Rectal Temps?

[Chess]

Sounds really dangerous to put a glass mercury thermometer inside you

It would be dangerous to do that, but a rectal thermometer isn't inside you except for the short steel tip. If the glass breaks the mercury and the glass will all be on the outside side. I would be more nervous about an oral glass thermometer that may be broken by your teeth. (Not I have ever in my life used an oral thermometer).

 

[Paddy2020]

Sounds really dangerous to put a glass mercury thermometer inside you

That's the only kind of thermometers that were available in the 60's and 70's.

 

[AJFan2020]

I've always had my temp taken from my mouth for as long as I can remember

I have a few memories of having my temperature taken rectally. The latest was at a hospital visit at age six for an ear infection after my doctor’s office was closed for the day.

This always embarrassed me in addition to being uncomfortable because even at age six it would cause me to have an accident.( My rectal sphincter has always been a bit on the weak side.) The nurse was upset with me when she looked at my chart and noticed that I was older than I looked. The accident that time looked deliberate because I instinctively squatted (but (believe it or not) it really was an accident).

This must be a common response in the animal kingdom (especially in mammals) because my parents got a dog many years after this and she was housebroken early and hardly ever had an accident (either kind) (despite her rather stubborn personality). But when the vet did a rectal exam (or took her temperature rectally) she would almost invariably “go“ in the vet’s office or the lobby and instinctively squat (like I used to) and she even seemed to be upset about doing it (more than I ever was (she cried and I didn’t))...

 

[perlFerret]

I clearly recall having temperature taken rectally around 3 and 4 years old. I have a hypersensitive gag reflex so it was just the default.

 

[Kayleigh]

Back in the 50s the rectal thermometer was the way it was done for babies. I also seem to recall taking my kids temperatures that way in the very early 80s.
Now I don’t think you can even buy them although one of my digital thermometers has a setting for rectal temperatures.
Remember that for babies before the digital age, that was the only way you could do it. Try telling an infant to hold a thermometer under their tongue. LOL

 

[Kymi]

Sounds really dangerous to put a glass mercury thermometer inside you

It's quite safe and has been for years - as long as you don't bite it.
My aunt has one.
But you wouldn't would you.
We all use digital thermometers here.

 

[Billies1]

When I grew up in Denmark in the 1960's and 1970's rectal thermometers was the only way to take one's temperature. All used them and it was never considered anything special or uncomfortable. I think the first time I ever knew about other methods was when an oral thermometer was used in a movie I saw as a big child. I guess the movie was either English or American. I couldn't understand why anybody would put a thermometer in the mouth as they couldn't eat or talk with it there.

Sometimes I read stories where I suspect that the authors don't really know how to use a rectal thermometer. The best positions are lying on the back with lifted knees or at your side with bent hips so the anus can easily open a little. You never lie on the stomach for taking rectal temperature. And just the tip of the thermometer goes inside (1-2 cm) so it is held by the sphincter. Never put it in deeper. That is uncomfortable and may hurt the rectum.

Very good reply. I was born in 1946 and the ONLY way to take your temp for many years was rectal. I can remember having my temp taken with a mercury thermometer rectally both at the doctors and at home by my mother until I was somewhere between 8-9. Always with a well lubed thermometer. Mom was much more gentle than the doctor. His temperature taking hurt, hers didn’t. A mother’s love I guess.

 

[Chess]

I wonder why some cultures prefer sticking a thermometer under the tongue as soon as a kid is old enough to hold it there, while other cultures prefer the more reliable and less intrusive rectal thermometer (it only goes a few centimeters in). If your culture doesn't associate rectal temperature with shame, you will discover that it is a good method that in no way is physically uncomfortable when done correctly.

 

[Billies1]

I know. I think America has a homophobic fear of rectal temperature taking. There might be a fear of “making “ a child gay if you take their temperature rectally. It’s silly o know but society can be that way.

 

[Zeke]

Yes. Rectal temperature is the most accurate. I exclusively take my temperature rectally. My IRL dad told me he had his temp taken rectally until he was 8 which is crazy. Most websites say stop rectal readings at 3, 4, or 5. The only alternatives to oral or rectal are underarm and forehead which are very inaccurate. When I have kids, I will take their temperatures rectally until 3, 4, or 5 as recommended. When they can hold the oral thermometer under their tongues and keep their mouths closed around the thermometer and prefer oral to rectal, that's what we'll do.

It amazes me how people’s plans, that don’t have children, change so much when they become people that actually have children.

 

[FridgeMagnetFish]

Um... there is a much better option for kids these days; The infrared in-ear thermometers, they are widely available, affordable and accurate.

 

[Zeke]

Temperatures taken rectally are among the most accurate and the easiest secured when dealing with a sick child. The number of blood vessels that populate the area is huge which is one reason to be very careful what you insert there as it will soon enter your bloodstream. I was reading about civil war surgeries, and those prior to this period, and was surprised to learn that surgeons often used cigars as suppositories to help sedate and as pain mediation for their patients back then. All those blood vessels would absorb the massive amounts of nicotine, that was present in these “pre tobacco byproducts and filler” modern cigars, and act to sedate the patient. The literature didn’t say if they took their temperature rectally as long as they were already down there. After the cigar the thermometer wouldn’t be that tight of a fit!

 

[GoodnitesLover8]

Um... there is a much better option for kids these days; The infrared in-ear thermometers, they are widely available, affordable and accurate.

It depends on what your definition of accurate is. Plus or minus 2 degrees F is far too inaccurate for my liking. Oral is accurate to plus or minus 0.5 degrees F. Rectal is accurate to plus or minus 0.1 F

 

[GoodnitesLover8]

It amazes me how people’s plans, that don’t have children, change so much when they become people that actually have children.

Nope. I will always follow the science. Always have and always will. Some plans of mine really are set in stone. One of those is caring enough about my children's wellbeing to use the correct temperature-taking method for their development milestones.

 

[Billies1]

Nope. I will always follow the science. Always have and always will. Some plans of mine really are set in stone. One of those is caring enough about my children's wellbeing to use the correct temperature-taking method for their development milestones.

No matter what their age?

 

[Zeke]

Nope. I will always follow the science. Always have and always will. Some plans of mine really are set in stone. One of those is caring enough about my children's wellbeing to use the correct temperature-taking method for their development milestones.

“The best laid plans of mice and men...“

 

[GoodnitesLover8]

“The best laid plans of mice and men...“

Not exactly sure what would force me to unexpectedly change a temperature-taking method.....

 

[ZpyTim]

My earliest memory is having my temperature taken rectally. When I was two, my mother said she put me in my crib with my bottle. During the winter's night I got very sick and was rushed to the ER. Upon arrival, I was stripped naked and the only part I vividly remember is being crouched on my feet on a very cold silver tray and having a thermometer stuck up my bum. I was so fearful of falling over or setting on it and breaking it off! Why the doctor didn't lay me on my tummy with a blanket is beyond me.

 

[Nam Repaid]

Yea my Mom was a nurse from the 40s and rectally was the only way! I've played back there ever since I was a child, because of it? I don't know. With the Covid thing and taking temps so often I find the wait for the beep is way easier back there than under my tongue.

 

[Zeke]

Not exactly sure what would force me to unexpectedly change a temperature-taking method.....

Kids have a way of disrupting and changing the most thoroughly thought out plans of adults....it’s their gift in life. Not saying that your temperature taking regiment will fall victim to their challenges but it’s like the say “even the best plan doesn’t survive contact with the enemy”.