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Natural secretions of oil are achieved by sebaceous glands which are abound in the foreskin's inner lining, these are not present in the [[glans penis]].<ref name="hyman-brownstein1969">{{REFjournal
|last=Hyman
|first=A.B.
|last2=Brownstein
|first2=M.H.
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/530842
|title=Tyson's "glands": ectopic sebaceous glands and papillomatosis penis
|journal=Arch Dermatol
|date=1969-01
|volume=99
|issue=1
|pages=31-36
|accessdate=2019-10-20
}}</ref> They are also present in the eye lid and perform the same function in both places. They secrete the oils necessary to keep the glans surface soft, moist, smooth, warm, sensitive, and with a healthy glistening red or purple color. This moisturizer also maintains PH balance, and optimal cleanliness. This is required to keep the surface of the glans healthy and clean via the cleaning effects of mucous secretions. Again, this function is analogous to the eye lid. The glans penis is meant to be an internal organ covered and protected from the outside world.
In the genitally intact penis the urine stream flushes out the urethra and foreskin of foreign microbes. In healthy individuals, urine is sterile and has a disinfectant quality. Researchers have demonstrated that the swirling action of urine as it rushes through the foreskin flushes it out effortlessly and naturally.<ref name="parkash-jeykumar1973">{{REFjournal
|last=Parkash
|first=S.
|last2=Jeykumar
|first2=S.
|last3=Subramanyan
|first3=K.
|last4=Chaudhuri
|first4=S.
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/parkash/
|title=Human subpreputial collection: its nature and formation
|journal=J Urol
|date=1973-08
|volume=110
|issue=2
|pages=211-212
|accessdate=2019-10-20
}}</ref>
Though urine passes through the foreskin every day, the inner foreskin is remarkably free of urea — a by-product of liver metabolism that is secreted in urine. Studies demonstrate that washings from the foreskin are rich in fructose, acid phosphatase, and mucin, but never urea. It appears that the secretions of seminal vesicles, prostate, and urethral mucous glands, collectively or individually, keep the foreskin clear and clean as well.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Parkash
|first=S.
|title=Penis: some facts and fancies
|journal=Journal of Physician's Association of Madras
|date=1982-06
|pages=1-13
}}</ref>
Improve SEEALSO section. Add reference on meatal stenosis
The foreskin, like the eyelid, also serves an important protective and hygienic function. The foreskin protects the delicate [[glans]] of the [[penis]] and puts the urethra at a distance form its environment, protecting it from foreign contaminants of all kinds while simultaneously shielding the penis from injury. It is a double fold of skin which offers two layers of protection.
At birth, the foreskin is usually attached to the glans (head) of the penis by a [[synechia]], akin to how a fingernail is attached to a finger.<ref>{{REFjournal
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-10-15
}}</ref> The foreskin protects the infant glans penis from ammonia in diapers (nappies) and prevents [[meatal stenosis]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Van Howe
|first=R.S.
|author-link=
|title=Incidence of meatal stenosis following neonatal circumcision in a primary care setting
|journal=Clin Pediatr (Phila)
|volume=45
|issue=1
|pages=49-54
|url=
|quote=
|pubmedID=16429216
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1177/000992280604500108
|date=2006-01
|accessdate=2020-01-09
|note=Jan-Feb 2006
}}</ref>
Natural secretions of oil are achieved by sebaceous glands which are abound in the foreskin's inner lining, these are not present in the [[glans penis]].<ref name="hyman-brownstein1969">{{REFjournal
|last=Hyman
|first=A.B.
|last2=Brownstein
|first2=M.H.
|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/530842
|title=Tyson's "glands": ectopic sebaceous glands and papillomatosis penis
|journal=Arch Dermatol
|date=1969-01
|volume=99
|issue=1
|pages=31-36
|accessdate=2019-10-20
}}</ref> They are also present in the eye lid and perform the same function in both places. They secrete the oils necessary to keep the glans surface soft, moist, smooth, warm, sensitive, and with a healthy glistening red or purple color. This moisturizer also maintains PH balance, and optimal cleanliness. This is required to keep the surface of the glans healthy and clean via the cleaning effects of mucous secretions. Again, this function is analogous to the eye lid. The glans penis is meant to be an internal organ covered and protected from the outside world.
In the genitally intact penis the urine stream flushes out the urethra and foreskin of foreign microbes. In healthy individuals, urine is sterile and has a disinfectant quality. Researchers have demonstrated that the swirling action of urine as it rushes through the foreskin flushes it out effortlessly and naturally.<ref name="parkash-jeykumar1973">{{REFjournal
|last=Parkash
|first=S.
|last2=Jeykumar
|first2=S.
|last3=Subramanyan
|first3=K.
|last4=Chaudhuri
|first4=S.
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/parkash/
|title=Human subpreputial collection: its nature and formation
|journal=J Urol
|date=1973-08
|volume=110
|issue=2
|pages=211-212
|accessdate=2019-10-20
}}</ref>
Though urine passes through the foreskin every day, the inner foreskin is remarkably free of urea — a by-product of liver metabolism that is secreted in urine. Studies demonstrate that washings from the foreskin are rich in fructose, acid phosphatase, and mucin, but never urea. It appears that the secretions of seminal vesicles, prostate, and urethral mucous glands, collectively or individually, keep the foreskin clear and clean as well.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Parkash
|first=S.
|title=Penis: some facts and fancies
|journal=Journal of Physician's Association of Madras
|date=1982-06
|pages=1-13
}}</ref>
The idea that the foreskin is "dirty" or "unclean" is a scientifically unfounded superstition. The intact penis is naturally clean and maintains a level of hygiene that is optimal when compared to a penis that has been altered by circumcision.
* [[Circumcision and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)]]
* [[Foreskin]]
{{REF}}