When I was a kid, I hated when my mom took my temperature. My mother owned a very old rectal thermometer, and since she wasn’t the most patient person, checking me for a fever often hurt. She eventually bought an ear thermometer. Same story. As you can imagine, she was always afraid that she wouldn’t push the tip of the thermometer deep enough into my ear, so that also hurt a lot. When I complained about her hurting my ear, she would try to be a bit gentler, but then she would complain that the temperature reading didn’t make sense to her. Sometimes she would just measure the ambient temperature, which is meaningless if you want to check your child for fever.

I am now an adult myself. While visiting my mother the other day, I noticed she had a new thermometer. It’s one of these infrared thermometers that you aim at the forehead. I heard my mother complaining again. She said they weren’t reliable. As she aimed the thermometer at my father’s forehead multiple times, each measurement would be different. It was very difficult to determine his exact body temperature.

I told my mother that I had decided to purchase a Temporal Artery Thermometer when our little girl was born. She was very interested when I told her it’s actually a thermometer designed and manufactured by an American company called Exergen. It is a contact thermometer that measures the body temperature by gently swiping it across the forehead. A very accurate reading of the temperature is available within 1 or 2 seconds. It is perfect when you want to measure a baby’s temperature. However, it can also be used to measure an adult’s temperature or an older child’s temperature.

My mother likes the idea of a very accurate thermometer that is easy to operate. Additionally, the fact that it is non-invasive is a big plus for her. So I made a mental note: my mother’s birthday is coming up soon. As a gift, I will get her an Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer.

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