Temping question re. thermometers

[JumpingJellyfish]

Going to give temping a shot this cycle (now on cycle 9 of TTC), which'll be my first time... I've joined Fertility Friend and see it says not to use an ear thermometer... I had hoped to use the Braun digital thermometer (ear one) I have at home- why is this not appropriate? I had assumed it measured basal body temp but maybe not...

What thermometers do you use? (had hoped not to buy a new one as I'm tight!!)

TIA

[Broodzilla]

I just asked a question about temping a few days ago as my temps seemed to see-saw. I'm using an ear thermometer and apparently that is a no-no because supposedly they're not very accurate. As you're not supposed to swap thermometers mid-cycle, I've got to stick it out with this one.

I've found (after conducting a very scientific experiment where I kept testing with the ET and a normal digital one...) that my ET is actually pretty accurate, but only if I use it in my left ear! Seriously, my right ear gives readings that would have me unconscious from hypothermia! I'm not sure why that is, and can't say I care.

My temp really DID fluctuate wildly at the beginning of the cycle, my chart looks like the "rocky mountains" according to Fertility Friend (sign up for their free trial if you haven't already done that!) but apparently that has to do with recidual progesterone or something. Now that the see-sawing has calmed down, it really does seem that my 6AM temps are very low, around 35.5. Just for fun, I've been testing again at lunchtime and my temp then has been 36.4 to 36.5 I'm hoping that means that my temps are stable enough for me (or Fertility Friend) to detect ovulation once it happens... I'll let you know in a few days!

The problem is, as I understand it, not so much with the difficulty of getting an accurate temp (as I found) but more because of the shift in temp can be as little as 0.2 degrees (C) and therefore it would be easier to detect on a BBT that measures degrees to .00 of a degree. So, I guess it might depend on the individual. I'm hoping that as my BBT seems to be pretty low, I'll get a bigger shift in temp (and in any case, as my ET does measure to .0 of degrees, it should pick up a 0.2 shift.

Sorry for the long answer!

(Oh, if your ET does measure .00, please let me know, as I far prefer the ET as they're so quick and easy!)

[MrsHappy]

There are two problems with ear thermometers.

The first is that because they do not mesure to two decimal places you are not charting as accurately as you could be and your shift could be harder to spot. For example, if your ear thermometer records a change in temp from 36.5 to 36.7, you might think that your thermal shift had happened. However, with a BBT you would see that your temps actually went from 36.59 to 36.7 and that actually the shift wasn't as great as you otherwise might expect. Personally I do not think this is such a big deal as you are looking for general patterns, not individual temps and it is only when you have seen three higher temps in a row that you will be able to confirm that ovulation has happened.

The bigger issue I think is with accuracy. See for example, this BBC article. Certainly I also get different readings from my right and left ears which does not fill me with confidence! I don't know if that would affect charting, but when a basal body thermometer (which you can also use for checking for fevers) costs a fiver I didn't see the point in finding out!

[bitchyfanny]

i took my temps orally with a ear thermometer and a bbt one at the same time, and they came back as 2 different readings, quite a difference if i remember rightly.