Soiled thermometer, "constipation" and withholding

When reading Zity and other sites, I was puzzled to read the following: a mother (or other caregiver) would take a rectal temperature and, if the thermometer came out soiled, would give an enema or other rectal laxative.

To me it did not make sense. When a person is constipated, feces may be stuck higher in the bowels than the rectum, so this test may fail to detect constipation. Furthermore, a rectal thermometer is inserted two centimeters, so it won't detect feces unless they basically rest on the anus.

I'm probably a bit of a slow thinker… but here is my theory about this.

First, people telling about such acts were Americans. In France, glass thermometers are composed of a thin part about two centimeters long, which is meant to be inserted, and a thicker part, about the width of a pinky finger, which is meant to be left outside (you can insert it and it won't hurt, since the transition from thin to thick is smooth, but that's not the way the thermometer is meant to be used). In contrast, American rectal thermometers used to be thin all the way, and could easily be inserted deeper than that. So inserting such a thermometer deeper could well detect feces in the rectum but not necessarily right on the anus.

French or German style thermometer https://en.zity.biz/index.php?mx=gallery;ox=showalbum;ax=7726

American rectal thermometer: https://en.zity.biz/index.php?mx=gallery;ox=showalbum;ax=11551

Second, this was probably not so much about constipation per se than about encopresis or "withholding", a condition where a person (most often, a child) does not feel feces in his or her rectum, or does not go have a bowel movement despite that feeling, with some unpleasant consequences. A parent of a "withholding" child may want to check for the presence of feces in the rectum to decide if it is necessary to force a bowel movement. An American-style thermometer inserted deep in the rectum and inspected for traces of fecal matter may be used for this. The alternative would be to conduct a digital rectal exam, which would be more traumatic and needs lubricating jelly, disposable gloves or finger cots, whereas a thermometer and Vaseline were typically already in house.

So it seems to me that these stories are about detecting "withholding" rather than constipation, and are plausible in a US context.

What do you think?

(I admit I was not aware of this condition before having children and coming to Zity. Since then, I've learned that it is not as uncommon as one would think, and very distressing for parents. An acquaintance of mine seemed to be at wits' end about her boy "withholding". I can understand that parents would try tricks like the thermometer. This may also explain some cases of children whose mother gave an enema once a week or twice a week.)

Your points are correct, but there is also the point that any amount of poop at all would be enough to justify giving an enema, according to a parent who wants to give an enema, and some of them just enjoyed doing it.

As a kid, I recall nurses occasionally mentioning, “we hit a little poopy with that one!” Well of course you did! Did they really expect not to? Like it wasn’t embarrassing enough without announcing it to everyone in the room?

I don’t recall my sometimes naturally poopy thermometer setting off any constipation alarms. It only meant I “had one in the chamber” at the moment, and tickling my rectum with a thermometer is what likely put it there.

You are probably correct.

I suspect that poo on the thermometer is a bit of a white lie.

If someone is really constipated and their rectum is ‘packed’ the poo is likely to be firm or hard and hence less likely to smear onto a lubed thermometer. What seems far more likely is that the person taking the temperature can feel the lumps of hard poo and uses the fiction of poo on the thermometer. Also, pushing a thermometer into hard poo requires more force so constipation can be felt.

As I've posted before, I strongly suspect that taking a rectal temperature before an enema serves entirely different purposes:

One purpose is to see what the recipient's reaction is to something up their butt… relax and acceptance or resistance.

The man purpose, IMO, is thorough and deep lubrication of the anal passage so the nozzle slips in easily. Some moms used a lubed finger, but a thermometer is less likely to be resisted.

@arttemp It seems that 40 years ago the idea that kids would appreciate some privacy had not permeated many adult female minds, and in fact it's still not the case today. I recall a pharmacist saying out loud that my mother was buying some children's suppositories, loud enough that a girl from the same school as me, waiting with her mother, looked at me and giggled.

And yes, I don't quite understand why they would make a notice that you have feces in the rectum, unless perhaps you had been made to go to the toilet just before (which would indicate withholding, worthy of investigation).

I suspect it falls in the category of old wives tale. I would think poop is fairly common. My doctor always has a white card ready to smear with any fecal matter on her glove after a DRE. She tests it for occult blood.

My mom or the nurse never did say anything if there was poo in the thermometer.