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→Anatomy and development of the male genital organ
The growing together of the folds results in the seam that runs from the underside of the scrotum and the penile shaft up to the tip of the foreskin. The penis now consists of the shaft containing the erectile tissue, with the glans at the top. The shaft is surrounded by the shaft skin which, however, is not knitted to it. This mobility, combined with the stretching capabilities of the skin, allows for the growth in dimension of the penis during an erection. During an erection the erectile tissue fills with blood, giving the penis its stiffness and enlarged size.
In the area of the [[glans ]] the shaft skin transitions into the outer layer of the foreskin, which extends past the tip of the glans. Parallel to that runs the inner layer of the foreskin. It is attached behind the rim of the glans, and runs between the glans and the outer foreskin layer, also past the tip of the glans. At the tip, the inner and outer foreskin layers are joined together.
This junction makes up the [[ridged band]]. At the underside of the penis, in the area of the seam, the inner foreskin layer is connected to the glans by the [[frenulum]].
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Only then the [[foreskin ]] can be retracted. The age at which this occurs is subject to the child's individual development. If the foreskin is retracted prematurely, before it has fully separated, that can result in painful tears and infections.
The widening of the foreskin also depends on age. A child's foreskin may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the glans, even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early foreskin tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.
A study by the Danish paediatrician and school doctor, [[Jakob Øster]], of 9,545 examinations of pupils, published in 1968, led to the following results<ref>{{OesterJ 1968}}</ref>:
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