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Thereafter the The smegma may be washed away using warm water when necessary. Soap, body wash, and shampoo remove the natural oil so they should not be used in the [[preputial sac]].<ref name="birley1933" />
Add external link.
|url=
|accessdate=2019-10-16
}}</ref> Smegma is not dirt or "filth". It is natural, normal, benign, painless, harmless, and beneficial.<ref name="vanhowe2006">{{REFjournal
|last=Van Howe
|init=RS
|DOI=10.1111/j.1468-3083.2006.01653.x
|accessdate=2019-10-16
}}</ref> Smegma is not an irritant and does not cause itching. It may remain in the [[preputial sac]] for extended periods without doing harm. Its presence is not considered esthetic, so it is customary to wash it away prior to a sexual encounter.
[[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 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.
==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 the [[foreskinpreputial sac]]. The oil also has lubricating advantages.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|first=Joyce
[[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. <ref name="wright1994">{{REFjournal |last=Wright |init=JE |title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin" |journal=Med J Aust |volume=160 |issue= |pages=134-135 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright2/ |quote= |pubmedID=8295581 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |date=1994-02-07 |accessdate=2025-09-04}}</ref> 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. Parkash (1972) reported that the flow of urine in the [[preputial sac]] can keep it free of smegma.<ref>{{REFjournal |last=Parkash |first= |init=S |author-link= |etal=no |title=Phimosis and Its Plastic Correction |trans-title= |language= |journal=J Indian Med Assoc |date=1972-05-16 |volume=58 |issue=10 |pages=389-90 |url=https://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/parkash3/ |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=4644911 |pubmedCID= |DOI= |doi= |accessdate=2025-07-24}}</ref>
==Video==
===Smegma, what is it and how to deal with it===
[[Dr Bret Palmer]] describes the formation of smegma.
* <youtube>v=ihCn2k2XU_M</youtube>
<br>
===Dr O'Donovan explains the nature of smegma===
* <youtube>v=Do_inwgYR6E</youtube>
<br>
===Foreskin: Why Pull Back?=== [[Dr. Bret Palmer ]] explains why the foreskin should be retracted. This is for adult males and NOT applicable to boys.
* <youtube>v=PcxwW4KH3Wg</youtube>
===How to get rid of a build up of hard smegma, the easy way===
[[Dr Bret Palmer]] gives tips on getting rid of hardened smegma.
* <youtube>v=WkXGtsNDDBo&t=134s</youtube>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Cervical cancer]]
|date=2018-01-06
|accessdate=2021-01-19
}}
* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.foreskin.org/what-is-smegma/
|title=Smegma: What Is It and How to Get Rid of It
|last=Rangel
|first=Frank
|init=
|author-link=
|publisher=Foreskin
|date=2023-07-17
|accessdate=2024-12-11
}}
NSFW
|format=
}}
* {{REFweb |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/uncircumcised_talk/comments/1nv1yet/comment/nh898gc/ |title=Is it normal to be getting smegma daily? |last=Anonymous |first= |init= |author-link= |publisher=REDDIT |date=2025-10-01 |accessdate=2025-10-14}}
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