Introduction to Taking a Temperature
Taking a Temperature
A common measure of a person’s health is their body temperature. Normally an adult’s body temperature ranges between 96.8 to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. (That’s 36 to 38 degrees on the Centigrade scale) depending on time of day and a person’s activity. Many different factors affect body temperature. No single temperature is normal for all people.
Why Measure Body Temperature?
There are many reasons for taking a person’s temperature:
- To detect fever if a person feels ill
- To monitor the effects of medicine for lowering fever
- To check for an abnormally low temperature (hypothermia) of a person exposed to extreme cold.
- To check for an abnormally high temperature (hyperthermia) of a person exposed to extreme heat.
- To check the ovulation cycle of a woman wishing to become pregnant.
Looking Out for a Fever
When you care for someone who becomes ill at home, you need to know how to take their temperature to check for a fever (an abnormally high body temperature). You can more easily know if something is wrong if you know the person’s normal temperature range. Here are some tips:
- Take a person’s temperature once a week to give you a good idea of what is normal.
- Take the temperature at different times of the day, this will show you how their temperature varies throughout the day.
- Keep a log by time of day and what activity the person is doing when you measure the temperature. This will show you how temperature varies by activity.
- When the person you care for begins to show signs of not feeling well, check their temperature.
Here is Melissa's Story:
My grandmother lives with us and I am the one that keeps an eye on her. A few months ago she began to become ill and I quickly learned that older adults do not have the same symptoms of infection as someone younger. My grandmother had pneumonia, and her temperature was not very high. Fortunately, I had always tried to check my grandmother’s temperature once a week. When she began to feel overly tired, had no energy at all, and lost her appetite, I also noticed her temperature was staying around 99 degrees, which was a little high for her. We took her to the doctor and sure enough she had pneumonia. Fortunately she got treated quickly and is ok today.