What is continuous body temperature measurement and why is it better than single measurements?
Pictures say more than a thousand words – films say more than a thousand photos. The same applies to continuous temperature measurement and individual temperature readings. Continuous temperature measurement shows the whole story, while individual temperature readings only show a snapshot.
Never miss nighttime fever spikes again.
Body temperature and fever are typically measured with irregular single measurements that tell you what your temperature is at the moment of measurement. Whether you use a mercury, digital, or infrared thermometer, they all merely display (with varying accuracy) your current body temperature. What they cannot show is what your temperature was 4 hours ago or which fever spikes and drops occurred during the night or while you were sleeping. Continuous temperature measurement, on the other hand, measures your body temperature continuously – as the name suggests – around the clock, while you are awake and while you sleep. The result is temperature curves that show trends and averages, but most importantly fever peaks and drops that often occur during sleep and are therefore easily missed.
Why does fever rise at night?
Fever is a means by which the body fights infections – it is a symptom of an illness and not the illness itself. A high temperature is a natural response of the immune system to a bacterial or viral infection. The immune system knows it can heal most effectively when the body is at rest, which is typically when one is sleeping. For this reason, fever often rises at night and can easily be overlooked.
Temperature curves help you make better treatment decisions.
One advantage of temperature curves is that you can see whether a fever is still rising, has perhaps reached a plateau, or is even declining again. This information can help you make decisions about when to take medication. Fever-reducing medications should only be taken when the temperature reaches a certain level or a dangerous value. However, you should not wait too long either… Being able to observe a fever curve means you can see whether the fever is still rising or has perhaps already begun to decline on its own and medication is no longer necessary. It also means being able to observe the effect of fever-reducing agents in detail.
Curve showing exactly when medication was taken
Temperature curves as an early warning tool
Another advantage of continuous body temperature measurement is using a temperature curve as a diagnostic tool – even at home. Whether after surgery or during a pandemic, if you can detect fever as early as possible, you can begin treatment or take measures to break the chain of infection. Using a temperature curve, you can distinguish whether it may only be a one-time short-term temperature increase or the beginning of a fever. Particularly after surgery or chemotherapy, rapid intervention and quick treatment can make the difference between a spreading infection and a smooth recovery. If a child or an elderly family member is suffering from a severe cough, you can monitor the temperature and watch for the first signs of fever that could indicate the infection has progressed to the lungs.
Fever – the difference between a mild and a severe infection
Early treatment of an infection leads to faster recovery and shortens the time spent in bed feeling miserable. Sometimes a mild infection can also worsen if not treated quickly enough or properly. A cold can turn into bronchitis, a urinary tract infection into a kidney infection, or an itchy ear into an ear infection. In all these cases, a temperature increase indicates that the infection is becoming more serious, and the earlier you detect this temperature increase, the sooner you can respond and begin effective treatment. Many other infections begin with other symptoms before body temperature rises. Abdominal pain can be the first symptom of gastroenteritis (e.g., salmonella), sore throat that of tonsillitis, headache the first sign of meningitis, or a rash that of chickenpox. In all these cases, monitoring body temperature at the first signs of symptoms means you can monitor the infection yourself and recognize when it becomes more serious. This allows an infection to be treated more quickly and effectively.
Continuous temperature measurement and monitoring is also particularly useful for vulnerable patients who cannot communicate how ill they feel. The health of children with special needs or elderly patients who have difficulty managing on their own can thus be carefully monitored in their familiar environment.
The future of medical diagnostics
With regard to the future of healthcare and the rapid developments in medicine, continuous temperature measurement will play a crucial role in diagnosing infections. On a very basic level, temperature measurement can help diagnose whether a patient has a fever and is fighting an infection.
On a more complex level, the temperature curves generated by continuous measurement can be used to determine the root cause of a fever. The WHO clearly advises massively reducing the use of antibiotics. This means it is fundamentally important to distinguish between a bacterial infection that can be cured with antibiotics and a viral infection that cannot. Temperature curves and fever patterns will play a crucial role in this area in the future. Fever caused by malaria, typhoid, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, etc., has its own individual pattern. If this pattern can be recognized, the cause of the fever can be determined. Previously, fever patterns and temperature curves were only part of medical textbooks – theoretically possible but practically far too time-consuming. Continuous temperature measurement with SteadyTemp makes temperature curves a realistic and cost-effective diagnostic tool. [SteadyTemp enables continuous temperature measurement for home use.](SteadyTemp Home – Professionelle Gesundheitsvorsorge für zu Hause)
The SteadyTemp sensor patch in combination with the [free Health Journal App](SteadyTemp – App Download) enables you to track body temperature, monitor symptoms and medications, and follow an infection from onset to recovery. SteadyTemp gives you the tools to provide the best possible care for your loved ones when they are ill.
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