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Did you know you always have a tempera-
ture? Bet you thought you only had a tem-
perature when you were sick. Absolutely
everything has a temperature, even icicles.
Brrrrrr!
When you don't feel well, your mom or a
nurse might say "let's see if you have a
temperature," but what they really mean is "let’s see if your
temperature is different from normal."
So, when you have your temperature taken, don't be
fooled. Your mom and your doctor already know you have
a temperature, and are just getting an idea of how things
are going inside your body.
Places to measure
your temperature.
Your bum. Babies and little
kids get their temperature
taken is in their bum. Poor
little kids, how embarrass-
ing! The temperature taken
in your bum is the hottest of all the places to take temper-
ature. It’s around 99.6°F most of the time.
Your armpit. When kids get a lit-
tle bit older, they might have their
temp taken under the arm instead
of the bum. This is better, but you
have to keep the thermometer in
your armpit with your arm tight
against your chest for a long time.
It’s hard to keep it from falling out
and breaking, especially if you fly!
I wonder if flying causes the armpit temperature to be the
lowest in your body. It’s around 97.6°F most of the time.
Your mouth. Now, if you’re reading this, you’re probably a
big kid and so you would most
likely have your temperature
taken in your mouth. Not too
bad, but everyone knows you
can trick your mom or your doc-
tor into thinking you’re sick by
doing stuff with that thermome-
ter. Bet you already know of
ways to do that! Most of the
time, a temperature in your mouth is about 98.6°F. Well
sort of...
Your ears. Now we’re down to ears. And please
pardon us, ears beat
rears. But, having your
ear pulled sure isn’t
fun, and when you
have an ear infection, it
even hurts.
Temperature taken in
your ear should be
higher than in your
mouth, but not as high as in your rear.
Your heart. If we were to pick the best place to measure
temperature it would be in the center of your heart. But
that’s pretty dangerous, and surely not
be something you would think was fun.
Arrrrghhh! In case you’d like to know,
though, temperature in your heart is
around 99.4°F.
Your temporal arteries.
There is a special place on
your head where we can
measure the same tempera-
ture as the blood in the mid-
dle of your heart. This is
because blood is pumped
directly from your heart to
your head through little tubes
called arteries that carry
blood up the sides of your
neck, up the side of your face just under your skin, and
stop at at a place on your forehead called your temple.
Guess what they’re called?
Wow! Isn’t this the same place your mom touches
with her hand when you don't feel good?
Did you know that the forehead has been used to detect
fevers as far back in time that anyone can remember,
over 2000 years? There’s a new technology that scans
the same place your mom touches, and it’s almost as
gentle. It's an infrared thermometer called the
TemporalScanner. It measures your temperature with a
quick and gentle scan across your forehead. Most of the
time, temperature here is around 99.4°F, same as your
heart. Nothing goes in your mouth, your ear, or your rear,
and in just a second or two, done!
Now, where is the best place to take
your temperature?
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