Is surgery necessary in treating varicocele?

It’s a really clever question to ask: Is surgery necessary in treating varicocele?

I think it’s even more clever to ask: which is better “surgery or embolization”?

I think it’s clever, but, not because you’re asking them. Most people ask these questions, not because they are clever things to ask, but because of clever marketing behind both varicocelectomy (surgery), and embolization (radiology).

The marketing behind varicocelectomy says you suffer from “faulty valves”. Go ahead and read the answers here, there is at least one mention of it. But, the fact is that correlation is not a causation, and less than half of men with varicoceles even have faulty valves. But, even the term “faulty valve” itself is misleading, it implies a genetic disorder. But, in my opinion it’s just a very misleading way of saying “your veins can’t circulate the blood properly”. It doesn’t necessarily mean your valves are broken, missing, or genetically faulty; just that they are unable to circulate the blood properly (for various reasons).

The other marketing method, makes you focus on varicocele as The cause of infertility, and as something that you can do Nothing it—other than have surgery. Now, while there is a relationship between varicocele and infertility, about half of men with varicoceles don’t experience infertility. Why some and not others? And is surgery really the option to cure varicocele?

Well, I’ve personally helped thousands of men with varicoceles, and I can tell you—rarely, very very rarely is varicocele the only contributing factor to infertility. Actually, lifestyle risk factors tend to be a bigger contributor, and I’ve found that these lifestyle risk factors are actually responsible for varicocele developing in the first place.

Now, is surgery the best option for varicocele treatment? I think not. The NNT for surgery is 7. That’s only for pregnancy. NNT is the Number Needed to Treat. That means that for every 7 men who undergo surgery, only 1 successful pregnancy is attained. That’s a 14% increase. That’s pretty bad, considering you’re more likely than that that 14% to suffer from a negative surgery risk.

That’s only for infertility. Surgery isn’t even considered as an effective treatment for pain relief.

So, calling surgery a “correction”, “cure”, or “intervention” is completely misleading.

Now, let’s look at the next question: “which is better? surgery or embolization? ” That’s the most clever marketing tactic by radiologists; giving you only two options. Moreover, embolization is always sold as a “non-surgical” alternative procedure. Which is clever as hell, but insanely misleading. These marketing tactics keep you boxed into the idea that varicocele is the only thing that’s affecting you, and that there is nothing else other than surgery or embolization that you can do about it.

Now, let’s give embolization a chance! What does the science say about embolization? Well, not much actually, the science is very much lacking. But, the science that does exist says the NNT of embolization is likely 17. That’s a 6% improvement over someone who didn’t undergo radiation, anesthesia, and coils stuck into their testicular veins (permanently). It means for every 17 men who undergo embolization, 1 addition pregnancy May be attained. Now, I say “may” here, because the science is pretty much lacking. Embolization may not be effective at all. Actually same with varicocele surgery—both may not be effective at all. And don’t forget the certain risks.

6% improvement in pregnancy rates? 1% chance of losing your testicle. 10–30% chance of hydrocele and varicocele redevelopment. Chances of developing permanent pain. And many more risks.

So… Which is better? Surgery or embolization? Well… I'm not a doctor, but I think they both kinda suck…

Is Surgery Necessary for Treating Varicocele? Well, you’re not curing varicocele with surgery, that’s for sure. You’re also not curing infertility, that’s also for sure. You’re also not curing varicocele pain. So… Yes, varicocele surgery is a treatment method, but, is it necessary? No… Why would such a high risk and terrible treatment even be considered? Ohh… Because a surgeon makes $10,000 from a 1 hour procedure. Now I got it.

BETTER THAN SURGERYSo, like I said I’ve been helping men treat varicoceles naturally for over 5 years now. So, I’ve come across some pretty stunning scientific publications.

• Acupuncture improves pregnancy rates better than surgery
• Fertility counselling has the similar fertility results to surgery (Counselling for God’s sake!)
• A simple daily cooling treatment leads to better fertility improvements than surgery…

So what? So no surgery is not necessary, and Yes, you have options.

If you want to learn more, you can visit my website: www.varicocelehealing.com