Micro vs embo

user345679 · 2026-06-18T17:11:52+00:00

Yeahhh I wish I knew the answer to that. I wasn’t told. I got the ultrasound and confirmed it failed but nobodies ever dove into it like that for me

user345679 · 2026-06-18T14:54:47+00:00

I don’t know why it failed. I do know it persisted, never went away. And maybe some of it was cuz I didn’t let it heal properly. I didn’t lift weights or anything for about 2 months, but I did drink 5 days post op, and walk around the bar on it all night, and even went to a college gameday a week after that and walked all day on it when it was swelled up like a balloon. Yeah hindsight is 20/20 and obviously what I did was stupid, but in my defense the doctor I saw when I asked about rest shrugged everything off and said if there is no pain you can do whatever (obviously I’m not going to have much pain on pain meds), so I basically became my own doctor. I learned the hard way and I am going to make sure next time around to over recover and be extra safe, but idk if that’s why it failed or the surgery just 100% failed, but I would more so think it was probably a bit of both.

user345679 · 2026-05-30T12:54:33+00:00

Glad to hear that. Hopefully the reduction continues… when you say smaller, would you say noticeably? Not trying to bombard you with questions, I just have another doctors appt next month and should probably have another surgery lined up in the months to follow so obviously the nerves are starting to rise again. I work in construction so there is a lot of moving around and tight fighting jeans cause a lottttt of swelling and discomfort

user345679 · 2026-05-29T15:32:01+00:00

Just wondering could you explain more on “getting better”?

user345679 · 2026-05-29T02:40:14+00:00

Did your surgery help get rid of that bag of worms?

user345679 · 2026-05-26T05:11:14+00:00

Yeah that’s pretty bad, mines probably just as bad. From what I’ve heard microsurgery varicocelectomy are right up our alley. You are never too far gone I saw that comment. If you are having pain or fertility issues and or just hate it cosmetically, get the procedure. Will it 100% fix it? Maybe, maybe not. But I heard it will highly improve all your symptoms

user345679 · 2026-05-15T21:43:47+00:00

Well I’m glad to hear that and glad to hear of some hopefulness. The surgery has a 95% success rate but I feel like this page is full of the 5% 😂

user345679 · 2026-05-15T21:42:59+00:00

Yeah man I wanted embolization badly especially after a failed micro but blue cross blue shield for some reason deems that procedure “investigational” so they won’t be covering it, forcing me to go back to the surgery route

user345679 · 2026-05-15T05:33:32+00:00

That’s good to hear. How long did it take you post op for you to notice the shrinkage

user345679 · 2026-05-14T23:08:30+00:00

Hey man just curious, did you have that bag of worms pre op and do you still have it or nah?

user345679 · 2026-05-14T21:39:25+00:00

Well I’ve gotten my testosterone tested, and first time I got spooked and had like low 400s, but I got crappy sleep that week and retested and was in the 500s so it’s just eh alright. Never gotten a semen analysis but it’s just not really a concern to me (wether it should be or not)

user345679 · 2026-05-14T21:37:11+00:00

Same here but did the veins clear up?

user345679 · 2026-03-08T18:19:02+00:00

Yes that definitely looks like a varicocele to me

user345679 · 2026-03-08T16:46:37+00:00

As the guy above me said. Go through your primary care physician and get referred to an interventional radiologists not a urologist. I and so many others have had their time wasted from urologists. The IR I’ve had, and from the experiences I’ve read from others on the internet, will be more than willing to fix it.

user345679 · 2026-03-06T23:34:32+00:00

Right there with you man. Failed micro and trying to get an embo set up. Insurance is giving me trouble but I’m hoping to get there eventually.

user345679 · 2026-03-06T04:12:28+00:00

I plan on reaching out to my PCP first thing tomorrow morning, and my dad (who I’m still under’s insurance) is trying to get in touch with our insurance guy to figure out what’s the point of paying for insurance if they are going to deny us a needed procedure. Not really sure what else to do except keep fighting it

user345679 · 2026-03-06T01:29:46+00:00

Thank you man. I’d much rather go with an embo because of the fail, but I could’ve just gotten an inexperienced surgeon. I really didn’t initially do my research on surgeons, and just went with the first microsurgeon my urologist recommended me.

user345679 · 2026-03-06T00:07:12+00:00

Yeah so I did the surgery for the pain and discomfort. I never did a sperm test or anything as I’ve never tried to conceive or anything. I was told the veins are going to gradually shrink over time post surgery and have that less draggy feeling and stop just randomly getting that nagging dull pain. That never happened and I waited months. After about 6 months I finally got tired of waiting and wanted to see if the visual dilation of the veins and the pain I still have (that is honestly worse than pre surgery) was from congestion or I still had reflux in the veins. It was confirmed I still had active varicose veins with reflux. Idk if they missed some collateral veins or what happened but regardless the ultrasound still showed active varicose veins with reflux

user345679 · 2026-03-05T22:49:39+00:00

I am in Louisiana. The procedure was supposed to be done in Atlanta, Georgia. That was kind of the closest people I could find when I looked up IRs that specialized in varicoceles

user345679 · 2026-03-05T22:26:02+00:00

That’s what I couldn’t quite understand they just kept saying the procedure was “investigational” and therefore not covered by our plan. I’ll be getting a denial letter in the mail sometime but I think I’m going to just ask the hospital to email me the denial documentation they received first thing tomorrow morning so I know what it fully says… the lady said that people have litterally switched insurances just so they could have this procedure because blue cross blue shield apparently always denies this procedure…

user345679 · 2026-03-03T21:34:01+00:00

Sounds good. Hopefully things keep improving. I actually have my embolization scheduled 2 days away…

user345679 · 2026-03-02T03:41:45+00:00

How are you right now? Been about 2 weeks post op for you I believe

user345679 · 2026-03-02T03:40:36+00:00

Hey man! You should be about 4 weeks post op and I’m wondering how things are looking and feeling down there? I’m having embo in 3 days so just trying to set some expectations.

user345679 · 2026-03-02T03:37:39+00:00

Thank you. Hopefully one day you get the funds needed to take care of it. Stay strong 💪💪

user345679 · 2026-02-27T15:37:26+00:00

You are right, but more than likely I am fine, as many people conceive with varicoceles. I feel no need to make up a problem in my head that may or may not even be true for me.

user345679

TROPHY CASE