There's a Reason Urologists Are Busy This Time of Year

More men get vasectomies during March Madness
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2019 11:01 AM CDT
There's a Reason Urologists Are Busy This Time of Year
It's that time of year.   (Getty/stevanovicigor)

Pity the urologist who loves college basketball—he may not get much time to enjoy March Madness. Urologists around the country report an uptick in vasectomies this time of year—because men can recover by sitting on the couch and watching basketball. Stories in the Columbus Dispatch of Ohio, the Spokesman-Review of Washington, and the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, talk to local doctors confirming the annual trend. A previous story at WebMD notes that urologists in the Aetna insurance network reported 30% more vasectomies in the first week of the tournament than in a typical week.

“They’ll come in with their Kentucky or UNC basketball shirts on," a urologist in Charleston tells the local newspaper. "It’s almost like an event built around (March Madness).” A Spokane doctor notes that during the rest of the year, patients typically schedule procedures on a Friday so they can rest over the weekend. In the early stages of the tournament, however, he sees more Monday-through-Thursday appointments that coincide with the basketball schedule. “The sport and the event itself kind of transcend basketball,” says the Charleston doctor. The men essentially receive a "get-out-of-jail free card to sit on the couch and watch some TV." (More March Madness stories.)

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