Let’s talk thermometers

[jodi]

When we got sick, I realized I had only one old digital thermometer in the house, and no extra batteries. And my friends couldn’t find thermometers in the store at that point. I even went searching through the vet stuff in the garage looking for the massive glass/mercury rectal thermometers I used to have but realized that I got rid of all the glass/mercury ones because I didn’t want them breaking during our numerous moves. Once we got out of our month long quarantine, and the stores got restocked, I bought two more digitals and an alcohol one.

[LuFins Dad]

We got the wand for Finley’s sake, but I am not trusting it.

The weird thing is it was the one in the middle when I tested all three on myself.

[Doctor Phibes]

It seems to me that the old fashioned mercury thermometer is either going to be really consistent and accurate, or not work at all, due to the sealed nature of the device, so it's not going to give readings that are inaccurate but look plausible, because once it's broke, it's really broke. Presumably you can't buy them any more, so the glass ones will have to use alcohol or something.

Once you start adding electronic sensors, and processing and shit, then you're adding in a lot more things than can go out of of whack.

We recently replaced a modern oral thermometer like the Vick's, which was all over the place and wildly inaccurate, for a forehead type, which to be honest I don't have a lot of faith with, but at least seems to be consistent.

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Let’s talk thermometers:

seems to be consistent

And that's probably the second biggest virtue (accuracy being first, of course).

[Doctor Phibes]

If it's not consistent, it almost certainly isn't accurate.

The problem with the forehead method is we don't know how accurately it's going to perform if anybody does get a fever, and at that point, it's probably too late to worry.

I think I might buy a liquid-in-glass as a backup. At least, I would if I could find one.

[Klaus]

The main problem with thermometers is to have a consistent strategy in the family whether to stick it in the mouth or - well, you know the other location. It's preferable not to mix this up.

[Doctor Phibes]

I heard that the rectal method was more accurate, but I can't get the freaking IR beam to shine up there.

[Jolly]

Of course, it's a pain to clean up mercury after one of the old thermometers would break.

And if you think that's fun, I had a gal drop a column barometer she was cleaning. Probably 300 or 400 mls of mercury. Everywhere!

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Let’s talk thermometers:

I heard that the rectal method was more accurate, but I can't get the freaking IR beam to shine up there.

You know the difference between a rectal and an oral thermometer, of course....

[LuFins Dad]

@George-K said in Let’s talk thermometers:

@Doctor-Phibes said in Let’s talk thermometers:

I heard that the rectal method was more accurate, but I can't get the freaking IR beam to shine up there.

You know the difference between a rectal and an oral thermometer, of course....

Depends on who is talking, no?

[George K]

@LuFins-Dad said in Let’s talk thermometers:

You know the difference between a rectal and an oral thermometer, of course....

Depends on who is talking, no?

The taste.

[jon-nyc]

I know this isn’t helpful in the moment, but don’t presume accuracy, just get a baseline.

I take my temperature every morning and have done so for over 4 years with the same device. It is always quite low, some of that is me, some of that is probably the device. But I don’t care because I know what is a normal read.

In early March I bought two more devices for Rachel and the boy. Just during covid, they’ve been taking it every day also,

[Doctor Phibes]

@jon-nyc said in Let’s talk thermometers:

I know this isn’t helpful in the moment, but don’t presume accuracy, just get a baseline.

That's what we've been doing, too. The IR thermometer consistently reads around 97.6, so I'm assuming it's about a degree low. Hopefully this will remain constant in the event of a fever.