Basal Body Temperature - Basics

[Guest guest]

Please can someone explain to me (or give me a link)as to why digital

thermometers cannot be used to measure basal body temperature. All evidence I

have read is that they are at least as accurate as mercury thermometers.

Also why measure temperature orally. Surely rectally will give a more accurate

core body reading?

[Guest guest]

Hello Skewed Halo (do you

have a name we can call you - or even just an initial?), you are absolutely

correct. Rectal temperature is the most accurate way but not all that many of us

want to do it that way? Also, it runs the slight risk of injury to the

rectum or, dare I say it, losing the thermometer.

Next best to that is oral temperature, which is almost as reliable when done

correctly. You should not have anything to eat or drink within the last 10

minutes. If you have a mercury , mercury 'type' or a digital thermometer,

plate it under your tongue so that it sits down in the small

" pouch-like " area on either side of the piece of tissue that holds

the tongue down, (the frenulum). Hold it in your mouth closed and keep the

thermometer in place for a certain period of time. If you have a digital

thermometer, it will tell you when it's " done " . If you are

using an old " mercury thermometer " , the thermometer must stay under

the tongue for at least a minute to 2 minutes.

Mercury thermometers are being

phased out, but you can still buy them in certain places. You need to look for

a mercury 'clinical' thermometer. The mercury inside is highly toxic and should

you break the thermometer in your mouth, this could cause serious problems if

you swallow the mercury.

The third way of taking the temperature, is under the arm. Make sure the

" reading " part of the thermometer is cantered in the middle of the

arm pit. Hold your arm firmly against your body for one minute, (or until

thermometer beeps). You need to *add* one degree to an axillary temperature to

make it accurate. This is not very accurate in people who are extremely

thin, or who have had their arms in the air for a period of time. Nor is

it accurate to obtain a temperature on anybody who has hypothermia.

If you use a digital thermometer

to graph your body temperature ALWAYS use the same thermometer and if checking

your temperature daily ALWAYS do it at the same time during the day - and remember

that you must ADD 1 degree to get an accurate reading.

However, if you read the

information here, you will see that NONE of the above methods are actually accurate

http://enw.org/Research-Thermometry.htm

Luv - Sheila

Please can someone explain to me (or give me a

link)as to why digital thermometers cannot be used to measure basal body

temperature. All evidence I have read is that they are at least as accurate as

mercury thermometers.

Also why measure temperature orally. Surely rectally will give a more accurate

core body reading?

[Guest guest]

Since mislaying my mercury thermometer about a year ago I've been using a

digital one. Somebody in the forum gave me the idea not to turn the digi

thermometer on immediately. In fact I turn mine on only after five minutes. That

way the battery lasts forever.

Hans

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> Please can someone explain to me (or give me a link)as to why digital

thermometers cannot be used to measure basal body temperature...