What is important in taking a temperature?

Essential, it is true the measured body temperature always depends on where it is measured. Therefore, contrary to the popular consensus, there is no simple “normal temperature”.

Furthermore, a healthy person’s body temperature will vary with activity and time during the day. IN a rectal temperature measurement, a typical temperature difference of 0.5°C between the higher evening temperature and the lower morning temperature is physiological. Body temperature is typically elevated after physical activity.

Roughly speaking, a distinction is made between a core temperature and a surface temperature, where the surface temperature is measured at the skin surface and is a mixed temperature between the body’s core temperature and the ambient temperature. The core temperature is measured by inserting a thermometer into a body cavity, which yields the temperature of the mucous tissue.