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Can Temperature Be Checked Any Other Way Apart From Oral?

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Posted on Mon, 4 Jul 2016
Question: If i go to the doctor and I wanted my temperature taking a certain way can I request that.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (55 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Yes,you can

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to HCM,

Yes,you can request to take the temperature by your way.

Usually temperature is taken orally but it can also be taken axillary or rectally.you can request to take axillary or rectal temperature if you are not sure about the oral readings.

The rectal temperature is best among all since it is more accurate and reliable.

Regards,

Dr.Sandip Kabra

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina
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Follow up: Dr. Sandip Kabra (36 minutes later)
So if I request rectal they would take it like that because I do not trust oral temperature taking

Sometimes at night when I'm asleep I will wake up and I would feel like that I am running a fever I will check my temperature by mouth and it will show that I am not running a fever how can I find out if I am running a fever or not
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Yes,they can take.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to HCM,

yes,if you would request them they would take it.

However,I would like to say that there will not be much difference between the oral and rectal temperature clinically which may help to diagnose the underlying cause of fever.

Suppose by oral temperature your reading is 99.5 F and by rectal your reading has come 100.4 F,so the difference would be almost 1 degree F which are both mild fever (not moderate or severe) from clinical perspective.

And they can be seen in plenty of conditions which need to be rule out by complete medical history,clinical symptoms and some relevant blood or urine tests.

Means for a clinician or a physician,it will not give any other extra advantage after taking rectal temperature especially in adults.

So,for that reason doctors and hospitals usually prefer to take oral or Axillary temperature rather than rectal despite the later is more accurate.

To answer your second question,

You can first take surface temperature by putting back of hand over forehead,over upper limbs and abdomen skin whether the skin is warm or not. It is a conventional method although less reliable.

After that you can count your (resting) pulse rate for a whole one minute and if it is more than normal of yours (suppose yours normal is 75/min and if it is showing 95 to 100/min or more),then you may suspect that you are having a mild fever.

Hope this detailed clinical explanation would be helpful.

Regards,

Dr.Sandip kabra


Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina
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Answered by
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Dr. Sandip Kabra

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2009

Answered : 3078 Questions

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Can Temperature Be Checked Any Other Way Apart From Oral?

Brief Answer: Yes,you can Detailed Answer: Hi, Welcome to HCM, Yes,you can request to take the temperature by your way. Usually temperature is taken orally but it can also be taken axillary or rectally.you can request to take axillary or rectal temperature if you are not sure about the oral readings. The rectal temperature is best among all since it is more accurate and reliable. Regards, Dr.Sandip Kabra