Where to Take Body Temperature

Video Transcript

"So when it comes to selecting where to use a digital thermometer, again, oral thermometers are for use in the oral cavity or you can also use them under the armpit. That can be a convenient way of taking a temperature in a younger child when your only option is an oral digital thermometer. Or somebody who's got oral discomfort, is recently post surgery, the axillary or armpit temperature is a good option. If you're going to take a rectal temperature you absolutely need to have a rectal thermometer. They're shaped differently at the end and they're calibrated to taking a rectal temperature. Normal rectal temperature is about 99 degrees Fahrenheit where as normal body temperature is going to be 98.6 or there abouts. Everybody's average is a little different. So with this thermometer if I were to use it to take an armpit temperature I would remember that armpit temperature is going to read about a degree cooler than what my body is actually at. So for the sake of accuracy I'm going to use this thermometer to take an oral temperature. And I'll be showing you how to do that with myself as the example."