Rectal Thermometers Still the Best
I have notice a lot of people getting a cold this time of year, it happens every year of course. There are so many different ways of taking your temperature from putting a thermometer in your mouth to putting one in your ear to wiping one across your forehead. All o.k. but not the best.
After exhaustive research of 75 different published studies on the subject they have concluded the ‘rectal thermometer’ is still the most accurate. In fact the only other way to tell a person’s temperature as accurate as ‘rectally’ is to take the temperature from a vein.
Oral thermometers did second best while ones that are put under the armpit or in the ear could read as much as two degrees higher or lower than actual body temperature.
The big question is ‘does it really matter if your temperature is read two degrees off’? In most cases ‘no’. If you have a common cold reading your temperature orally is not a problem for most people. There are select circumstances where accuracy really matters, but in most cases it doesn’t.
So the next time mom or the doctor tells you to bend over, you really don’t have to.
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