View Full Version : Why do doctors take a rectal temperature?
JJ9040
Feb 26, 2012, 02:58 PM
I was at the doctor an they made me have a rectal temperature and is this weird or no? I'm a 15 year old girl and it was a check up
Fr_Chuck
Feb 26, 2012, 03:11 PM
Was there a specific illness you were being seen for.
But no that sounds strange, my son is 11 and they have not done that since he was about 4.
Wondergirl
Feb 26, 2012, 03:16 PM
Now there are thermometers that can be put inside your ear or even laid across your forehead. If the patient can't hold the thermometer in his mouth and under his tongue, some other way has to be done.
JJ9040
Feb 26, 2012, 03:20 PM
It was a physical
Wondergirl
Feb 26, 2012, 03:28 PM
The nurse sticks a thermometer into my ear. That's in the office as well as in the hospital. In a few seconds, it goes beep.
J_9
Feb 26, 2012, 03:54 PM
Yes, that's strange. Although the rectal temperature is the core temperature, and the most accurate, it's rarely used on anyone older than an infant.