BODY TEMPERATURE LIMITS OF THE HUMAN BODY

The normal body temperature of a person varies depending on gender, recent activity, food and fluid consumption, time of day, and, in women, the stage of the menstrual cycle. Normal body temperature can range from 97.8 degrees F (or Fahrenheit, equivalent to 36.5 degrees C, or Celsius) to 99 degrees F (37.2 degrees C) for a healthy adult. A person's body temperature can be taken in any of the following ways:
        

• Orally. Temperature can be taken by mouth using either the classic glass thermometer, or the more modern digital thermometers that use an electronic probe to measure body temperature.

• Rectally. Temperatures taken rectally (using a glass or digital thermometer) tend to be 0.5 to 0.7 degrees F higher than when taken by mouth.

• Axillary. Temperatures can be taken under the arm using a glass or digital thermometer. Temperatures taken by this route tend to be 0.3 to 0.4 degrees F lower than those temperatures taken by mouth.

• By ear. A special thermometer can quickly measure the temperature of the ear drum, which reflects the body's core temperature (the temperature of the internal organs).
By skin. A special thermometer can quickly measure the temperature of the skin on the forehead.


Body temperature may be abnormal due to fever (high temperature) or hypothermia (low temperature). A fever is indicated when body temperature rises about one degree or more over the normal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Hypothermia is defined as a drop in body temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit.