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Insert reference; wikify synechia
[[Image:Side by side retraction.png|right|thumb|A human penis before and after retraction of the foreskin.]]
In the majority of adult men, the [[foreskin]] normally retracts to reveal the head of the penis. In newborns, it is common for the foreskin to be fused to the head of the penisby the [[synechia]], thus rendering it non-retractable. The foreskin usually separates from the glans and becomes retractable with age. There is much uncertainty among health care workers about when the foreskin of a boy should become retractable.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Simpson
|first=E.T.
}}</ref> His data have been incorporated into many textbooks and is still being repeated in the medical literature today. [[Douglas Gairdner|Gairdner]] said that 80 percent of boys should have a retractable foreskin by the age of two years, and 90 percent of boys should have a retractable prepuce by the age of three years.<ref name="Gairdner"/>
Unfortunately, [[Douglas Gairdner|Gairdner]]’s data are inaccurate,<ref name="WrightWright1994">{{REFjournal
|last=Wright
|first=J.E.
|url=
|quote=
|pubmedID=8295581
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|date=1994-02-07 |accessdate=2019-10-17}}</ref> </ref name="denniston-hill2010"><ref name="HillHill2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=G.
|date=2003
|accessdate=
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFjournal |last=Denniston |first=George C. |author-link= |last2=Hill |first2=George |author2-link= |etal=no |title=Gairdner was wrong |trans-title= |language= |journal=Can Fam Physician |date=2010-10-01 |volume=56 |issue=10 |pages=986-7 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2954072/ |quote= |pubmedID=20944034 |pubmedCID=2954072 |DOI= |accessdate=2019-10-17}}</ref> so most healthcare providers have been taught inaccurate data.<ref name="HillHill2003"/> Retractability usually occurs much later than previously believed.<ref name="Wright"/> This page provides accurate data, derived from newer and better studies, for healthcare providers.
== Current view ==
== Infants and pre-school ==
Kayaba ''et al''. (1996) reported that before six months of age, no boy had a retractable prepuce; 16.5 percent of boys aged 3-4 had a fully retractable prepuce.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Kayaba
|first=H.
* [[Forced retraction]]
* [[Phimosis]]
* [[Synechia]]
{{REF}}