for a day after that, so I took another week off, then slowly worked back into my commuting/training schedule. My good friend who had the procedure a week after mine was jogging a week later, and riding without too much discomfort a week after that (although he had complications with his stitches that might have been a result of that activity).

My riding partner broke the "don't do sh*t for 3 days" rule (raked his lawn on day 2) and was laid up for 2 weeks as a result. Didn't end up riding his bike for a month.

You're not going to get much sympathy from your wife about the pain (although I totally agree - the pain sucks, and it just never seems to go away. Mine lasted for over 3 weeks) especially if she's ever given birth, so suck it up. The only thing you should be concerned about is whether she'll support you during the critical 3 days of inactivity. If you get that much, you should be happy.

good luck!

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[borgbike]

Thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate the solid anecdotal stories of what to and what not to do here! I'm pretty much the first in my crowd to get this done so I haven't had much feedback. People are asking me what it's like.

I went to work on the third day and now think that was a mistake. I developed some pretty nasty bruising on the fourth day. So I could have used Poser's do-nothing-for-three-days advice. I did NOT get that info from what the Urologist sent me and why did I get scheduled on a Tuesday?

I'm going to keep an eye on the cut on my (ahem) "sack" and use that as a guide for how things are hopefully healing on the inside. The internal stitches are supposed to dissolve in a week, so waiting three weeks seems like a good reasonable benchmark. I'll do some test rides and listen to the seat of my pants.

Here's to a less populated world!

Cheers,
Dave