The ear method is recommended for children older than 2 years old. The rectal method can be used to check for fevers in newborns and young children. Use a rectal thermometer only if you are comfortable doing so and a health care provider has shown you how to do it safely. For more detailed instructions on how to take a temperature using the rectal method, speak to your health care provider.
After a thermometer has been used to take a rectal temperature, do not use it to take an oral temperature. Make sure that the rectal thermometer is clearly marked so that it is not used orally.
The armpit method is less accurate and is normally only used if the person is extremely drowsy or not clear mentally. Temperatures may vary throughout the day, rising as much as 1 degree in the morning and reaching a maximum during the late afternoon. Mild increases may be caused by exercising, too much clothing or bedding, taking a hot bath or being outside in hot weather. A fever is part of the normal process of fighting an infection.
Usually, it goes away after 3 days. You can take a temperature using the mouth oral , anus rectal , armpit axillary , or ear tympanic. But the temperature readings vary depending on which one you use, and you need an accurate body temperature to determine if a fever is present. Medical research hasn't determined an exact correlation between oral, rectal, ear, armpit, and forehead temperature measurements.
Generally, the correlation of temperature results are as follows:. When you talk with your doctor about your temperature, be sure to say what method was used to take the temperature. The temperature comparison table below will give you the range of temperature correlation with the different methods used to take a temperature. For information about taking accurate temperatures in infants and children, see the topic Body Temperature.
Blahd Jr. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: William H. Once thermometer triple bleeps, remove thermometer probe tip from ear. The patient temperature and probe eject icons will be displayed. Storing the thermometer in the base unit keeps it safe from damage and allows it to return to sleep mode. The blood supply of the tympanic membrane from the common carotid artery is shared with the hypothalamus.
As the ear canal and tympanic membrane have no inherent metabolic activity, then the temperature of the tympanic membrane should be primarily determined by this blood supply.
This means that the tympanic membrane temperature should in theory closely represent the hypothalamic temperature. As such, it is easy to understand why a number of studies find the tympanic thermometer can be a more accurate reflection of core temperature and a more accurate indicator of fever.
The tympanic thermometer uses infrared light to detect thermal radiation. Temperature is measured by inserting the probe into the auditory canal. The thermometer probe then scans and after a few seconds records the amount of infrared energy emitted by the tympanic membrane.
The tympanic or aural route has become popular in paediatrics and, provided correct technique has been used, it has a number of advantages over other methods of thermometry. Advantages include it being a more accurate reflection of core temperature, it is non-invasive, is quick and relatively easy to use and is comfortable for the child.
Other advantages of tympanic or aural thermometry are that the procedure itself is more hygienic, less invasive and safer than other forms of thermometry. Despite the increasing widespread use of tympanic or aural thermometry in paediatrics it is important that the nurse is aware that some studies have highlighted some limitations in its use. Some studies advise that tympanic thermometers should be used with extreme caution and only as an indication of temperature.
If the probe is not correctly placed this can result in the thermometer scanning the ear canal instead of the tympanic membrane and thus give a falsely low temperature reading. This can be more likely where there are multiple personnel taking temperatures.
Education of all staff using tympanic thermometers is essential to ensure reduction in user error and negative influence on temperature readings.
Some studies have highlighted the fact that the ear canal in infants and children can be very different lengths, and as such the thermometer probes may be too large for smaller infants thus potentially influencing the accuracy of the temperature measurement.
Tympanic temperature readings may also be affected by the ambient temperature such as from incubators or may vary depending upon whether the ear used has been exposed to air or on a pillow or mattress. There are conditions where tympanic thermometry may be contraindicated and these include the infant or child who has significant ear pathology, a foreign body in the ear or has moisture in the ear, such as cerebrospinal fluid or blood. Remember that a tympanic thermometer must be cared for and stored correctly and some must be recalibrated every 12 months.
Any abnormality must be documented and reported to nurse-in-charge and doctor. Bailey, J Rose, P Axillary and tympanic membrane temperature recording in the preterm neonate: a comparative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing , Vol. Ear infections e. A further study comparing rectal temperature measurement with infrared tympanic thermometer measurement did not find excellent agreement of results [ 19 ].
Similar results to the present study were obtained by Chue et al. More than one reading was used by Chue et al. Likewise, Rabbani et al. However, Edelu et al. Findings from the present study support the use of infrared tympanic membrane thermometers, because of their safety, ease of use and the fast speed for obtaining temperature readings.
Moreover, the hazards of mercury toxicity makes infrared thermometers preferable to the old mercury glass thermometers, although some might prefer the latter based on their low cost compared with tympanic membrane thermometers. One of the limitations of the present study was the use of axillary temperature as a measurement of core temperature rather than the rectal one.
Axillary temperature is easy to use, commonly used in our setting and might be acceptable by the traditions and customs in this setting. Pulmonary artery temperature correlates best with core temperature, but to measure this requires an invasive procedure which is unsuitable for use in routine emergency care practice. Furthermore, this study did not include patients with hypothermia, and so its findings cannot be extrapolated to newborns or to patients with hypothermia.
Further studies including these groups should be carried out to support the wider use of tympanic membrane thermometers. In this study, tympanic membrane thermometry was as reliable and as accurate as axillary mercury glass thermometry.
Thus, tympanic membrane thermometry can be used in the clinical practice, because it is easy to use and the speed of obtaining the temperature reading. Sund-Levander M, Grodzinsky E: Time for a change to assess and evaluate body temperature in clinical practice.
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Am J Physiol. Google Scholar. Nierman DM: Core temperature measurement in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Med. Indian J Pediatr. Ann Saudi Med. BMC Res Notes. Pearce JM: A brief history of the clinical thermometer. Ann Coll Surg HK.
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