Product Review: Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer

The Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer is a hand-held thermometer that uses infrared technology allowing you to get a very accurate temperature reading in less than a few seconds. You basically sweep it across the forehead and you get your reading. It is a similar, if not the same, thermometer you see being used in many pediatrician's offices today. Because this thermometer is used externally, it is sanitary and reduces the spread of germs from one person to the next. A definite plus if you have several people in your household.

Initially, it takes a few tries to get the hang of how to use the thermometer accurately, but once you do it becomes the easiest and quickest way to measure your own or your child's temperature day or night. When scanning, the thermometer is extremely quiet, letting off very soft "beeps", so typically it won't wake your child up when using it while he or she is sleeping. That definitely beats trying to wake your child in the middle of the night to take an uncomfortable rectal temperature. Even for the adults, this thermometer is a great tool. It's so easy to sweep it across your forehead and see if you are running a fever. I never really liked sitting around waiting for an oral thermometer to give me a reading anyway.

With two young children at home and several colds coming and going, the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer has been a sanity saver in my home. We have recently finished our last round of the flu and with this thermometer I was able to monitor my children's, as well as my own, fevers with ease and precision. A few months ago my 2 year old had quite a bad illness where his temperature was soaring above 104. My husband and I had to monitor our son's temperature constantly because he has a history of febrile seizures - about every four hours we would have to take his temperature to make sure it didn't spike and cause a seizure. Worst of all, this bug lasted well over 2 weeks and my youngest son caught it as well! Our children would never be able to sit still enough for either a rectal or underarm reading, so with all the many temperature readings we had to take, it was nice to be able to non-invasively and quickly read our children's temperatures.

I would like to see Exergen add a feature to the thermometer, however. When taking a temperature at night, you need some light in the room to see the display screen. It would be great to have an LCD screen light up the display, and that way you could see the temperature right away and not need to disturb your children with a light during the night. Other than that, the thermometer is great and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an easy to use, sanitary, and non-invasive thermometer for their family. For more information about the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer, please visit the Exergen Website.