While you’re laid up on the couch recovering from your vasectomy, you may as well have something fun to watch, right?

Now that the annual college basketball playoffs are back on this year, Hartford HealthCare Tallwood Urology & Kidney Institute Men’s Health is offering Vasectomy Clinics timed with the height of the tournament.

This year, clinics are being planned at three locations for patient convenience, all on Saturday, March 19. Registration is required.

Clinics will be held at:

  • 10 Birdseye Road, Farmington. Call 860.678.5700 for an appointment.
  • 455 Lewis Ave., Suite 210, Meriden. Call 203.238.1241 for an appointment.
  • 201 North Mountain Road, Suite 300, Plainville. Call 860.348.2500 for an appointment.

Dubbed “Vas Madness,” the period around the college tournament marks peaks in vasectomy procedures, according to doctors and healthcare systems nationwide. In 2016, Athena Health Network researchers noted a 30 percent spike in vasectomies during the first round of the three-week tournament over the numbers recorded in an average week.

“We typically suggest men take 48 hours at home to kick up their feet and recover after a vasectomy,” said Dr. Jared Bieniek, medical director of Tallwood Men’s Health. “What better way this year than with a comfortable chair, an icepack and your favorite college basketball team?”

A vasectomy is a simple, in-office procedure for permanent male birth control. A urologist performs the minimally-invasive procedure through a small skin opening and cuts the vas deferens, the tube carrying sperm, on both sides. Most men are fully recovered from the procedure within a week.

Registration for any of the Vasectomy Clinics is required and space is limited. Patients must schedule a consultation at a separate visit beforehand in order to have the procedure done at the Saturday clinic. Another option is to have the consultation done on Saturday and schedule the procedure for another day.