Ear thermometer

Does your doctor take your temperature in your ear when you visit him ?.

Have you seen ear thermometers been used in school, university or company physicals or in hospital ER ?

My doctor used the ear toy till they went to this odd thing they pass over your forehead and then behind your ear. I have never had a correct ready on the ear toy or the new forehead toy never reads past 97.x even if i have a fever i have talken my RT at home had reading of 101.x and seen the doctors unit in my ear show 97.9 they're junk only rectal is correct , and my doctor does not do rectal.

They seem to use the ear units every place you look these days. I even seen my local vet use one on my dog. what a shame they have got to this point.

Most of the doctors i visit use just simple oral thermometers, though my foot doctor uses the temporal thermometer on the temple/forehead. I think alot of doctors use the ear thermometer for ease of use, no worries of a kid biting the thermometer probe or dropping a thermometer on the ground. one push of a button and instant body temperature.

As I launched the subject, I should have indicated that I had myself my ear temperature taken on the following occasions:

- the two visits I had with our new company doctor. The former company doctor never did it.

- When I was involved in a serious car accident two years ago, though I had no injury, the police had me go to the ER of the local hospital; There, the nurses took my blood pressure, put a clip on one finger ( to check my SpO2 level) and put a thermometer in my ear before I saw a young female intern doctor.

Hospitals in the UK seem to have gone over exclusively to ear thermometers. BPs and pulses are also taken electronically. Sad!

Ear thermometer, always. I don't think my doctor's nurses know how to take rectal or even oral temps.

My DR. doesn't even bother checking your temperature, unless your complaining and then its his nurse who uses a digital Oral one. Get the patients IN and get them Out! ..... $$$$$.. .00$$ Its like a drive-thru Dr's appt!

Kevinpatient, taking a set of vital signs on a patient is a total waste of time and not at all necesssary either, unless as you said you complain about something related. Seriously, what are vital signs going to tell you. You obviously have some or you wouldn't be in the doctors office, you would be in the morgue no? LOL. Basically healthy patients don't need a set of vitals taken. They only need them done if they aree on heart meds, blood pressure meds, on on a first visit for example to establish a baseline. Temps only need to be taken if the doc suspects an infection of some kind or another. And even then, a good doctor or nurse will be able to take one look at you and will be able to tell if you have a temp worth taking. In the medical setting any temp under 101 basically is just a low grade temp and isn't something to be concerned with. And if you have a temp over 101 we will be able to see that again, as I said before, by jsut looking a you. A temp really is basically irrevelent. The issue isn't that you have a fever, the issue is what's causing the fever and that's what the medical professional then needs to be concerned with.

It's not about a doctors office being a drive-thru, or about the mighty dollar in most cases, it's about practicing good common sense medicine.

Mashie

Well said as usual mashie.

Yes, only in the ear unfortunately. I think they only take rectal temps nowdays if the suspect that you have a appendicitis. They then take the temperature first in the ear and then rectally. If you have an appendicitis it would be a difference between the two readings.

Mine does an oral temperature only, past doctors of mine did in the ear though...

My GP never takes temp unless i mention i have had a fever with an illness, then its oral thermometer. At the yearly bus physical though, they took my temp with the ear thermometer this year. Most docs offices will just do a cursory blood pressure check that's it.

Most practices I've been to in the last 10 years or so have done ear. Pediatrician tried them for a while but switched (back?) to IVACs.

It's always been either an ear or oral thermometer for me.

Oral and rectal temps are the only reliable ones. Forehead and axillary are totally worthless. Ear temps notoriously read low. This may be because they read off earwax. I disagree with Mashie--I think vital signs are useful screening tools. Add pulse oximetry and you have a net to pick up hard to diagnose things such as hypertension, thyroid disease and pulmonary embolism. I always pay close attention to vital signs in my practice.

Mainly oral and a few times by the ear, actually asked my doctor's nurse if she would take my temp rectal once and she laughed and said "no but you wish I would don't you and smiled" and I was like oh course I do and ask my girlfriend what why she takes my temperature at home next time you talk to her and I smiled:-).

If modern tec failed we be in real trouble as very few old type mercury thermometers left around to use and I don't believe any younger nursing staff been trained with any other form but ear type thermometers or should call them scanners they do use rectal temps in electrical probe type on patient's in bad hyperthermia to monitor core temperature's of body

When I first started working in hospitals the majority of temperatures were taken orally using those mercury thermometers, we occasionally took rectal temps ( patients that underwent maxillofacial surgery or children). However its seems now that all temps are taken using a electronic tympanic (ear) thermometer.

Working in critical care the use of tympanic temperature monitoring is very rarely used due to the inaccuracy involved " Overall tympanic thermometers have been found to display temperatures of between 1.02°C below and 0.91°C above those detected by other recording devices .

The detection of a pyrexia ( temperature) is extremely important with patients that are immunocompromised as early indication and treatment of an infection could literally mean the difference between life and death. It is for this reason that we employed a rectal temperature probe for continuous temperature monitoring. However with the advent of Foley Catheters with a Temperature attachment, this route is becoming the route of choice for monitoring as every ITU patient has a catheter in situ and it is accurate as the rectal temperature probe.

Ear only for a while at my GP. I can't remember the last time I had my temp taken in another method.

I vividly remember a thermometer being used when I was a kid that looked like an ear thermometer and was mounted on the wall. Do those still exist and has anyone else taken one?

My temperature has never been taken by ear although nowadays ear thermometers are quiet common at least here where I live. My doctor uses oral thermometers. He has said it's the fastest way taking someone's temp. Perhaps, it is - at least compared with the time taking temperature rectally. 😃

With the advent of the tympanic thermometers, a lot of GPs and hospital wards have moved over to them. Plus as mercury is a toxic substance and they are procedures to follow if a breakage occurs. I expect it's much more convenient that using mercury thermometers from a health and safety perspective even thought its accuracy can be questionable at times.

I haven't seen an ear thermometer since the 90's. These days they seem to only use the Ivac probe orally.

Most urgent care places use ear thermometers however where I go uses digital oral thermometers.

The doctor takes my temperature by mouth with a digital thermometer.

Unfortunately, yes. Can usually count on my wife taking it rectally,though.

I've had an ear thermometer used on me at the school nurses office once back in the mid 90's right when they replaced all of the glass thermometers with the ear thermometer. There have been several times where the doctor used them, but any time recently it's always been oral with one of their new fast read thermometers.

My temperature was taken in my ear when I was 16 at the doctor with an ear infection and when I came in for a bad cold. When I saw the nurse came in with the ear thermometer, I knoew what was going on, so I bent down so she can take my temperature in my ear. I thought it as so cool. I loved it. It gave good results too.

My primary care doc and her nurse use an battery oral thermometer with a probe, but they usually don't take my temp unless I have a fever. They tried a tympanic in the past but went back to oral.

There were occasions over many years when I called our doctor (or her nurse) when dear husband and daughters were sick and they asked if I could take a rectal. Older daughter had her wisdom teeth out and spiked a fever the next day, younger daughter was prone to strep throats, husband had pneumonia from a respiratory infection – just part of being a mom!

I undertook a small study of $ollar $tore thermometers. I also have talking thermometers (English and Spanish) a metal rod model, liquid crystal tape to your forehead. Believe me there is no consistency. Even the same thermometer used 5 minutes apart give different readings. Be like a mom - put the back of your hand to the forehead if it feels warm - fever. Of the $ollar $tore variety the battery costs 5 x the $1.00.

What are you folks paying for ear scan ?