Welch Allyn Thermometer

Hey everyone! I’ve been looking into try to buy the Welch Allyn SureTemp thermometer with the probe and it looks pretty costly $150-250 range. I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a place to get it cheaper. I’ve used glass thermometers and the digital ones and curious how everyone likes the probe thermometer so reviews would also be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Also random potentially dumb question…could you use the oral probe as a rectal and it still read the same?

No you can't according to Welch Allyn they said it is to prevent cross contamination

Thank you for the heads up definitely would be disappointing to get the my girlfriend ass up and probe her with it only to get all zeros or a blank screen. Really interested in getting one just trying to find one at a reasonable price

I’ve never liked digital thermometers they’re just not the same as the glass ones.🌡️

I got very lucky and purchased one on Ebay, complete with the RED rectal probe. It was less then $80 delivered. It was used but functioned perfectly. I purchased a box of probe covers from a medical supply store for around $20.

That particular thermometer holds a very special place in my heart as it was what dumped fuel on my med fet fire as a younger person.

I got very lucky and purchased one on Ebay, complete with the RED rectal probe. It was less then $80 delivered. It was used but functioned perfectly. I purchased a box of probe covers from a medical supply store for around $20.

That particular thermometer holds a very special place in my heart as it was what dumped fuel on my med fet fire as a younger person.

Nice catch man :-)

I have one but still greatly prefer a glass mercury thermometer. By the way, the oral probe works fine rectally. The coding is to prevent using the oral probe rectally in a clinic and then using it orally. The probe has no way to tell where it is being used.

Unless you just prefer the experience of a hospital style thermometer, don't waste your money. These things are notorious misfits in a medical setting, believe me. They're either too slow, give wild numbers, or eat batteries like candy. IMO, they're an overpriced, overrated ripoff.

Also random potentially dumb question…could you use the oral probe as a rectal and it still read the same?

I have one of these and the metal tip is sharp, which can easily puncture the anus.

@Nurse Nikki –– "Unless you just prefer the experience of a hospital style thermometer, don't waste your money. These things are notorious misfits in a medical setting, believe me. They're either too slow, give wild numbers, or eat batteries like candy. IMO, they're an overpriced, overrated ripoff."

About 12 years ago my husband and I were on vacation in a suburb of Minneapolis when on a Sunday morning I had a terrible headache, nausea and vomiting. My husband took me in my pajamas to an urgent care where an MD and two nurses (all female) paid close attention to me, as there were no other patients at the time.

One of the nurses took my rectal temperature with a Welch Allyn unit probe while as I was lying on a bed gagging into a plastic bucket. The nurse said she was going to take it "in my bottom" and even apologized, but it happened so fast that I hardly felt it. I mention this because it was the first time that I'd had my temp taken in my behind with a Welch Allyn probe, and how different it felt from a glass rectal thermometer that we have at home. I asked one of the nurses if they liked the Welch Allyn unit. "We love it, patients love it," she said. She told me that my temp was 100.8.

@Vicki_V - so what was the diagnosis for your problem?

I would just buy a flexible digital thermometer, which is a similar product for a fraction of the cost. I happen to dislike digital thermometers. They don’t duplicate the great sensation that you get with a vintage glass rectal type.

@Vicki_V - so what was the diagnosis for your problem?

The doctor said it was likely a 24-hour stomach flu, although I also thought it was connected to something that I ate the night before at a Thai restaurant.

I never could read the old glass thermometers. The scale is too small and the contrast isn't great either.

This discussion reminds me of a recent trip to the auto parts store. I needed a tire pressure gauge.

I'm used to the analog type with the marked stem that pops out and displays the pressure on a ruler. Modern ones have a simple display and cost a few dollars. The clerk just said, "The digital ones work just as well."

I bought the digital gauge. Works fine.