orchiectomy or castration?

[envie]

I've been getting lately fed up with my T blockers side effects. The dizziness, and the low blood pressure are getting old!
Since I don't see how to afford the SRS in near future I have been thinking of getting rid of the source of T.
But somewhere I read that orchiectomy would cause shrinkage of the scrotum which would not be good when performing vaginoplasty later on.
So I thought of castration instead but all I can find on the web are creepy fetish sites about it and nothing serious.
I've been for a year on HRT and my testis have shrunken a lot and I tuck anyway, so part of me thinks the scrotum has already shrunken as much as it would after orchiectomy any way. Does anyone have any experience with either one of these scenarios.
Of course I'll stay on T blockers if there is no good solution for getting rid of the T source in some ways but I'd like to improve my state if I can.
thanks!

[paulault55]

Maybe i do not understand your question because an orchiectomy is castration, removal of the testes,  just be sure that the doctor that does it knows that you want srs in the future, there are a couple ways an orchiectomy can be preformed, one is a cut down the mid line of the scrotum and the testicles are removed, a second option is a inguinal castration in which a small incision is made on either side of the penis and the testicles are removed through them, this way makes sure there is no scaring on the scrotal sack, Suporn used to not take patients if they had an orchiectomy, i do not know if he changed his policy, you might contact some surgeons to see what they recommend, it used to be if you were going to have srs within two years an orchiectomy was not recommended, that money could be put into your srs fund,

Paula

[cynthialee]

Orchi and castration are synonymous.

I have had an orchi. Best thing I ever did.

When I got it done I made sure the surgeon doing the work knew what a future SRS surgeon would need.
After I had it done I had Dr Nguyen in Lake Oswego take a look at the scar and it's placement. Although he was a bit puzzled on the placement of the incision he was positive that it would be no issue when I get srs in the future.

So just be sure to make your needs known to the surgeon if you do get an orchi and things should be fine and dandy.

[envie]

thank you everyone what really good advices. I am in a bit of a time crunch so I'll be short.
Orchi is testis removal. Castration is just severing the chord that supplies the body with the T.
Not the tube for the sperm delivering so it's not a vasectomy.
So the testis would stay in the scrotum with the castration but have no function.
thanks!

[Flan]

Castration is just severing the chord that supplies the body with the T.

the blood supply to the testis also delivers the androgens produced back to blood stream. once the blood supply is severed, they have to go.

suporn prefers patients who have not had prior orchiectomy but will accept them as clients.

[kelly_aus]

thank you everyone what really good advices. I am in a bit of a time crunch so I'll be short.
Orchi is testis removal. Castration is just severing the chord that supplies the body with the T.
Not the tube for the sperm delivering so it's not a vasectomy.
So the testis would stay in the scrotum with the castration but have no function.
thanks!

I think you need to brush up on your physiology.. 

There is no 'testosterone' chord.. The only fluid carrying items are the various veins and arteries and the vas deferens.. the vas deferens  are responsible for sperm delivery.. Testosterone is delivered directly to the circulatory system, so in order to cut off the androgen supply, you'd need to cut off the blood supply - and that would require removal of testes, as they would almost immediately start to become necrotic..

[envie]

thanks everyone on your advices.
The idea about the castration as something different than orchi came to me upon hearing that that there is a small group of guys who castrate themselves with the burdizzo.  the tool used on bulls. They do it on themselves not in a clinic or something. Just a novokane shot and the clamp. May be I don't have this correct in the memorry but I remember seeing castrated bulls still with their testis hanging on them. Of course I didn't want to do something like that by myself but i was looking for a clinik.
Anyway, it looks like I'll have to find my surgeon of choice for the SRS and talk to her/.him about having the orchi and what to do about it.
thanks again I think, I have an idea where to look for a surgeon now.

[Bishounen]

You are thinking of the Burdizzo-Clamp.
The idea with the clamp device-method is not to cut of the Testosteron-suppliment but to cut of the bloodsuply to the testicles, so that they will die and then slowly get absorbed by the body.

It is an alternative to cutting them off surgically, as this way no insision is made.
However, most surgeons donot use this method at all as it is foeemost a method on animals and as it can come with risks and can also be very painful.

Wikipedia:

The Burdizzo is a castration device which employs a large clamp designed to break the blood vessels leading into the testicles. Once the blood supply to the testicles is lost, testicular necrosis occurs, and the testicles shrink, soften, and eventually deteriorate completely. When the device is used the operator crushes the spermatic cords one at a time, leaving a space in between in order to maintain uninterrupted blood-flow to the scrotum.
A nine-inch Burdizzo, used primarily on goats, small calves, and sometimes on humans.

The burdizzo is used primarily on farm animals such as cattle and sheep.[1] For example, pampered cattle, used for Kobe beef, are often castrated by this method because of the reduced risk of bleeding and infection.
The closed jaws of a nine-inch Burdizzo.

Burdizzos have also been used by some human males as a means of self-castration, often by those seeking a remedy for a high sex drive, or those who, for religious or personal reasons, seek to become eunuchs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdizzo

[lilacwoman]

I'm inclined to think that clamped human testicles will get awfully painful and gangrenous rather than just shrivel up and drop off like animals' do...and any clamping sufficient to kill them will also kill off all the scrotun skin anyway.

I had one orchie and one op for undescended testicle that looked to have a precancerous shadow so by SRS time my scrotum was quite small and I had to have the very expensive and invasive colovaginplasty which seems like it will never work properly.

find a T blocker and leave the physical bits alone for surgery.

[cynthialee]

I have been takeing time to stretch the scrotum post orchi and I have noticed no apreciable loss of scrotal tissue.

[lilacwoman]

the undescended testicle was the left one and the left side of my scrotum had never developed

[Caisie Breen]

To Ms Bussell,

I am scheduled to have my Orchi performed on January the 5th with Dr Nguyen in Lake Oswego. Any advice or words of wisdom? Note: I tried to privately contact you but I guess because I'm a newbie - less than 15 posts, I am limited). Anyway, I was pleased and surprised to see someone not only from my area but someone who's used the same doctor I'm scheduled to use.

[Amazon D]

I had mine done 3 months HRT and then at 9 months HRT i had GRS / SRS... i actally ended up with more tissue for the Dr to use because the area where it was stitched back up became a scar tissue area with no hairs on it and it use to be partially on the inside but now it was healing on the outside of my body. the dr used that for an area where he wanted to be sure i had no hairs which was deep inside as the endcap to the canal.. so scars can be a good thing and you don't always lose tissue and it takes 7 yrs for every cell in the body to rebuild itself and well its unlikely to not be there when that happens. Its likely to be rebuilt too.

[Mahsa Tezani]

I call it castration. I mean the T has already worked on your bone structure, I really don't see the point of gettin rid of the balls...just get srs and get rid of em both.

It won't change your facial or body appearance or anything.

[Bishounen]

I call it castration. I mean the T has already worked on your bone structure, I really don't see the point of gettin rid of the balls...just get srs and get rid of em both.

Okay, I will explain the point then.
Some T-Persons, simply have no interest of full SRS, but yet wants to get rid of the Testosterone in the body that will masculinize it(The body) even if the Estrogen alone or in the combination of Anti-Androgenes will surpress and also reverse a dramatic part of it. However, those medications will not always be completely enough in some of the aspects. Plus, an Orhidectomy will enable the person to skip the Anti-androgenes completely and even cut down significantly on the Estrogen and yet experience a very noticible feminisation of the body.

For instance, an Orchidectomy will, even together with very small doses of Estrogen, cut down the masculine muscle mass significally, and also revert certain hairloss. And best of all, even if the person having the procedure one day and for some reason would stop taking Estrogen, the body will never ever masculinize but remain feminine.

There are many reasons and benefits for why a MTF would want to get rid of the testicles, but non why she shouldn't, if not wanting them.

It won't change your facial or body appearance or anything.

Uhm, yes, it will.
It is medically wellknown that only removal of the testicles alone will make the features much softer and less "Sharp" in a Bio-male, aswell as also make the skin significantly softer and the hair on the body may decrease aswell, and, the hips may also get slightly more rounded.

Also, I must react on your reasoning to "Just get SRS and get rid if them both", as it is a silly reasoning, simply because, and as for instance Cynthialee can attest to, just because you have had an Orchidectomy it does not mean that you will be non-functional.
As I am sure you know, Some gendervarianted people simply want to keep their Birth-assigned genitals, but yet do not want to have to take medications to stop their bodies from masculinazing, hence Orchidectomy is the perfect choise.


Masha, I don't want to sound grumpy or be an Arse or anything, and also likes many of your posts, but sometimes you are very narrowminded.

[Caisie Breen]

7 days till freedom! My Orchi is only 7 days away and I'm so excited. To finally get ID that reflects my true identity will be so wonderful. Also, not having to take the Spiro anymore will be a money saver and better for my liver.

I'll keep you girls updated on my progress.

[envie]

Hey  caisie,

sounds exciting! Please share your experience, I was also thinking of Dr. Nguyen as I live in Seattle.
Does he do the SRS as well? It seems very hard to find any info about it. He has some sort of separate site for the SRS
that is not well maintained and seems to be somewhat outdated too.

[Caisie Breen]

Hi envie,

It is my understanding that yes, Dr. Nguyen does do SRS. I don't know what site you've looked into but here is a link to check out http://www.mdtnguyen.com/m2f.htm.

I know there's not much there but it does say to call the office for more information.

Thanks for your interest in my upcoming procedure. I'll be posting more as events begin to unfold:-)

[Beth Andrea]

They do make prosthetic testicles. After an orchi, one could opt to have "falsies" put in, to keep the scrotum full-size.

Ask your doc about it.

[envie]

They do make prosthetic testicles. After an orchi, one could opt to have "falsies" put in, to keep the scrotum full-size.

Interesting thought! thanks for bringing it up.

It is my understanding that yes, Dr. Nguyen does do SRS. I don't know what site you've looked into but here is a link to check out http://www.mdtnguyen.com/m2f.htm.
I know there's not much there but it does say to call the office for more information.

yes, that is the site I looked at. Well the 2 pictures don't present the final result. Also the need for the second surgery seems a bit old fashioned which made me think the photos are probably old too. As far as i understand only few surgeons still need 2 step surgery unless it is corrective for some reason.   
I would be happy to be corrected if I am mistaken so please don't hesitate. I agree I should give the office a call before I jump to some conclusions