Sleeping With ASMR

Recently I had a comment on one of these blog items: “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and I realised that is the theme I have unconsciously been following with recent blog items. The rhyme follows on “and Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose”. I have of course covered eyes before for example in the Moran Core blog item.

However, ears – that’s more of a challenge. So to this item which is – you guessed it – an ears exam specifically:

Ears & Nose Examination

This starts a bit louder than I usually like, the patient looks really quite anxious for some reason. This is another one with a dull background throb echoing constantly through the track – I’ll guess air conditioning. The comments indicate that I’m not the first to explore this in terms of ASMR though.

No clues as to where it comes from or to the participants either.

More terms that require defining:

Patent, in this context it means open unobstructed.

Gingiva gums.

It’s only two minutes fifty five seconds and ends abruptly. So lets see what the channel has to offer.

MDforAll is the channel which states that the videos have been obtained from elsewhere, so presumably the content can be a bit random.

The channel contains sixty-seven videos as at today’s date some of which are non-medical. With this many videos we can afford to be a bit choosy about them. There are no playlists and so thinning these down to a handful may take some arbitrary choices.

Searching the videos, it would appear that there are some that feature the same professional and the same “patient” so perhaps we could stick with those. But given the channel is such a resource, perhaps we will be back in the near future to sample some of those other videos.

Pulmonary Examination

This one requires an age verification. At one time I used to include these in the Procrastination Pen playlist until I found that the playlist can occasionally be playing away and then abruptly stop and ask me to sign in to verify my age. Naff that effectively. So this one will not be in the playlist.

At three minutes and eight seconds it is a short one again. The voice is much better here I think so a shame it isn’t going to be included. However I have been debating creating an archive list of items that were in the Procrastination Pen playlist but on reflection didn’t make it. I think this is a natural candidate for that list.

Having watched the video I’m not quite clear what the fuss is about age-verification wise but I’m not about to go questioning YouTube’s policy – life is too short.

Neurological Examination

I notice that the professional here has a badge on her tunic but the visibility is so poor I can’t make it out.

However, the patient states that she is at “Mid Western University” the badge could be similar to the one on the medical professional but I cannot be certain.

The website seems to indicate it should look like this.

Midwestern University has its own YouTube Channel. Two hundred and thirty-three videos at the time I am looking at it but none of them seem to include these two people.

However, it looks a nicely populated channel and maybe worthy of a future visit for ASMR – applicable videos.

George Bush is the president at the time of filming so we know that this is filmed between 2001 and 2009.

Babinski:

(It seemed easier than a definition).

Neck Examination

The patient here is very relaxed. If it wasn’t for the background noise this would be ideal.

It’s only two minutes sixteen seconds and I think in this case it can be included in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Upper Extremities Examination

This continues in the same way as those seen before. I have often reflected when reviewing videos that if there was a sound filter that worked against forced air systems (such as air conditioning) on the video sound track the quality of many of the videos we’ve seen (and heard) would be so much the better.

PIP Joint (Proximal interphalangeal joints) the second joint of each finger when counting downwards from the finger end.

The medical professional is a bit loud here for me, but I don’t think it’s one to dismiss from the Procrastination Pen playlist. However, it might be one that gets weeded in the future.

General Physical Examination

Wow this is loud! We find that the medical professional is Karen Myers and she is a PA student. I think she says the “patient” is Mrs Dewer but it is quite fast and right at the start of the video so that might well not be correct. I think “PA Student” is a student Physician Assistant.

Nystagmus – eye movement sometimes termed “dancing eyes”.

The video settles down sound-wise (but you may still want to mute the volume a little bit). One of the problems of a playlist is that sometimes the inter-video volume isn’t that normalised – if you’re asleep when this happens it can give you a bit of a start.

Lower Extremities Examination

This starts a little quieter and is quite a good beginning.

Calcaneus – the heel.

If anything with time it becomes calmer – possibly the best one of the set so far. Definitely one for the Procrastination Pen playlist, I think.

Ears & Nose Examination

This is where we came in so eyes, ears and mouth we have covered and nose is covered here.

Cardiovascular Examination

Another one that asks for an age verification so it will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist. There’s nothing particularly adventurous in this video so I’m not sure why. But as I’ve mentioned it is frustrating to encounter the age verification prompt if you’re half asleep at the time.

It is a shame because this isn’t bad in terms of sound so it might have made the playlist in other circumstances.

Abdomen Examination

Very short at two minutes fifty nine seconds. Perversely there is easily as much flesh on display here but no age verification prompt. Not that we’ll be watching in any case because it is the sound we’re after.

This is quiet – easily good enough for the playlist I think.

Given the age verification issue has begun to bite I have created a procrastination pen playlist for any that we encounter with that prompt. |(Some people reading might be bothered to try to watch them). I regard it as a pain in the progress of night-time listening.

The videos requiring Age verification playlist is here:

(I have moved any from the main Procrastination Pen playlist that I have noticed require this into the above list.)

The archive playlist of videos that were once in the main Procrastination Pen playlist but have been found (after repeated review) to not exactly meet that high standard is here:

I only maintain that list in case I archive one of your favourites.

The MDforAll playlist on the Procrastination Pen channel is here:

The playlist of all videos covered so far in this blog is here:

I hope that you find it relaxing.

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Sleeping With ASMR

I am continuing on the theme of identifying videos which might be useful for ASMR and/or producing calming effects to aid in sleep. Focusing primarily on the videos created for an entirely different purpose (of late for education purposes but that is likely to change). Regular readers will understand that a huge part of the point is to produce a playlist which you can play on your phone or tablet whilst trying to get to sleep. Those of you who are new, welcome. The playlist is getting to a reasonable length now and so if you choose the shuffle function on YouTube you should get several hours of listening. I apologise in advance for any blaring YouTube adverts that may interrupt this endeavour. I don’t think that any YouTube employees are reading my blog at the present time or they’d tone it down a bit (well one can hope).

Back to the world of eye exams today. The channel is CHECT UK, it has thirty-one videos so not a huge channel. This video however does not feature in any of the five available playlists. Reviewing the channel’s content available it looks like this is the solitary video which is going to be useful to us in terms of ASMR. Sadly, it looks like today I’m going to be limiting myself to just one video. On the bright side however, this will be a brief blog post which should enable you to rush back to whatever it was you were doing before reading this.

Ophthalmoscopy Video

The notes state it is an “Educational video shared courtesy of Moorfields Eye Hospital”. So it is not a pure exam video as such.

Moorfields eye hospital has its own channel with one hundred and twenty three videos as at today’s date, so this might be something worth exploring in a future blog post.

The people credited in the video are Miss Narcis Okhravi (Consultant in charge of undergraduate education), Miss Rahila Zakir, Miss Andrea Arinelli (Moorfields undergraduate teaching fellows). The crest used is that of Moorfields eye hospital (unsurprisingly). Video and animation is credited to Alan Lacey of W3 media. Production and lighting was Mike Hill of Mike Hill Productions. It was filmed in April 2009 – at last a video with a decent amount of information.

The narration in today’s video is very good in terms of being measured and calm (despite the fact that there is more than one narrator). The female narrator is quieter and so edges the male narrator out in terms of sleepiness inducing effects.

It isn’t designed for this purpose of course – it is designed to instruct someone who intends to take an eye exam and so we are nefarious observers on a video designed for somebody with a different intent.

At nine minutes thirty-two seconds it is not a huge length of video. There is (as usual) a continuous background noise (most likely air conditioning).

There is just one video so I have not created a playlist for CHECT UK.

However, the playlist of all videos covered in the blog so far is here:

I hope you find these videos restful.

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Sleeping With ASMR

One of the aspects of being in the fifth decade is that memory is not what it was. The title meant absolutely nothing to me. Then I discovered that I had encountered it before in this blog, not only that, but I’d defined it as well.

For people, like me who had forgotten ROM and MMT , MMT is manual muscle testing ROM is range of motion. Both of these appear to be occupational therapy terms and look likely to be the subject of future searches for ASMR videos.

The associated text tells us “Jordan Butler: ROM & MMT (gravity resisted & eliminated) upper extremities.”. Given the channel is called Michelle Hanigan I am assuming that Jordan Butler is the “patient” in this one.

The Michelle Hanigan channel has no playlists but that should not be a problem for us on this occasion as there are only two videos in it, the featured one is this:

ROM & MMT

As the video opens it’s pretty obvious this is not a typical work environment – sofa – immense TV – modern looking occasional table – almost certainly domestic. I’m assuming that this is some kind of video put together by a student of occupational therapy. It does not have the appearance of one of those videos discussed previously which is professionally composed in order to mimic a medical examination.

The sound quality isn’t fantastic. Although Michelle has a good voice it’s a bit muted in this recording, probably resulting from use of a remote rather than a lapel mic.

Michelle seems to be consulting notes off camera on a few occasions which I think reinforces the view that this is part of a learning experience. In addition, at intervals they both seem to be trying not to laugh. The person holding the “camera” makes the odd noise occasionally – I think that confirms the video isn’t a professional effort. Also at the end the dog makes an appearance.

Despite the sound limitations I think this is a good one ASMR-wise and worthy of inclusion in the playlist.

The second video is this one:

Movement Video

To be honest this seems to be a shorter version of the previous video (this one is ten minutes twenty six seconds the previous one is fourteen minutes twelve seconds)

On that basis there is no point in including this one in the playlist as well.

As there is only one video on this occasion, I will not create a Michelle Hanigan playlist. However, the ROM & MMT video I will add to the overall list of ASMR videos covered so far in this blog, which is here:

I hope that you’re still finding them restful.

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