98.6 Degrees Is A Normal Body Temperature, Right? Not Quite
You wake up at 6 am feeling achy and chilled. Unsure if you\u2019re sick or just sleep-deprived, you reach for a thermometer. It beeps at 99\xb0F, so you groan and roll out of bed to get ready for work. Because that\u2019s not a fever. Is it? Yes, it is. Forget everything you thought you knew about normal body temperature and fever, starting with 98.6. That\u2019s an antiquated number based on a flawed study from 1868 (yes, 150 years ago). The facts about fever are a lot more complicated.