Use the thermometer carefully at home

Hippocrates, a famous ancient Greek doctor who was regarded as a doctor in the 5th century BC, once applied mud to the patients with fever. According to the time and degree of mud drying, the disease was judged and then touched by hand. The first clinical use of thermometer was in the 18th century. Dutch scientist buerhavir designed mercury thermometer. In 1836, he proposed that the temperature of healthy human body should be 36.5-37.o ℃ (read 36.5-37.0 ℃; some people read "36.5-37.0 ℃), which is wrong). In 1851, German wendlesh found that specific diseases had specific temperature changes. In 1867, British hospitals used thermometers for routine thermometry. At present, in addition to mercury thermometer, there are also various principles of research such as electronic thermometer, ear thermometer, infrared thermometer and liquid crystal thermometer.

Thermometer is widely used in medical activities, and it is also a very useful home medical equipment. It is better to buy a spare one. Although the thermometer is small, it is also "small" in use. Next, we will talk about the common sense of thermometer and temperature test.

An example of the error in the measurement of temperature in the family

A boy was discharged from hospital 5 days after birth, and then he took temperature once a day, and the daily results were between 37.5 ℃ and 38.2 ℃. Family members heard that babies can't take a bath when their temperature is over 37.5 ℃, so they have to go to the hospital to consult a doctor. Doctors knew that the baby was tested with a predictive electronic thermometer brought back from abroad, so he told parents that the thermometer was not suitable for infants. It passed the short-term test for 90 seconds, and then speculated the temperature level after 10 minutes according to the temperature rise curve. Because of the short test time and great influence from the external environment, if the external temperature is low, the predicted value is also low, the results of the high external environment temperature may also be high and the repeatability is poor. The results of each test are often inconsistent, and it is prone to "micro heat" or "hypothermia". After examination, the baby boy was free of disease, and the doctor told his parents to use other thermometers to retest. Results: the temperature of the baby boy was kept below 37.0 ℃ after using mercury thermometer.

Factors affecting temperature test

Thermometer type

Mercury thermometer is made of glass, containing mercury. According to the principle of mercury expanding when the temperature rises, the mercury column rises with the temperature rise. The temperature is in a linear relationship with the rise of mercury column. The advantages are that it is more accurate and cheaper. The range of adult test was 35.0-42.o ℃, and that of premature infants was 32.0-42.0 ℃. The deficiency is that it is difficult to see the results, easy to break, mercury can evaporate at normal temperature after leakage, which can cause neurotoxicity. Mercury thermometers are no longer produced in the United States.

Electronic thermometer can be viewed by digital, which is more convenient. There are two kinds of electronic thermometer, which are measured by the actual measurement and the predictive electronic thermometer. The former is the same as mercury thermometer, which takes 5-10 minutes, which has the characteristics of accuracy and safety; the latter has the shortcomings mentioned above, which is not suitable for family use.

Infrared thermometer, which was widely used in the epidemic period of SARS, is of ear type or forehead type. The time of measurement is 1-3 seconds. It is fast and safe. However, there is a narrow part in front and below the tympanum, which makes it difficult for infrared ray to reach. Therefore, the test value is often error, the smaller the age, the greater the error.

Liquid crystal thermometer is a new product in the 21st century. It is made of liquid crystal thermometer, which only takes 4-5 seconds to measure armpit, which is accurate and safe, but it is of high price.

Body factors

The body temperature test is influenced by many factors, such as age, menstrual period and pregnancy period of women, individual differences, whether exercise, eating, bathing and mental state are involved in the test.

Other factors

Test location: thermometer tests the surface temperature. Because of the different heat dissipation of the parts of the body surface, the test values will be different when measuring the urine of armpit, neck, mouth, rectum, vagina, tympanic membrane, groin, forehead and urination. The ratio of armpit to mouth can be 0.2-0.4 ℃ lower than that of rectum and 0.4-0.8 ℃.

Length of test: in principle, armpit test should reach 10 minutes.

Test method: the place, angle and clamp method of thermometer.

As mentioned above, thermometer tests are affected by a variety of factors, so the results of the thermometry are only relative and not absolute. Generally, in healthy state, the temperature should be measured 2-3 times with the same thermometer, the same time and the same part during the quiet period, and the average value is normal temperature at ordinary times. If the normal temperature is 36.5 ℃, there is no influencing factors, and it suddenly rises to 36.9 ℃. Although it is below 37.0 ℃, it is also necessary to observe closely. Once every 2-3 hours, it is necessary to check whether the temperature continues to rise.