Mercury or digital?

Mercury thermometer lubricated with a glob of Vaseline.

I actually have 2 of Both. Both very accurate when compared.

Vintage glass mercury thermometers with a classic pear bulb is the ultimate, and sadly a thing of the past. Digital thermometers just aren’t the same, if you’re going to use them rectally. I don’t think they were even designed for that. They don’t stimulate the nerve endings well. They also register too fast.

Mercury cannot be found these days (because hazmat) but I have glass Gerathem.

Vintage or digital doesn't matter in the real world. We just don't have time to wait for a liquid to register. It's beep, chart, and on to the next!

Has to be mercury so you get that cool feeling as it is being slid in.

Being a Mom with a very ill daughter who suddenly came down with a high fever for 48 hours during the last months of the pandemic last Thanksgiving, it was a time to be sensible and not subject her to several minutes with a mercury thermometer in her bottom, even if it is "the most accurate." I bought a new digital so we had two digitals on hand, the new one I dabbed with a spot of red nail polish so not to mix them up. I was awake during the night and looking in on her to see how the Tylenol was working. A soft bendy tip with a pinch of Vaseline, so easily inserted for just 15 seconds, and I didn't have to sit on the bed waiting, either.

More seriously. It happened in the past that when we tried to use the electronic thermometer the battery was dead. A glass thermometer always works.

Mercury with no exceptions. Kept deep inside with a little bit of vaseline the longer you keep is better, not less than seven minutes!

Though digital thermometers are getting better, a simple well made mercury rectal thermometer is still the most accurate and reliable. I’ve bought digital thermometers that ended up dying in less than 6 months because of cheap batteries. And even the best digital thermometers are still somewhat less accurate than mercury because of variances in electronic components and thermocouples. Tympanic thermometers and temporal scanners are out of the question…too many conditions to alter a reliable reading.

A mercury rectal thermometer can sit stored in a cabinet untouched for 100 years, but will render an accurate reading the instant it gets used. Because mercury remains constant forever and tempered glass doesn’t degrade. Rectal is better than oral because the first couple inches in the rectum isn’t altered by outside factors like oral readings are by cold or hot drinks, sneezing and coughing, etc. In our household, if you’re sneezing and coughing with a suspected fever, the thermometer is going up the butt.

Though digital thermometers are getting better, a simple well made mercury rectal thermometer is still the most accurate and reliable. I’ve bought digital thermometers that ended up dying in less than 6 months because of cheap batteries. And even the best digital thermometers are still somewhat less accurate than mercury because of variances in electronic components and thermocouples. Tympanic thermometers and temporal scanners are out of the question…too many conditions to alter a reliable reading.

A mercury rectal thermometer can sit stored in a cabinet untouched for 100 years, but will render an accurate reading the instant it gets used. Because mercury remains constant forever and tempered glass doesn’t degrade. Rectal is better than oral because the first couple inches in the rectum isn’t altered by outside factors like oral readings are by cold or hot drinks, sneezing and coughing, etc. In our household, if you’re sneezing and coughing with a suspected fever, the thermometer is going up your butt.

I have both mercury and digital thermometers. I use mostly the digital one. The glass-mercury thermometer is a backup. Sometimes I use the glass one to double check the reading.

Mercury in glass. European style with pear shaped bulb. They may be branded Vitrum, Ada, Esska, Abes or Stille, but most of them were made in East Germany at TWG.

( Thermometer Werk Geraberg).

There are even some Exatherm, CS, that are very nice.Czech made.

Digital. Quick, easy and safe.

Have an old B-D glass mercury from the past. Never fails and brings back great memories. Have taken many RT with it as well as having it used on me. Still love the feeling to this day.

Glass rectal thermometer all the way, but I also have a digital one that I sometimes use out of convenience / if I’m in a “hurry”.

I prefer glass mercury thermometers. I've been using them for almost my entire life (well... the part of my life where I developed a rectal temperature fetish, of course). There was a time when I got my first electronic thermometer and decided to try measuring rectal temperature with it. But alas, that experiment was unsuccessful. That thermometer had a plastic body, welded together longitudinally from two halves, and along the weld line there was a sharp protruding seam that caused pain when inserting it into my butt. So I went back to glass ones. They really are better. The feeling of the fragility of the device you're working with, the cold glass it's made of, the need to anxiously shake it off before use - all of this is so important for truly enjoying rectal temperature. An electronic thermometer won't give you that, I'm sure!

Glass mercury. Feels different in a way I like. Also that’s what my friend used on me when we played doctor in high school. Powerful memories 😳

There’s a reason why vintage glass thermometers sell for a fortune, if you’re lucky enough to find them. They feel incredible in the rectum, and they’re extremely accurate. Digital is accurate, but they don’t provide any real excitement.

With digital you lose the shaking down ritual which is part of the act. Last time we did role play I still get off with the image of my gf shaking the thermometer down whilst over her knee knowing where it was about to go....

I used to have a glass mercury thermometer which I inserted into my urethra to take the temperature of my penis. A digital thermometer wouldn’t have been as much fun or have gone as deeply. The glass thermometer needed to be handled carefully so as to avoid breaking it which added to the fun.

My mother used to take my temperature with a mercury thermometer. I didn't like it because it always took forever. When I became a mother, I always took my children's temperature digitally because it only took a few seconds.

Today, I use glass Galistan thermometers from Geratherm. I simply prefer them to electronic ones.

For a while, there were also small prism thermometers with mercury in Germany. Are these still available in America or anywhere else in the world?

@Peti , I believe that the smaller glass prism thermometers are still manufactured in India. However, they seem to be available for European buyers only in bulk (i.e. 1000 pieces or more). 😒

Glass one when I want it to take longer or pleasure and a digital one for when it need to go quick. I have both and use both.

@Peti

My mother used to take my temperature with a mercury thermometer. I didn't like it because it always took forever. When I became a mother, I always took my children's temperature digitally because it only took a few seconds.

Today, I use glass Galistan thermometers from Geratherm. I simply prefer them to electronic ones.

For a while, there were also small prism thermometers with mercury in Germany. Are these still available in America or anywhere else in the world?

That is also true for me. May impression is that the Geratherm also feel better in the rectum. I also rember these prism thermomters and recall that I liked them a lot being in my butthole. Unfornutately they were only available in Gerrmany for a short time.

I like the smooth, cold feel of glass

The old mercury thermometers had to be given a hard flailing hand motion by the giver prior to use and it when viewed by the patient was usually met with trepidation, fear, dreadedness, or excited ,exilerating anticipation when inserted rectally by a nurse or other caregivers.