Jan 15, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.

What kind of thermometer should I use?

Everyone should have at least one thermometer in their house, the question is which kind?  There is actually a pretty simple answer to this question, a digital electric thermometer.  What about mercury, ear and temporal scan thermometers?  Let’s go through those one by one.

I don’t think a lot of people have glass mercury thermometers anymore, but if you have one you should get rid of it because it can break and release hazardous amounts of mercury into the air.  Remember how our parents thought it was cool to watch the mercury beads roll around in a bowl?  Sometimes I wonder how any of us survived.

A lot of people have ear thermometers which if used correctly can be reasonably accurate.  The problem is if your child’s ear canal isn’t perfectly straight, has any ear wax or if the sensor isn’t at the right angle with the ear drum because your kid is squirming around the reading will be incorrect.  So they may be accurate according to the box,  but in reality they are very rarely used correctly and do not give an accurate reading. 

Temporal Scan thermometers are relatively new so their reliabilty has yet to be verified.  According to the companies that make them, the major “benefit” of the temporal scan thermometer is that they are easy to use when your kid is asleep.  My response to the would be why in the world would you check your kids temperature while they are sleeping?  You should leave them alone and go to bed yourself. 

So you should have 2 digital electric thermometers in your house, one labeled “rectal” to use on anyone 3 and under and one labeled “oral” to use for anyone 4 and older.  You should wash your themometers with lukewarm soapy water or rubbing alcohol and rinse them with cool water in between uses.  You should also make sure not to get them mixed up…

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