Accuracy of rectal temps

I have a niece who chose that method for birth control. It's inaccuracy is how she and her husband got baby number three.

It might not be effective but it sounds like a really fun way to do it to me.

@MissStress said

I have a niece who chose that method for birth control. It's inaccuracy is how she and her husband got baby number three.

She could have had an abortion to get rid of that problem.

I was just posting about the inaccuracies of using your temperature as a guide for birth control. Commenting on or about abortion is definitely not what the topic of this discussion is about.

It seems that over the years that we have sacrificed accuracy for convenience. With the speed that some infectious diseases and the influenza spreads, it is better to be more accurate.

It seems to me that the forehead scans are not working very well for screening COVID19 . I don't know if RT would be any better, but it sure would make airports more fun.

It seems to me that the forehead scans are not working very well for screening COVID19 . I don't know if RT would be any better, but it sure would make airports more fun.

It's because body temperature is not a good way to screen for COVID19. But then again that may not be the point, the point might just be to LOOK like the government is doing something. Sadly an all-too-common goal.

With an accurate thermometer all temperature readings are accurate insofar as they are a reading of the temperature in that immediate area of the body. Rectal just happens to be the core reading, so if you want core there is no need to adjust.

We spent 5 hours in the ER this morning. They used under the tongue thermometers with disposable "sleeves". I asked the nurse about temporal and she said they can be skewed by the weather - if you come in from the cold or extreme heat. Didn't ask about rectal......

There are a couple of guaranteed ways to get a rectal temp. Do it yourself, or get a willing partner. In a medical setting, at least in the U.S., it's really unlikely to happen. If in the real world, the difference between a degree or two, meant life or death, then rectal temps. would be the only acceptable method. I'm reasonably sure, that most folks would reluctantly accept it, if they had no choice. Almost like having blood drawn.

Oh no question as to accuracy. It is the MOST accurate method...the frequent question is HOW accurate does it need to be? Sometimes oral or forehead is sufficient.

Definitely the most accurate from what I have been told etc. But I want to say I don’t think the one or two degree difference from oral is that important.

I have seen oral temperatures with a digital thermometer be way out of sync. Varying by a couple of degrees within a couple of minutes. One or two degrees can be significant especially when it varies from 101 to 102 or from 102 to 103.

With few exceptions, I wasn't concerned about absolute accuracy with my gang when it came to temps. Orals were the norm when my girls were growing up, and a half degree one way or another was close enough.

One time my older got a stapf infection from a leg wound after being on a biology field trip, and it was serious. She was in the hospital for a couple of days, and I took her rectal temperature later at home. My younger had her wisdom teeth removed and then got very sick. Scared the hell out of Rob and me. I was taking her temperature every hour or so until her fever broke. We still have that glass thermometer. It's as accurate as the digital we also have.

Everyone is always talking about the accuracy of rectal temperatures in comparison to other methods.

I was wondering is anyone actually compared the readings of several thermometers at the same time measuring the temperature of a vessel.

I have about a dozen mercury thermometers in the house and tested six of them against each other. The thermometers were all intact, not broken and in good physical condition. I shook down the mercury on all the thermometers to below 96F. I warmed a four quart pot full of water to ensure the temperature would remain constant and let it rest for the temperature to stabilize and placed the thermometers in the pot which was covered for five minutes.

Their readings ranged from 98.6F to 100.2F.

Everyone is always talking about the accuracy of rectal temperatures in comparison to other methods.

I was wondering is anyone actually compared the readings of several thermometers at the same time measuring the temperature of a vessel.

I have about a dozen mercury thermometers in the house and tested six of them against each other. The thermometers were all intact, not broken and in good physical condition. I shook down the mercury on all the thermometers to below 96F. I warmed a four quart pot full of water to ensure the temperature would remain constant and let it rest for the temperature to stabilize and placed the thermometers in the pot which was covered for five minutes.

Their readings ranged from 98.6F to 100.2F.

@SwitchableSusieSusie - were the thermometers you tested a cross between rectal and oral??

Everybody agrees that the temperature in the rectum is the about as close to core body temp you can measure without being invasive (liver probe etc...) Given the amount of variation in the thermometers Susie tested - isn't it reasonable to assume that rectal thermometers could have as much variation? I doubt the rectal thermometers are any better than the oral thermometers.

A thermometer is a thermometer. It reads the temperature of whatever you immerse it in.

The only difference between a rectal and oral thermometer is the shape of the bulb. They both will read the same temperature.

Even though it's the gold standard of accuracy, rectal temps. beyond age 3, are no longer recommended by the healthcare community, at least in the U.S.,with the exception of hypothermia measurement, or something similar. I seriously doubt that anyone under 40, would connect with the idea of a thermometer up the butt, and very few would even consider it as a temperature method. It would almost be like someone from the 19th century looking for leaches to remove tainted blood. Today's world is all about convenience, and speed. That's why the infrared units have taken over. Can you imagine lines in the airport or the workplace, being slowed down by rectal temps., being done with a vintage glass thermometer ? You would see riots and lawsuits over that. Most things in life don't demand exact accuracy. I love rectal temps., but they're not absolutely necessary.

@SwitchableSusie....I agree with your post.

@SwitchableSusie What a BUZKILL! I was imagining one of the new measures needed after we get out of this mess we are in might be rectal temp required to enter a building : )

Perhaps, by a tiny bit.

But not enough to offset all the pushback a medical practice would get by sticking a thermometer in each patient's rectum.

Can you imagine the outcry? In a day and age where "empowered women" are claiming a routine lifesaving procedure like a Pap smear is a sign of an oppressive, racist patriarcy, what doctor or nurse would dare ask a patient to bare his or her buttocks for a temperature check when an oral or forehead thermometer is sufficiently accurate within fractions of a degree?

I'd say it is a matter of record that rectal temps are the most accurate. In heat or cold injury, the standard is a rectal thermometer in the hiney. Why they aren't standard in all clinical settings is the invasive nature for the patient.

Near dawn every morning, a nurse walks into the hospital room, wakes the patient and subjects him or her to what for many remains a humiliating procedure, although it has become routine: insertion of a rectal thermometer. "The importance of this entrenched practice," said last week's Journal of the American Medical Association, "is so universally accepted that, like the mechanics of normal breathing, it is rarely discussed or even considered." – Published in Time Magazine, 1966

The article goes on to say that it's time for the AMA to reconsider this practice.

In 1984, I was hospitalized after a cycling accident and underwent multiple surgeries, including reconstruction on my chin and jaw. I could only sip nourishment through a straw, and it was very painful. Nurses took temps up my butt day and night with a probe that took only about 15 seconds. They did wake me at 7 a.m. and stick a probe into me. I had a young roommate for some of the time. She was 21 and was nervous that the nurses would take her temp the same way, but it was always oral.

@Vicki_V In those years, in French hospitals, they did rectal temperatures on everybody, adults included. The only thing was that if you were old enough and not incapacitated, you were expected to stick the thermometer in your behind after the nurse handed it to you, and to retrieve it and hand it over when the nurse came back. At 9 I was considered old enough and the nurses assumed I knew about the procedure. They used glass thermometers, I don't recall what the liquid inside was (the nurse read the results anyways).

My own mother would not allow any other method than rectal because she considered the other methods (including oral) to be unreliable. Same thing, once the child was old enough to deal with the insertion she did not do it on a regular basis.

This avoided the humiliation factor.

(Though mom continued giving suppositories herself for years after she had stopped sticking the thermometer in, for some reason, and it was embarrassing, thank you very much.)

Without a doubt rectal is the most accurate temperature it is why it is referred to as the core temperature and is used still to this day as a routine thing in emergency rooms and hospitals when a absolutely accurate temperature is needed.

@Pecan_nutjob the liquid in glass thermometers was mercury. These days it can be alcohol, other chemicals, or even colored water.

Accuracy of recording a person's temperature is dependent upon the accuracy of the device recording the temperature rather than the general location (mouth, rectum, armpit, etc.) Most devices designed to record human core temperature (mechanical thermometers, digital ones, infrared, etc.) are considered accurate and will, therefore, record accuaratley no matter where they are placed/directed. If the same instrument is used both orally and rectally, there will be little deviation, one reading from the other.

Average human core temperature is approximately 98.6 ° (F) (my healthy core temp is ~97.8°) and can differ from person to person as well as change throughout the day due to enivrontmental factors such as: just drank hot coffee, been sitting in 56° room for 6 hours, is genuinely ill, and other conditions. The correct core temperature is a range, not a single precise number. I think most ER medical personel would take corrective action for a dangerous level if the reading was 102.8° rather than wait for 103°.

My last visit to an ER was about 7 years ago and my temperature was 'taken' with an infrared thermometer pointed at my forehead.

98.6° is normal, but does not reach the "high" setpoint until it exceedes 100° and doesn't reach "dangerous" until it exceeds 103°. Because it is a range, gross accuracy is all that is really needed.

There is little/no reason to be concerned about accuracy of the reading unless one has a fetish for the math involved over an extended period of time. An experienced back-of-the-hand on a forehead can provide enough information whether an individual's temperature is normal, high/low, or dangerous.

Last comment: I've looked at a lot of 'net articles that claim rectal temp is the most accurate, but none of them are what I'd consider medically trustworthy, and none of them have provided information on scientific peer-reviewed studies to support their claims.

I can’t imagine any teen or adult being subjected to a rectal temperature, with the exception of a medical emergency which would warrant it. Even in pediatric wards and psychiatric units, I don’t think that you’ll see it happening. Technology and privacy have transformed everything.

@Pecan_nutjob the liquid in glass thermometers was mercury. These days it can be alcohol, other chemicals, or even colored water.

Accuracy of recording a person's temperature is dependent upon the accuracy of the device recording the temperature rather than the general location (mouth, rectum, armpit, etc.) Most devices designed to record human core temperature (mechanical thermometers, digital ones, infrared, etc.) are considered accurate and will, therefore, record accuaratley no matter where they are placed/directed. If the same instrument is used both orally and rectally, there will be little deviation, one reading from the other.

Average human core temperature is approximately 98.6 ° (F) (my healthy core temp is ~97.8°) and can differ from person to person as well as change throughout the day due to enivrontmental factors such as: just drank hot coffee, been sitting in 56° room for 6 hours, is genuinely ill, and other conditions. The correct core temperature is a range, not a single precise number. I think most ER medical personel would take corrective action for a dangerous level if the reading was 102.8° rather than wait for 103°.

My last visit to an ER was about 7 years ago and my temperature was 'taken' with an infrared thermometer pointed at my forehead.

98.6° is normal, but does not reach the "high" setpoint until it exceedes 100° and doesn't reach "dangerous" until it exceeds 103°. Because it is a range, gross accuracy is all that is really needed.

There is little/no reason to be concerned about accuracy of the reading unless one has a fetish for the math involved over an extended period of time. An experienced back-of-the-hand on a forehead can provide enough information whether an individual's temperature is normal, high/low, or dangerous.

Last comment: I've looked at a lot of 'net articles that claim rectal temp is the most accurate, but none of them are what I'd consider medically trustworthy, and none of them have provided information on scientific peer-reviewed studies to support their claims.

what was the basis, then, for constant references to rectal temperatures as the “gold standard”? As recently as the 1980s when I was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer they initially took my temperature orally but switched to rectal when I began running a fever unexpectedly.

I can’t imagine any teen or adult being subjected to a rectal temperature, with the exception of a medical emergency which would warrant it. Even in pediatric wards and psychiatric units, I don’t think that you’ll see it happening. Technology and privacy have transformed everything.

Exactly. Even 15-20 years ago when I was taking my infant children to the pediatrician, the nurse was getting their temp with a forehead scanner. I don't think I ever saw one get a temp rectally.

If they aren't already, rectal temps will soon be relegated to veterinary practices and medical fetishists.

If I find myself having my rectal temperature taken, it is because I asked or it was necessary and more times than not especially if I requested that, and it was done, I was told it is( at those times) was the best way to have a temperature taken. It may save time and repetition of the reading if first taken orally, by ear, underarm or scanned which if considered high might well be verified rectally.

Here is a paragraph from the Mayo Clinic website. Apparently, Rectal temps are still recommended in cases of hyper-or hypothermia

“ If you're with someone who has heat exhaustion, seek immediate medical help if they become confused or distressed, lose consciousness, or are unable to drink. If their core body temperature — measured by a rectal thermometer — reaches 104 F (40 C) or higher, they need immediate cooling and urgent medical attention.”

Rectal temps, or other core temperature measurements are still the gold standard and are used to monitor dangerous temperature deviations from normal.

In the ICU, core temp is now usually monitored by a thermistor in the urinary catheter. They used to use rectal probes.

I think they are the most accurate to be honest . I will tell you back in 2017 I was helping my friend steph move into her new apartment. She claimed to have had a headache and everything and just wasn’t feeling great so I offered to take her to med express and she said no not yet. So I said hang on let me feel your forehead and it was super warm. I said no steph we need to figure out this now you’re burning up. I said hang on there is a dollar store right down the road I will go get a thermometer. She said okay and laid down so went and got one just a basic digital one and came back checked her temperature orally and it said was 98.8 normal I said no fucking way . She even agreed I said well steph there is another way to check. She gave me this stunned look and said ohh hell no absolutely not . I said okay but thing is your burning up and I think it’s import to know how hot you are to help you after a few minutes she reluctantly agreed . So I had her lay down and everything stick the thermometer in her butt and that after it beeps I pull it out it says 103.2 I said that’s seem more like it so we went to med express after . They did it orally there was I think the same thing . And we both looked at each other didn’t want to say check it rectally . But steph spoke up first she said don’t judge us here we’re friend but I was really sick eariler and he actually checked it up my butt and it came to 103.2 the lady at med express just gave an odd look and said I mean we can do it that way if you want we just need to go to a room and that steph said fine. Steph asked that I come with her and they agreed to let me be present . So we go in the room and they tell steph to bend over the exam table. She does that .. we hear a knock on the door and we say come in the nurse walks in very nice lady . Says I hear you guys have a request a rectal temperature we said yes. She said okay well if you can please lower your pants for me and I will get this taken care of she steph does that and everything the nurse lube up the thermometer and inserts it into steph’s butt . After a few

Minutes it reads 102.3 the nurse then removed it and said what was it before and she looked and said wow what a difference yes your definitely running a facet but don’t worry we will get you taken care of . So there is why I think they are the most accurate might not be the way people want it checked but sometimes it’s needed