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{{GraphicWarning}}[[Image:Male smegma.jpg|right|thumb|Smegma on a human [[penis]].]][[Image:Female smegma.jpg|right|thumb|Smegma on a human [[vulva]].]]

[[Image:Female smegma.jpg|right|thumb|Smegma on a human vulva.]] '''Smegma'''' is the name given to a flaky material that accumulates underneath the [[foreskin]] in males, and underneath the [[clitoral hood]] and within the labial folds in females. In males, it is composed of secretions of ectopic sebaceous glands in the [[foreskin]], mixed with secretions of the prostate, seminal vesicles, mucin from the urethral glands, and desquamated epithelial cells.<ref>{{REFjournal

|firstinit=S.

}}</ref><ref>{{REFjournal

|firstinit=A.B.AB

|first2init2=M.H.MH

|date=January 1969-01

}}</ref>Smegma is not "filth". It is natural, normal, benign, harmless, and beneficial.<refname="vanhowe2006">{{REFjournal

|firstinit=R.S.RS |author-link=Robert S. Van Howe

|first2init2=F.M.FM

== [[Intact]] adult males who wash their [[penis]] and [[glans]] periodically with clean water usually do not have smegma between the inner foreskin and glans. In infants and boys whose [[foreskin]] cannot yet be pulled back (natural [[phimosis]]), smegma doesn't matter, while the [[foreskin]] protects the glans. The illustration "Smegma was believed to on a human penis" is therefore not typical for [[intact]] men who wash their genitals regularly. Hardened smegma accumulations may be carcinogenic ==softened by soaking with vegetable oil.

Circumcision advocates Excessive washing and the use of soap inside the past who alleged a relationship between [[foreskin]] should be avoided, because soap removes the [[skin]] oil so it can cause non-specific dermatitis that may be mistaken for [[balanitis]].<ref name="birley1933"lack >{{REFjournal |last=Birley |init=HDL |author-link= |last2=Walker |init2=MM |author2-link= |last3=Luzzi |init3=GA |author3-link= |last4=Bell |init4=R |author4-link= |etal=no |title=Clinical Features and management of circumcision" recurrentbalanitis; association with atopy and genital cancers formerly implicated smegma or smegmawashing |trans-title= |language= |journal=Genitourin Med |location= |date=1993-10 |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=400-borne pathogens as the causative agent3 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/ |quote= |pubmedID=8244363 |pubmedCID=1195128 |DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5. Only two histologic studies 400 |accessdate=2020-02-28}}</ref>==Beneficial aspects of human smegma have ever been conducted, both of which found it to be perfectly harmless. ==

The hypothesis Smegma contains natural [[skin]] oils that are beneficial to the health of the [[mucosa]] that human male smegma is carcinogenic was first formulated in 1932 by circumcision promoter Abraham Lcovers the [[glans penis]] and the inside of the [[foreskin]]. Wolbarst, M.DThe oil also has lubricating advantages.<ref>{{REFjournal |last=WolbarstWright |first=A.L.Joyce |init=J |author-link=Abraham L. Wolbarst |title=Circumcision and Penile CancerHow smegma serves the penis |journal=The LancetSexology |date=1932-011970-1609 |volume=137 |issue=56552 |pages=15050-1533 |url=httpshttp://www.thelancetcirp.comorg/journalslibrary/lancetnormal/articlewright1/PIIS0140 |accessdate=2020-6736(01)2434606-321}}</fulltextref>  |DOISmegma is usually washed away for cosmetic reasons. Excessive washing and use of soap inside the [[foreskin]] should be avoided.<ref name=10.1016"birley1933" /S0140-6736(01)24346-3>  |accessdate=2019= Smegma was falsely claimed to be carcinogenic == Circumcision promoters of the past who alleged a relationship between "lack of circumcision" and genital cancers formerly implicated smegma or smegma-10-16borne pathogens as the causative agent. Only two histologic studies of human smegma have ever been conducted, both of which found it to be perfectly harmless.  The hypothesis that human male smegma is carcinogenic was first formulated in 1932 by circumcision promoter [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]], {{MD}}<ref>{{Wolbarst1932}}</ref> Wolbarst also believed that circumcision prevented epilepsy. (In the early part of the 20th Century, the paroxysm of [[masturbation]] in children was often misidentified as an epileptic seizure.) He wrote: "[Circumcision] diminishes the tendency to [[masturbation]], convulsions and other reflex phenomena of local irritation."

The smegma hypothesis was finally disproven by an exhaustive study by Reddy in 1963.<refname="reddy1963">{{REFjournal

|firstinit=D.G.DG

|first2init2=I.K.IK

|date=April 1963-04

See also [[penile Robert S. Van Howe|Van Howe]] & Hodges (2006) concluded: "The purpose of the scientific method is to distinguish between wishful thinking, strongly held opinion, and provable fact. The smegma theory of disease, which began as wishful thinking on the part of circumcision zealots such as [[Abraham L. Wolbarst|Abraham Wolbarst]] and [[Abraham Ravich]], has evolved into irrefutable dogma, but as modern physicians, we need to recognize that, until proved otherwise, smegma is harmless."<ref name="vanhowe2006" /> ==Video==<br>* <youtube>v=Do_inwgYR6E</youtube>{{SEEALSO}}* [[Cervical cancer]] * [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]]* [[Penile cancer]] * [[Penis]]* [[cervical Preputial sac]]{{LINKS}}* {{REFweb |url=https://www.medicaldaily.com/just-what-smegma-and-why-does-it-make-us-cringe-334414 |title=Just What Is Smegma And Why Does It Make Us Cringe? |last=Cara |first=Ed |init= |publisher=Medical Daily |date=2015-05-21 |accessdate=2022-11-19}}* {{REFweb |url=http://www.yourwholebody.org/smegma-101 |title=Smegma 101 |last= |first= |publisher=Your Whole Body |accessdate=2020-06-20}}* {{REFweb |url=https://genitalwholeness.wordpress.com/article/the-foreskin-causes-cancer-myth-2y9nanfagw8nr-20/ |archived= |title=The “foreskin causes cancer” myth |trans-title= |language=English |last=Hill |first=George |author-link=George Hill |publisher=genitalwholeness |website=Wordpress |date=2008-11-09 |accessdate=2020-12-06 |format= |quote=Circumcision alters human behavior. Many males who originate in circumcising cultures, and who are likely to be circumcised, have special emotional issues. [[Circumcised doctors]], therefore, tend to behave differently from normal doctors. Those who become doctors may use junk science to promote male circumcision. The myth of cancer protection by circumcision continues to be a favourite claim of such doctors.}}* {{REFweb |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320514 |title=How do you clean out smegma? |website=MedicalNewsToday |last=Smith |first=Lori |date=2018-01-06 |accessdate=2021-01-19}}NSFW* {{REFweb |title=Smegma |url=http://www.foreskin.org/smegma.htm |archived= |trans-title= |language= |last=Erickson |first=John |init= |author-link=John A. Erickson |publisher= |website=http://www.foreskin.org |date= |accessdate=2022-08-29 |format= }}