[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] The Average Human Body Temperature ISN’T 98.6°F Anymore

[Robert Primak]

 I only rarely get fevers. When I have had flu, even to the point of not being able to get out of bed, no fever has registered. I don't feel feverish, but I sometimes get body chills which make me shake all over. Different people's bodies react to infection in different ways. 
My basal metabolism is slow, and my body temp. averages between 97 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit. My family have a history of low thyroid activity, though in blood tests my thyroid function is normal. I do have enlarged parathyroid glands. 
There's also the fact, which Jerry Slate was pointing out, that when measured orally, human body temperature is lower than when measured in other places. Under the armpit in many people is even lower. The true core body temperatures of people are much more consistent, and significantly higher.
-- Bob Primak

    On Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 09:28:46 PM EST, Tracy Marks <tracy at windweaver.com> wrote:  
 
 Recently, I was at the hospital, where they took my temperature as usual, and it was 96.2. The assistant said that something was wrong, and tried again. And again. Then got another thermoometer gadget. Same result. Called in another nurse. I tried to explain, as I have many times that my average body temperature is usually below between 96 and 97 97 degrees so it's just a little below average right now. (My mother had rheumatic fever when I was born and I was a blue baby; she was ice cold to touch - a very difficult experience for mother/infant nurturance. Also I grew up in South Florida without air conditioning as did three generations of my Key West native relatives before me. Possibly our body temperatures just naturally were low to cope with the intolerable heat).
Anyway, this tendency of our medical profession to view 98.6 as normal is threatening to the health of the small minority of us who have a much lower body temperature. If my temperature is 99 degrees, it's like most people's being 101 degrees. And I feel very feverish. But the doctors don't take my symptoms seriously. And I could be getting very ill as I have in the past.
Tracy Marks 



On 2026-01-07 17:42, arnold peterson via LCTG wrote:
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2023/09/body-temperature.html 

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