Changes

[[Image:Male smegma.jpg|right|thumb|Smegma on a human [[penis]].]][[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

|author-link=Robert S. Van Howe

[[Intact ]] adult males who wash their [[penis ]] and [[glans daily ]] 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 on a human penis" is therefore not typical for [[intact ]] men who wash their genitals regularly. Hardened smegma accumulations may be softened by soaking with vegetable oil.

Excessive washing and the use of soap inside the [[foreskin ]] should be avoided, because soap removes the [[skin ]] oil so it can cause non-specific dermatitis that may be mistaken for [[balanitis]].<refname="birley1933">{{REFjournal

|etal=yesno

washing]

|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1195128/

Smegma contains natural [[skin]] oils that are beneficial to the health of the [[mucosa]] that covers the [[glans penis]] and the inside of the [[foreskin]]. The oil also has lubricating advantages.<ref>{{REFjournal |last=Wright |first=Joyce |init=J |author-link= |title=How smegma serves the penis |journal=Sexology |date=1970-09 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=50-3 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright1/ |accessdate=2020-06-21}}</ref> Smegma is usually washed away for cosmetic reasons. Excessive washing and use of soap inside the [[foreskin]] should be avoided.<ref name="birley1933" /> == Smegma was falsely believed claimed to be carcinogenic ==

Circumcision advocates promoters of the past who alleged a relationship between "lack of circumcision" and genital cancers formerly implicated smegma or smegma-borne 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>{{REFjournal |last=Wolbarst |init=AL |author-link=Abraham L. Wolbarst |title=Circumcision and Penile Cancer |journal=The Lancet |date=1932-01-16 |volume=1 |issue=5655 |pages=150-153 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(01)24346-3/fulltext |DOI=10.1016/S0140-6736(01)24346-3 |accessdate=2019-10-16Wolbarst1932}}</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."

[[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" />== Control of smegma ==Boys are born with a non-retractable [[foreskin]]. The foreskin of a boy should not be retracted until it spontaneously becomes retractable with increasing maturity and the boy retracts it for himself. There is likely to be a collection of smegma in the [[preputial sac]] that has been accumulating harmlessly since birth. The smegma may then be washed away. Some boys will have hardened smegma that is difficult to remove. Soaking the hardened smegma with olive oil is said to be effective in softening it and facilitating its removal.

==Beneficial aspects of smegma== Smegma contains natural skin oils that are beneficial to the health of the mucosa that covers the [[glans penis]]and the inside of Thereafter the foreskin. The oil also has lubricating advantages.<ref>{{REFjournal |last=Wright |first=Joyce |init=J |author-link= |title=How smegma serves the penis |journal=Sexology |date=1970-09 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=50-3 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright1/ |accessdate=2020-06-21}}</ref> Smegma is usually may be washed away for cosmetic reasonsusing warm water when necessary. Excessive washing Soap, body wash, and use of soap inside shampoo remove the foreskin natural oil so they should not be avoidedused in the preputial sac.<ref>{{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=yes |title=Clinical Features and management of recurrentbalanitis; association with atopy and genitalwashing] |trans-title= |language= |journal=Genitourin Med |location= |date=1993-10 |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=400-3 |url= |quote= |pubmedID=8244363 |pubmedCID=1195128 |DOI=10.1136/sti.69.5.400 |accessdatename=2021-03-20}}<"birley1933" /ref>

|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.