CLINICAL THERMOMETER

Description

A clinical thermometer is a device which is used for measuring human  body temperature. The tip of the thermometer is inserted into the mouth under the tongue (oral or sub-lingual temperature), under the armpit (axillary temperature), into the rectum via the anus (rectal temperature), into the ear (tympanic temperature), or on the forehead (temporal temperature).

Classification by location

Oral

Oral temperature may only be taken from a patient who is capable of holding the thermometer securely under the tongue, which generally excludes small children or people who are unconscious or overcome by coughing, weakness, or vomiting. (This is less of a problem with fast-reacting digital thermometers, but is certainly an issue with mercury thermometers, which take several minutes to stabilise their reading.) If the patient has drunk a hot or cold liquid beforehand time must be allowed for the mouth temperature to return to its normal value.

The typical range of a sub-lingual clinical thermometer for use in humans is from about 35 °C to 42 °C or 90 °F to 110 °F.

Armpit

The armpit (axilla) temperature is measured by holding the thermometer tightly under the armpit. One needs to hold the thermometer for several minutes to get an accurate measurement. The axillary temperature plus 1 °C is a good guide to the rectal temperature in patients older than 1 month.The accuracy from the axilla is known to be inferior to the rectal temperature.

Rectal