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 the 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.