Whenever a person has a fever, a thermometer is inserted in his mouth to note his body temperature. If you are taking temperature of a child less than 5 years old, then you will have to take temperature from his armpit or groin. For adults, the most accurate way is to take oral temperature. Normal oral temperature is 98.6° F, but it may change on the basis of your physical activity level, and also day and night. Temperature more than 100° F is fever, and may be considered as a sign of an infection, illness or other condition. If you are not sure of how to take oral temperature, OneHowTo.com is giving a step-by-step instruction guide here.
The first step you need to do in order to take oral temperature is to use soap and water to wash your hands.
Next, take the thermometer out of its box, and wash it in water, or clean it with rubbing it with a gauze or cotton ball soaked in alcohol.
Do not drink or eat anything around 5 minutes before taking your temperature, and try to keep your mouth closed during these 5 minutes too.
Place the tip of the thermometer under your tongue.
Hold it at the same place for around 60 seconds to calculate your oral temperature.
If you are using a digital thermometer, then you will hear a beep sound. If you are using a glass or mercury thermometer, let the reading rise until it stops to one fixed place.
Read the numbers on your digital thermometer, which is your temperature.
If you are using a mercury or glass thermometer, you will need to hold it in your hand, and move to and fro until you see the red, blue or silver line on it. Read the number till which the line has reached. This is your body temperature.
Once you have recorded the temperature, rinse the thermometer with rubbing alcohol or water, and put it back in its box. If you are using a mercury thermometer make sure to keep it in a dry and cool place as mercury is highly flammable.
If you have any doubts about your temperature OneHowto would like to help you know if these readings are normal:
- 35.4°C,35.5°C or 35.6°C
- 34.8°C-35°C
This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.
If you want to read similar articles to How To Take Oral Temperature, we recommend you visit our Family health category.