Smegma

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This article is about smegma, a secretion of mammalian genitals. See Vernix caseosa for the substance that covers the skin of a baby at birth.

Smegma, a transliteration of the Greek word σμήγμα for soap, is a combination of exfoliated (shed) epithelial cells, transudated skin oils and moisture that can accumulate under the foreskin of males and within the female vulva area, with a characteristic strong odor and taste. Smegma is common to all mammals, male and female.

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Mammalian Smegma

In healthy animals, smegma helps clean and lubricate the genitals. In veterinary medicine, analysis of this smegma is sometimes used for detection of urinary infections, such as trichomoniasis. Some have recommended periodic cleaning of male genitals to improve the health of the animal.[1]

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Human Smegma

Image:Smegma Penis Cropped.jpg Both males and females produce smegma. Since smegma can accumulate under the foreskin in males, its presence is less common and noticeable in circumcised males. This has caused the argument over whether circumcisions ought to be performed to impact the related argument over whether smegma is beneficial or harmful. The lack of smegma has been described as a benefit of circumcision for men who neglect their hygiene. In contrast, the loss of subpreputial wetness consisting of natural skin oils has been described as a harm of circumcision for men whose glans could become dry and chafed. Smegma can be removed by wiping or washing the genital area.

The subpreputial moisture keeps the glans moist and may lubricate the movement of the foreskin. However, if allowed to accumulate and decay in the foreskin cavity, it can combine with shed skin cells, providing an ideal medium for potentially pathogenic bacteria to colonise[2]; current medical opinion is that allowing smegma to accumulate freely is unhealthy. Accumulation of smegma can cause or aggravate a variety of irritations known as balanitis. Early medical studies such as those by Plaut, and Heins (1958) claimed that smegma accumulation led to the development of penile cancer, but more recent studies have disagreed [3].

Uncircumcised men with poor personal or excessive hygiene are most affected by balanitis. Lack of aeration and irritation because of smegma and discharge surrounding the glans penis causes inflammation and edema. Adherence of the foreskin to the inflamed and edematous glans penis is one cause of phimosis [4].

Preventing accumulation is best done by rinsing the area with warm water. In females, the hood of the clitoris can be gently pulled back to wash away smegma. Some argue that soap is best avoided because it depletes natural skin oils and may cause non-specific dermatitis [5]. In addition, vaginal deodorants that are sometimes used to combat unwanted odors can be harmful, as they tend to upset the normal balance of bacteria in the vaginal cavity. This can in turn upset the pH of the vagina [6]. Noticeably unpleasant odours can be an indicator of a potentially serious medical problem, and deodorant sprays or washes may hide this condition.

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Smegma in popular culture

The word "smegma" is one of the most popular words searched for on the World Wide Web. According to a report of the DICT development group [7], which runs dictionary servers on the Internet, in a several-month period in which over 3 million requests for definitions of words were submitted to their servers, of 100,000 words requested and found in their dictionaries, "smegma" was number 180 in frequency or popularity, i.e. it was in the upper one-fifth of one percent in popularity.

"Smegma" is one of relatively few words in the English language that have this "__gma" structure: others are magma, bregma, stigma, zeugma, pragma, sigma, enigma, and dogma. It is also one of the few English words referring to aspects of human genitalia that are ultimately of Greek rather than Latin form and origin.

One Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch featured a character called "Mrs. B. J. Smegma". In a comedy routine, The Firesign Theatre referred to immigrants who "came from strange places with names like Smegma, Spasmodic, Frog, and the far flung Islands of Langerhans". There is an experimental music group called "Smegma" that has recorded and performed from 1976 through the present day.

In Red Dwarf, a popular British sci-fi sitcom, a common insult/adjective used was "smeg" (i.e. "you smegging idiot!" or "How was your day?- Smeggy" and not forgetting, "Smeghead!") , apparently derived from smegma, although the creators Grant Naylor claim this is merely a coincidence. The etymology of the slang term "smeg" (outside of Red Dwarf) has been directly traced back to the scientific term "smegma".

Richard Cheese of "Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine", a jazz/lounge cover group, also refers in slang to "smegma" in his pseudonym - "Richard Cheese" can be shortened to "dick cheese".

In the English language, slang terms for Smegma tend to focus on its alleged resemblance to a dairy product, hence helmet-dale, bell-end brie, organzola, dick cheese, penis butter, knobcheese, cottage shaft cheese, dick butter, shaft yogurt, bell cheese, man cheese and helmet cheese. This association is echoed in the German slang words Pimmelkäse and Nillekäs (or Nillekehs). In the Philippines, they called it KUPAL.

Enigsmegmatic - Mysterious Smegma

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References

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External links

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  • Wright J. How smegma serves the penis: Nature's assurance that the uncircumcised glans penis will function smoothly is provided by smegma. Sexology (New York) 1970;37(2):50-53. URL: http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright1/
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Images of Smegma

de:Smegma es:Esmegma fr:Smegma is:Smegma it:Smegma nl:Smegma pl:Mastka sv:Smegma

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