May 2023 – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

I came to this one largely because everyone else seemed to be saying this was great for ASMR. (See some of the comments beneath this video). I have to say it’s a bit marginal for me and I am considering discounting it from the playlist.

However, given how much feedback there seems to be, I am sharing it with you as it is probable you will get some positive effect from it. Carol Joy features as the person giving treatment and we are told that she is an “Integrative Medicine nurse”. I’m not really abreast of nursing specialities however a brief search indicates it to be “A state of well-being in mind, body and spirit that reflects the individual, community and population.”

Acupressure for Family and Friends

As I say Carol’s voice is not quite right for me but a number of people find this video helpful. In this Carol refers to SEVA – an act of selfless service.

UMMCVideos is the channel. This turns out to be the University of Maryland Medical Center – the downside for a brief blog item is that there are really a very large number of videos in here. There are also no less than seventy four playlists as at today’s date. It looks like we need to focus in a different way, in this case I think focusing on Carol Joy is an approach.

A basic YouTube Search indicates a channel sruthy sek which has a Carol Joy playlist

however this contains two hundred and twenty five videos – hardly helpful in narrowing down the videos.

ASMR Loopz has prepared a loop video

ASMR Loop: Acupressure – Unintentional ASMR – 1 Hour

It’s an hour long – and I really do not like loop videos.

However, there are two further Carol Joy videos

Acupressure for Yourself

The comments really exalt Carol’s ability to be properly relaxing. But for some reason her voice does not do this for me. I have no idea why. The ingredients are there – it’s quiet, there is no background noise, I would imagine I should be off to sleep. In fact, I find myself looking for the next video.

I’m sure a great many people reading this will have a more positive reaction and this is why I am featuring it.

Guided Meditation – A Step by Step Video

Again, the comments are very positive. The sort of comments some of the videos I have featured so far I felt deserved rather than the nastiness that they actually got. However, it just doesn’t work for me.

On that basis I have created a Carol Joy playlist, which is here:

But I won’t be updating the overall Procrastination Pen playlist

However, the Archive playlist (created of videos that I featured in the blog but on review felt were not quite good enough to make the grade) now contains these three videos.

I hope that you find the playlists relaxing.

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Sleeping With ASMR

This time the video is more of an instruction manual. Merck Manuals is the channel which gives you a clue.

This is a comprehensive channel with a large number of videos which I am not going to attempt to count. It is about two hundred and ten as at today’s date.

That leaves a dilemma as to which set of videos to choose. Fortunately Merck Manuals also provide a set of playlists (twenty two of these as at today’s date) and ours occurs in a playlist called The Ortho Exam – Merck Manual Professional Version.

This channel has so much material I suspect we will be back here before I am very much older.

Today’s video is this one:

How to Examine the Hand | Merck Manual Professional Version

The Ortho Exam – Merck Manual Professional Version

Which helpfully tells us “Examination demonstrated by Paul Liebert, MD, Tomah Memorial Hospital.”

The funky intro music is not exactly brilliant for ASMR however the narrator has a great voice for this purpose. It is nicely relaxing in fact.

This one belongs in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

There are ten videos in the Ortho Exam – Merck Manual Professional Version playlist. This number is a bit large for a blog post (well history tells me anyway). If you can’t wait for the playlist, scroll right to the end where it will be waiting for you. The above is video four in this playlist, leaving nine videos.

How to Examine the Shoulder | Merck Manual Professional Version

The great thing with these videos is that they are consistent, demonstrated by the same person, narrated by the same person and consistently calm and quiet. They are more-or-less ideal for our purposes.

Note that erythema comes up in this video which is a redness of the skin.

This is also going to find a home in the playlist.

How to Examine the Elbow | Merck Manual Professional Version

Epicondyle is a bit more complex – here it is referring to the rounded part of the bone on the elbow.

Definitely a playlist candidate.

How to Examine the Wrist | Merck Manual Professional Version

There is a growing amount of medical terminology the more we go on with these videos. Those with more of an interest than simply a sleep aid may find this helpful:

How to Examine the Hand | Merck Manual Professional Version

This is where we came in. By now we can see that not only do we have the same intro music, same examiner and same narrator to a large extent we also have the same “patient”. I like consistency when I’m aiming for a restful experience – your mileage may vary.

How to Examine the Hip | Merck Manual Professional Version

This one seems to be considerably quieter which might be distracting, especially if you have the volume right down in order to aid sleep. On balance I think it still deserves inclusion in the playlist though.

How to Examine the Knee | Merck Manual Professional Version

What strikes me with this one is the complexity of the system. The number of nerves, ligaments, muscles and tendons needed just to get normal motion is quite amazing and something I hadn’t considered before. Probably not wise to be thinking that as you’re trying to doze off. This will also be in the playlist.

How to Examine the Ankle | Merck Manual Professional Version

The close-up shots and the distant shots here seem to be of two different patients. The close-up ones I would guess are of a male patient. (In at least some of the shots in any case). However, if you’re half asleep I suspect you will not notice.

I’m also going to add this to the playlist.

How to Examine the Foot | Merck Manual Professional Version

Our male foot patient is back initially, we go to the female patient subsequently. The only downside of such videos (if you’re awake enough to notice) is that you can start to consider if you have any of the problems described. Who doesn’t have uneven wear in their footwear for instance?

This is also going in the playlist.

How to Examine the Neck | Merck Manual Professional Version

This refers to other manuals videos. Given how consistent this set is I think this is an invitation we can’t help but take up at some future date in any case. Another one for the playlist then.

How to Examine the Back | Merck Manual Professional Version

The most consistent set of videos so far in this blog series. All of them I think deserve to be in the playlist.

The Merck Manuals playlist is here:

The overall playlist for items featured in this blog is here:

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Sleeping With ASMR

This channel was recommended in some comments to another ASMR video. This may or may not work out for the best. I search all over the place for inspiration. It is not until I have had a chance to listen to any of the videos that I understand whether the recommendation produces a complete loss (In terms of The Procrastination Pen playlist). This sort of thing happens all the time. On that note feel free to recommend to me any ASMR videos that you have found helpful. It might be that they will turn up in a future blog article.

The channel this time is sebsss it contains four videos so a nice number for one blog post. The fourth video seems to be a drinking video so not really on message for a medical examination focus. Perhaps it will feature in the future if I ever move onto drinking ASMR. The videos range from twelve to ten years ago in terms of posting. The drinking video is twelve years ago and seems a nostalgic portrayal probably only of interest to those who were there.

This leaves three all of which are more recent than the drinking video. These three maybe more suitable for a blog of this type:

Tobradex Patient Teaching

This is the most recent video which was posted ten years ago. However, the sound quality is not great. The speaking is a bit fast. Rapport does not seem to be there. There is really nothing calming or relaxing about this particular presentation. If anything, I was just waiting for it to be over.

Not in the least ASMR stimulating so this one will not be in the playlist

Head to Toe

This video was posted eleven years ago. There are no notes with this one, however the medical professional from the above video appears as the “patient” in this one. Here he appears as “Tom Smith” – whether genuinely or not (Smith being a common obfuscation name). The presentation is a little busy – we’ve seen this before and it seems to be a characteristic of assessment videos – i.e. those produced by students as part of their course.

I think the medical professional introduces himself as “Matt” (something) and that he will be the “Senior” but it is all a bit jumbled and I may well be wrong.

There appear to be no clues as to the location other than the crucifix on the wall and I guarantee searching for “Tom Smith” isn’t going to get me any further.

Given Tom Smith is in a number of these videos I’d make a guess this is his channel.

The background noise is a bit high on this one. It takes a while to settle down but once the examination is under way it isn’t terrible.

Not Hollie Berry standard but worthy of inclusion in The Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

Head to Toe Assessment

The background noise is as intrusive as the last one. As with the previous video there are some good moments. Tom Smith as the patient again – but a different medical professional this time Melissa. This video is also posted eleven years ago. Again there are no notes to guide as to which establishment this is. Sadly the badge on the shoulder of Melissa is a little too small and out of focus to be useful. The letters seem to be HNMC school of nursing with the nearest establishment I can find as Holy Name Medical Centre. Great I thought – crucifix – holy name. Only their symbol is a dove not a purple cross and the only Melissa I can find there is not this Melissa.

Again I think it belongs in the playlist – but I think an edited version would be even better (particularly if it was feasible to smooth out that background noise).

Overall not as terrible as at first thought, although all of these are now subject to review and I am producing an archive list of items once in the main playlist but upon reflection don’t quite meet the grade.

(This offers regular readers the opportunity to still find their favourites).

The Tom Smith playlist is here:

The overall playlist which contains the majority of videos featured in this blog is here:

The videos which failed the grade on review are now in this archive list here:

I hope that you find these playlists relaxing

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