Was anyone else a little taken aback by that? Is there a Doctor out there that could explain why you would take a temp in the heiny when there was nothing wrong with the mouth? I couldn't believe they showed that in a movie circa 1963. And Ron Howard just took it with a smile...didn't even flinch!
saucybetty.blogspot.com
LOL...I can remember my mom taking my temp this way when I was a kid (in the late 1960s) -- and she was a pediatric nurse! I guess it was deemed preferable than an oral thermometer for some reason; probably because kids might not hold the thermometer correctly in the mouth for the 2-3 mins. it would take to get an accurate temp reading.
Anyway, I'm watching this movie right now on TCM and loving it. Ron Howard should have gotten an Oscar nomination for his amazing performance!
My kids were aghast that it was ever done that way! The reason was because kids might break the glass thermometer and that little bit of mercury in there would kill anybody. It is/was also most accurate taken that way, until they came out with the ear thermometers - I was so grateful for those once I had my kids. So are they! LOL
"Freedom is a word I rarely use without thinking"
I was a mother in the 60s and 70s and for babies and toddlers a rectal thermometer was the only way to get a good approximation of the child's temperature. When you called the doctor after hours to ask what to do about a sick kid, he'd want to know the child's temperature and how you had taken it, since 98.6 as 'normal' is based on an oral temperature--if the reading was 101, it made a difference if it was taken orally vs rectally. The only other option for a baby was to place the thermometer under the child's armpit, and then adjust the reading upward by a couple of degrees (you had to adjust the rectal reading downward) to match what an oral reading would have been. A baby or toddler wouldn't hold the bulb under their tongue for the time it took to get a reading and the temperature obtained using the rectal method was considered more accurate. But with a child Eddie's age, an oral reading would have been the accepted way to take his temperature. You could use a rectal thermometer for taking the temperature by mouth, but not the other way around due to fear of the thinner glass bulb breaking. By the way, you always lubricated the tip with petroleum jelly to make inserting it more comfortable, which I don't think the film portrayed, and interestingly the nurse from across the hallway didn't bother to wash or sterilize the thermometer with rubbing alcohol either, which would have been standard before taking a child's temperature either way. I think the film's makers must have thought the discomfiture of the father about taking the boy's temperature rectally would be funny even though inauthentic.
sharei don't know anything about adjusting a rectal temp but i think it was preferred in high temp cases because it more accurately reflected the core temp of the patient
" Three can keep a secret, if two are dead "
"interestingly the nurse from across the hallway didn't bother to wash or sterilize the thermometer with rubbing alcohol either,"
I've got this movie on now, and the nurse asked the father for rubbing alcohol right after he gave her the thermometer.
[deleted]
I'm gonna bet that is the only rectal temp ever taken in a major motion picture!
She was a nurse after all, but the way that they did it, seems like they could certainly get away with an oral temp. Jeez, the kid didn't have any lines at that point.
Baby Bomb starring Diane Keaton\
at 2:01, this trailer shows just a bit of the scene, which includes numerous attempts to work up the courage to do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8T6WgQoNvs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, here's proof that the rectal reading still is preferred:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlzjkHdd1IU
One of those bands across the forehead...? No!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BTW: The question of taking oral vs. rectal temperatures saved my life when I was 10. Thank goodness my mother had stayed with me, as my parents always made certain that one or the other was with me at all times whenever I was hospitalized (far too often sad to say).
In the middle of the night, a hospital Sister entered the room and prepared to take my temperature rectally. By that age, I very intensely did NOT like rectal readings and admit that I tended to put up quite a struggle when this was necessary. I had to have my temperature taken far too often by doctors, nurses and my mother; so, knowing this from experience, my mother said that the nun would need help holding me. That is when the nun said that I had had no problem before this.
Alert 1!
The Sister then commented that I was quite big for my age.
Alert 2!
"What are you going to give her?" Mom asked. "She's been prescribed penicillin."
Alert 3! Sound the alarms!
It turns out that she was supposed to be in the room across the hall with a 4-year-old pneumonia patient! So, the question of how to take my temperature officially, undeniably saved my life! What would the hospital have said otherwise? Would it have been covered up as "post-operatal shock"? In 1961, I'm not sure they'd have owned-up, anymore than they would nowadays.
Ouch! Sorry for jumping the track and running madly in another direction! Blame my ADHD with its derailment of thought.
(W)hat are we without our dreams?
Making sure our fantasies
Do not overpower our realities. ~ RC
When Eddie comes out to his TV-watching father, he tells him that he feels cold and that his teeth are chattering (from chills).
Chattering teeth + glass thermometer + mercury = rectal thermometer
It would be dangerous to take an oral temperature.
Agreed, iolalewis. Plus, if you have a rectal thermometer, that's where you put it!
shareWhat's the difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?
The TASTE!
What's the difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer? The TASTE!
"My brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome."share
by - Mad_Monkey on Sat Apr 18 2009 11:58:08... What's the difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?I don't know if this was already answered BUTT I remeber being in the hospital in the early 70's just before they started using the battery hand held devices with disposable oral insert. Anyway... before the change there were two (2) thermometer plastic holders mounted or glued to the wall above the patient's head containing the oral and rectal thermometers. The only difference I remember is the shape of the sensor end. The oral thermometer'was straight (as I'm sure you are aware of) and the rectal thermometer's sensor was short with a ball shape end. share
My mom was a nurse and she took our temperatures that way back in the 60s. She told us it was more accurate and that then we wouldn't bite the thermometer and eat the mercury. When we got older we got the oral thermometer.
shareFYI
They have been using thermometers with a large sensor at the end that they swipe accross your forehead.
Recently I had my temp taken with a 'gun' shaped instruement that is 'AIMED' at the forehead. It does not touch you at all.
They've come a long way ...
' Fighting A Never Ending Battle For Truth, Justice & The American Way '
I've had fever with chills as a kid and used an oral thermometer. One his age knows not to bite it.
[deleted]
[deleted]
I wasn't taken aback. That's how temps were taken back then. There were no digital thermometers at that time. I can remember having my temp taken rectally, both at home and in the doctor's office. It was no big deal then. Kids these days would freak out if they had to have their temps taken that way....LOL
I Love....ME!!!!
By the way, as a child of the late 50's I remember my mother using rubbing alcohol to bring down my fever. Really bad thing to do. Of course, she used to put butter on burns, too. But, yes, we all got our temperatures taken that way. Some things really do change for the better.
shareWhen I was a kid in the '50s and had a cold my mom would heat up a wool sock in the oven, put Vick's Vapo Rub on it, and tie it around my neck. I hated it, but the fumes would clear my sinuses.
shareI was born in the 70s and never used that type, at least not after I was old enough to remember. I'm not certain about my older siblings.
Ron Howard was fine because she didn't really use it on him.
I'm over half a century old and I've NEVER heard of this method of taking a child's temperature. I'm actually stunned.
shareTrust us - it was very common back then. It was considered more accurate and somewhat safer than taken orally which had to be held stationary under the tongue.
Getting a child to sit still for an accurate oral temp reading is not easy.Having a sick child lay down on its stomach is more relaxing for the child not to mention considered more accurate.
These days its common for mothers to run the docs with their child for every sneeze.
Back then health having health insurance was rare for many young families. If they were lucky enough to have it, it was usually for 'major medical' and not for sniffles/colds/routine childhood illnesses. The mom would call the doc who would ask mom what the temp was. If normal, it saved the family the cost of a house call or trip to the ER.
If you are that old and grew up in an industrialized country, you more than likely had your temperature taken this way when you were a baby. The only other way was under your armpit, but most doctors and nurses preferred a rectal reading because it was more accurate.
share