Anxiety – Page 2 – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

Unfortunately, the available time for writing articles is shrinking. So I have the benefit now of being fully aware what it is to be under stress and to find that there is little time, post work, for the stress level to abate, before it’s time to close the eyes.

Life did not come with an off switch, and I have not yet developed the mental discipline to force the mind into quiescence against its will, as it were.

Still, this does mean that I can tell you that some nights, no amount of ASMR is going to help. You may have to take refuge in a Nytol or similar, and allow for the fact that you’re going to feel like a hibernating bear in the morning.

In which case, you have my sympathies.

For all those other occasions, can I suggest the Procrastination Pen playlist. If that does not work, by all means, feedback.

I was recently reading about the beneficial effects of certain mind-expanding mushrooms but personally I am way too cowardly to try them. Assuming I even knew where to buy such things. I assume I’m not going to find them in Tescos any day soon. Whether, as a result of all that mind expanding, you also can work out how to step through the doorway to sleep on demand was not made clear. However, if it were a reliable outcome there are some evenings I would be sorely tempted…

Today, again, I am making recommendation from Calm. Given a subscription is required, I am not certain just how useful to you this kind of recommendation is. If you find that such recommendations simply remind you of your impecunious circumstances, do feedback. The feedback is free, of course, and I will try to accommodate reasonable (or potentially unreasonable) requests dependent upon what they are.

Daily Jay

Chase the Future You

NARRATOR

Jay Shetty

https://www.calm.com/app/player/Ga3PYvH2pG

This is about role models and whether you are able to be one. I find Jay Shetty to be very good at inspirational material. Perhaps, though it isn’t always as great as Tamara Levitt in terms of calming. If you already have a Calm subscription, give it a try.

I have been, recently, evaluating a professional ASMR artist in these articles. I tend to be quite tough on them because they are professional ASMR artists. Where I would give latitude to an inadvertent ASMR video, I will not do so when the video is set up to have ASMR content. So far, I have found that many of the problems I find with inadvertent ASMR videos I also find in professional ASMR videos, and I wonder why this is the case. I also wonder if other people have noted the same thing. Please feedback about your own listening and preferences and what you find are the high points/low points of the current professional ASMR video offering.

Today’s selected professional ASMR video is this one:

The Steampunk Orthopaedist | ASMR Roleplay (medical exam, adjustments, personal attention)

It is just shy of thirty-four minutes in length and given it is from a professional ASMR artist it has notes (with the inevitable self-promotional material). Here is a brief extract: “293,422 views 7 Sept 2025

Welcome to a new doctor’s office! Tonight, we will be examining and treating your shoulder, arm and wrist using both classic and more unusual tools.

No music / no intro version: • No music | The Steampunk Orthopaedist | AS…

This video includes lots of personal attention, fabric sounds, unintelligible whispers and writing sounds.

Disclaimer:

This video was created for relaxation / entertainment only. For any serious trouble with sleep, stress etc., please consult your physician.

For more information about ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), please have a look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonom…”

I rather like the disclaimer. I cannot remember seeing anything similar before.

It is from a well-seasoned channel Moonlight Cottage ASMR with 1.49M subscribers, one hundred and thirty-nine videos, sixteen playlists. I can declare straight away that in the past I have spent quite a while listening to videos from this channel and generally quite liking what I was listening to.

No doubt I will feature the odd-one in the future. That bias declaration out of the way let’s evaluate what this offering is like.

It starts with music which has shades of the Harry Potter about it, or maybe Bucks Fizz circa 1981. You know by now that I do not like startup music. As they go, this one is not the most disturbing I have come across. The video incorporates equipment noises, knocks, rattles, vibrations, paper noises, scribbling noises, rustling noises, clicking noises. These are not my preferred content for a video, but, no doubt, there is an ASMR fan out there that laps up this kind of material.

The voice is very good and for once (mostly) avoids whispering. I find the less whispering, the more believable, but perhaps the more whispering the better the ASMR effect…

That is not to say the voice is not intonated quietly. But then this is what we came here for.

The accent is interesting. I’m not sure where it is from but a quick browse tells me that it is France. I do like the sound and I’m sure I am not the only one. As expected, there are comments, equally expected they are nearly all in paroxysms of adulation over the video. (ASMR artists seem unique in holding at bay the darker comments I otherwise see on YouTube). I am not as easily impressed, but pretty close.

I do like the inclusion of the tuning fork. I’m sure there will be some who disagree. Habitually I am all about the voice, and I would say this is a good one. There has to be a reason for that high number of subscribers after all.

There are various beep noises from steampunk equipment and clunks from heavy objects being moved, none of which I find particularly welcome. No doubt it makes the situation authentic and that was the reason behind including noises of this kind.

If you are watching the video (say you were reading this blog and you’re not ready for bed yet) you will find that the presentation is amazing in its care and detail. Moonlight Cottage ASMR could otherwise double as a film set, every aspect is so carefully prepared. This puts many a video filmed from someone’s sofa to shame.

The steampunk era equipment (for that is where the video purports to be from) is very believable. The layout of the room very minutely detailed to present the theme of a mythical time when all medical procedures were somewhat different than we would expect today.

It was so peaceful in fact that together with the absence of any tail end music (heaven be praised), I had a nasty surprise at the YouTube advert which came up immediately afterwards.

I would say that this one is well worth a review yourself.

After a period of listening to the Procrastination Pen playlist I find that it is easy to get certain favourites in terms of videos and to disregard the others. The temptation is to keep only those few and dispatch the others. However, I suspect if I followed that philosophy after a while, listening to the playlist would be very dull indeed with the same few videos repeating over and over again.

The defence against this seems to be to continue to discover restful videos and to add them to the Procrastination Pen playlist, such that each night time’s playing brings a fresh surprise.

Today, we are back with a channel that we have reviewed before and it seems to consistently bring up restful videos. It is quite likely therefore that we will be back here again in the future.

The video is this one:

Approach to Nevi (Moles) – Stanford Medicine 25

and it is quite a short one at just over four- and three-quarter minutes. It is a professional video rather than, say, a student assessment video as such it has notes: “65,987 views 22 Jan 2016

From our dermatology series, this video covers all the basics you need to accurately describe complex and multiple skin lesions.

Related webpage: http://stanfordmedicine25.stanford.ed…”

(The notes are considerably longer than this, but I have edited them for length. I doubt you will be interested in spending an extensive period reading notes).

The related webpage is this one.

This informs us that the medical professional in the video is Jennifer Chen there appears no record of who the “patient” in this video is.

The video starts with more than one incidence of music which, as usual, is somewhat unwelcome, but at least it is somewhat muted. Jennifer has a good voice for our purposes but her voice is consistently accompanied by that music. I still have no idea why people recording videos do this, it is distracting.

The video ends with yet more music.

The channel, which regular readers will probably already be aware, is Stanford Medicine 25.

This has eighty-eight videos on the day that I am checking it. The video that we looked at above is the first of a playlist called “Stanford Medicine 25: Dermatology” https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6bR3gooUQvSTs1iQuK6T5eyMTMf2kWl

This contains four videos and we have already reviewed the first one, so let’s cover the remaining three.

Diagnosing Acne vs. Rosacea (Stanford Medicine 25)

A sample of the notes is: “123,974 views 22 Jan 2016

From our dermatology series, this video covers all the basics you need to accurately differentiate between regular acne and acne rosacea.

The Stanford Medicine 25 program for bedside medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine aims to promote the culture of bedside medicine to make current and future clinicians and other healthcare provides better at the art of physical diagnosis and more confident at the bedside of their patients.”

The video is just over three minutes and stars Dr Chen again (the “patient” is not introduced). These videos are certainly fond of their background music, but in this case, Jennifer’s voice seems completely drowned out by it. This is a shame as it is almost the opposite of what we would like to hear. The balance between music and voice is completely off (assuming anyone wanted the music at all). It would have been preferable to delete the background music altogether and just to have Jennifer’s voice here.

Approach to the Dermatology Exam (Stanford Medicine 25)

An extract from the notes is: “154,988 views 22 Jan 2016

From our dermatology series, this video covers all the basics you need to accurately describe and diagnose any skin lesion.

This one is just less than eight minutes in length.

Comments are permitted and as expected they are somewhat variable, with limited contributions which add very much. There seem to be no comments that are feeding back from ASMR fans and given ASMR fans are like a squirrel in a hazelnut store when it comes to ASMR videos, this may not be a great sign.

Again, with the music, sigh. This time our medical expert is Dr Justin Ko. He is again in competition with ongoing background music. On the plus side he has a good voice – well paced in presentation, nice and calm. On the downside, at intervals, the music wins the competition. Please stop doing this Stanford.

The subject matter is quite off-putting. I can’t imagine skin conditions becoming top of the pops on any ASMR review. I certainly recommend that you don’t spend time watching this video, but only listen to it.

Some of the featured images are so unpleasant that I think, despite the quality of Dr Ko’s voice, this one cannot make it into the playlist. Too many people listening are likely to find it disturbing material, I think.

Approach to Multiple Rashes (Stanford Medicine 25)

This video is a bit over four and a half minutes. The (abbreviated) notes state: “57,958 views 22 Jan 2016

From our dermatology series, this video covers all the basics you need to accurately describe complex and multiple skin lesions.”

The comments do not lead us to suspect that ASMR fans have adopted this one (that might not be good for us). The now expected music at the start and, again, it continues as the medical professional is talking. Bernice Kwong who it turns out has a nice gentle voice (at least in this video).

Had the background music desisted, this could well have been a very good video indeed. There is again the finishing music. I am left with the sense that this set of videos could have been so much better without that music. I’ll trial them in the Procrastination Pen playlist, but I have a suspicion that they are going to get weeded in the future.

The Stanford Medicine playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

If you liked this blog article why not subscribe to this blog.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

I notice that there is now a lot more traffic in social media sites that utilise pictures or videos than there is in sites dedicated to reading. So, it is feasible that writing a blog (to whatever level of skill) is now something of a dying art (a bit like writing thank-you letters to your aunt because you received a fountain pen for your birthday).

It seems few people write letters now other than solicitors and banks. People using fountain pens do so because they like pens, rather than it’s a thing that you just use.

I assume people still have aunts; however, I imagine any messages of thanks are now received via Signal, WhatsApp or even (the now somewhat dated) SMS.

Perhaps AI will save us by writing all these blog articles for us, however I wonder then who will be left to read them.

So, it is with a sense of some stubbornness that I write (however badly) another article on ASMR for sleep.

Today’s video comes from that very deep mine of videos which we have thoroughly excavated of late which is the video apparently produced as some kind of course work. Sadly, these always seem to be pressured efforts produced in public areas and as such the sound quality is often not quite there.

A number of these seem a great idea at first (to me at least) but have subsequently hit the Procrastination Pen archive list because they do not measure up to the competition we are seeing through continual review of the videos available.

So, it is with a triumph of optimism over experience that we come to today’s:

Head to toe

The sound is flat as if being recorded from some distance away (which may be the reality). The pace is frenetic (is someone timing the participants for some reason?)

From the introductory comments I heard that the medical professional is Carmen, a student (some kind of student but it was too fast for me to catch what).

Similarly, the “patient” could be “Charlene” (but that may well not be correct).

The date it is filmed is 03/08/2021 and they are at LIU campus Brooklyn.

LIU of course has its own YouTube channel. (This must be de rigueur for universities). However, there appear to be only fifty-nine videos here. As we have seen before these tend to be promotional videos for the university, rather than material that an ASMR-related blog can really make much use of.

The video (as is common for such videos) is in portrait mode (presumably filmed on a phone). As we have come to expect, there are various noises associated with equipment. Here, the muted nature of the volume works in our favour.

There are no comments permitted (which as has been pointed out before is probably wise). However, it does mean that I have no awareness as to whether other people have discovered this video and are using it for ASMR purposes. ASMR fans are so good at sniffing out a good video that a tracker dog would do less well. I therefore suspect quite a few have been here before me.

Once the examination-proper starts, things begin to slow down. (Thank goodness, this is supposed to be relaxing).

At nearly forty-two and a half minutes this is quite a long video. One does get the idea with such videos that in order to pass an assessment the student has to rattle through a list of certain phrases as if mentally following a checklist.

This often leads to a quite stilted presentation. (Presumably it is effective for assessment purposes, however).

Charlene (if that is her name) seems as anxious as we have come to expect in such videos. Perhaps the pace has not been relaxing for her either.

There are a number of thumps and bangs from the equipment. As pointed out before medical equipment does not seem to come with the quiet option.

Definition:

JVD: Jugular Vein Distention, bulging of veins in the neck.

Thrill: a heart murmur that can be felt.

Bursitis: a swollen and painful joint.

The channel is carmen yip which has one video and no playlists. Yet, despite this, it has two hundred and five subscribers, that is quite an achievement I think.

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Nihal Karkala on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Exploring YouTube, as I do now several times a week, leads to many random dead ends. Let’s face it, when faced with a screen full of prospective videos, I am looking at a thumbnail of each video and making a guess as to what the video will sound like for any ASMR fans out there that are reading this blog. Which of the many videos might be relaxing for a person, like myself, seeking more sleep than they currently achieve.

I am not that successful. For every video you have seen, there are many dozens with off-putting noises, strange sequences or that my suspicious senses kick off – thinking that, in fact, they were generated by a professional ASMR artist.

Of those I have evaluated, a subset get into the Procrastination Pen playlist. Sadly after a period of listening, quite a few of those subsequently get archived because they just don’t turn out to be that appealing in the long run.

It is therefore no surprise that once a good video is located by ASMR fans on YouTube a loyal following develops. In some cases, once videos are taken down, ASMR fans recover the video and repost it on their own channel.

(Much as I applaud this from the viewpoint of video availability, it is fraught with risk – out there are some hungry copyright solicitors and they, I am certain, would love to spot infringements of copyright and gain any fees due as a consequence).

Today’s video does not permit comments. From the perspective of defraying the Internet trolls this is jolly good news. However, it does not assist me in determining if ASMR afficionados have found this one already. In most cases, I assume they have. ASMR fans are substantially faster than I am at discovering new content.

The video is this one:

Neuro exam 2

It is just shy of ten minutes, so not terrible in length in terms of a medical examination video. There are no notes, so I suspect an amateur, rather than a professionally, produced video. It starts a bit loud, and straight away we get the impression this is another of those videos produced on a course required as part of a student’s assessment.

That said, background noise is negligible, the volume is not terrible (other than the occasional clang of equipment which is normal in terms of such videos.

Sadly, it is in portrait mode. I assume because it is filmed on a mobile phone but this will not be a problem because you’ll be listening rather than watching.

My viewing was constantly interposed by adverts at an inappropriate level of volume (which seems to be YouTube’s latest thing). I have no hatred of the adverts as such, but if I’m watching a video for ASMR content, an advert some levels of volume louder than the video seems a very bad idea.

But I digress. The pace of the video is slow and the level of speaking is (mostly) quiet. The scene is in a medical room but there are no clues as to where. At intervals there are other people talking in the background which is quite common in this type of video as well.

As we have seen before participants find it hard to take the process seriously and this is also the case here with laughter on occasion (on other occasions obvious boredom).

Someone interrupts the video at one stage (also a hazard in these videos) by knocking on the door. The BBC doesn’t seem to be challenged in this way…

The channel is Anna Cason.

I’ll assume that Anna was the medical professional and given it was posted earlier this year, may well still be on the course that it is a requirement for.

The channel has fourteen videos and no playlists. That is a fair few for one blog item and it looks like the current participant is the favourite “patient” as she appears in the majority of them. So I can’t go for my much used method of only reviewing videos with the same medical professional or same “patient”.

So I’ll go through all of the videos in the channel (as at today’s date anyway). If you haven’t the time for such a lengthy post, scroll to the end and the playlist will be waiting there for you. Hop over to YouTube – click the shuffle function – lie back and drift off to sleep (well in theory at least). Please let me have any feedback (such as favourite videos you’d like including).

The next video is this one:

Peripheral vascular exam 2

I think the patient introduces herself as “Emma Hilt” but it could probably be anything as it passes in a real rush. April 16^th 2002 is her DoB, not that it is relevant in checking if this is a genuine medical video.

This video is short at just under three and a half minutes. Again, there is a comforting lack of background noise. No notes, Emma (I’ll assume that is her name) yawns frequently throughout so it obviously isn’t the most compelling thing she has on that day.

There are more equipment noises – I guess quiet equipment just isn’t a priority. Either that or medical professionals are more interested in moving equipment around quickly rather than doing so quietly, which seems a sensible choice.

The next video is this one:

Bedside assessment

This is just over six and a half minutes

I think that Emma tells us that she is at nursing school (although I have no idea which one). She seems either very bored or she’s getting even less sleep than I habitually do. There are conversation noises from adjacent rooms (although it isn’t excessively loud).

There are more equipment noises but mostly a very measured examination.

Nose mouth throat exam

These videos are remarkably consistent given they are produced as part of a student assessment. This, has more laughter and, to me, a more obvious set of air conditioning noises. But at least it lacks the conversation from adjacent rooms. Emma still seems utterly bored. Perhaps she has in mind her own set of videos, yet to be filmed, for the same course.

Hearing exam

The same two participants in what is quite a short video at just over three and a half minutes. No notes and no comments. Background noise, now seems to be a companion – which is something that we are used to of course.

Eye exam

This is almost identical with the previous ones apart from noises relating to what I assume are messages arriving on a mobile phone (perhaps the one being used to do the filming). It is just over four and a half minutes in length. There are air conditioning noises, general amusement in places and utter boredom for the “patient”. It is feasible that these were all filmed at one time and that the process was just a tad wearing.

At one stage Anna forgets her medical terminology and one gets the feeling it’s all getting a bit tiresome for them.

Skin, hair, nails exam

Anna forgets which video she is supposed to be filming. Emma announces she has “KP” which I had to look up.

KP: Keratosis Pilaris painless bumps on the skins – a long term condition.

Anna again forgets where she is going and then gets very loud, perhaps to block out the conversation from an adjacent room. There is a thudding sound at one stage almost as if someone were tapping the phone that is doing the filming.

Abdominal exam

The same participants this video is just under four and three quarter minutes. Background conversation noises are there from the outset and air conditioning is really getting into its stride. Anna sounds fed up with the process already.

Emma states that she has IBS.

IBS Irritable Bowel Syndrome a lifelong condition affecting the gut which can be controlled but not cured.

Anna is again amused at intervals.

The phone is relocated part way through with associated clanging noises. Presumably equipment was kicked at the same time. Anna forgets what she is supposed to say but the approach to the examination is quiet.

It’s quite unusual to see one of these videos in which the person participating seems quite stuck. However, I don’t think this impacts the ASMR-i-ness as such.

There seems to be equipment missing (perhaps a hammer) which is reminiscent of the student who used canteen equipment to film one of these videos. Anna just uses her finger.

Peripheral vascular exam

The same participants feature again, the video is five minutes ten seconds long. If all of these videos were filmed in one session, I assume it took the two of them a very long time. Anna has problems getting through the door initially so there is a loud bang at the start. There is background conversation from an adjacent room and at stages it continues quite loudly. Air conditioning has now fully established itself and is working on becoming a session musician.

Anna forgets what she intends to say (but at least we are fully aware that she is not following notes off screen).

More message noises are heard from the phone being used to film this. There are more equipment noises and Anna is again amused by the parts that are going wrong (mainly where she forgets terminology).

Cardiac assessment

We’re in the swing of this now and all the same symptoms are in this one that were in all the previous ones. The level of background noise merely differs.

Just over five and a quarter minutes so not long. It follows the exact same theme as those we have seen previously. The start is quite stumbly as if Anna is finding her way through it. It remains quiet though apart from overheard nearby conversations and the low roar of air conditioning, which is constant.

I think Anna’s voice is actually improving as we go on and if some of those niggling additional noises were dispatched this could have been a really great video. In any case I’m intending to trial these in the Procrastination Pen playlist with the understanding that some or all may ultimately get dispatched to the archive.

Lungs and thorax assessment

This is approaching six minutes which feels long in comparison to some of the others but for the videos we commonly see is still a short video.

We’re used to the intro now as it runs through exactly the same set of sentences each time. The examination itself though differs (fortunately for us).

Anna appears to be struggling to remember some specific terminology (unclear what). There are noises of doors opening in adjacent rooms so it is feasible that other students are filming vastly similar videos for their courses in the rooms next door to this one.

Overall, though, a good video for the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

Head, Face, Neck Assessment

Here, Emma is wearing some kind of identity badge which one would hope would give us the institution involved. Sadly, it is too tiny for me to read so it remains a mystery. Just under four and a half minutes, so a short one in terms of this set and the last one in which Anna and Emma appear together.

It seems to start a bit louder than previously and the air conditioning is ever present (or I’m getting tired by now).

However, to have produced this number of videos in such a short period is quite a piece of work.

Definition:

Crepitus – noise when moving a joint

Does anyone not have this?

Neurological exam at home assessment

Anna now has a new “patient”. Michael Atkis (I think) DoB. 02-12-03 (December in case there are any US readers). This, as expected, changes the sound profile markedly as Michael has a much deeper voice than Emma.

However, he does not get to talk a great deal.

The background air conditioning now sounds like it is aiming for some kind of award and the extraneous background talking noises are now quite pronounced.

Michael tells us that we are at “college of nursing” I think – it’s hard to discern. But I cannot make out where that would be.

This is over seven minutes in length. Again, Anna is a bit tentative, apparently as she forgets some terminology.

Having seen this examination done professionally by Vicki Scott we have been a bit spoiled; I think. This one is a bit more filled with humour – especially as Anna forgets the content she needs to perform.

Musculoskeletal home assessment video

the last one in this set and this has been a rather long post for which I apologise. Anna returns with Michael. Almost identical to the previous one in terms of sound – maybe more noise from the next-door room than previously.

Just under seven minutes so only slightly different in length to the previous one. Anna laughs quite a bit in this one too.

Very loud equipment noises in this, I jumped at one stage because I was listening rather than watching the screen.

The Anna Cason playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Christian Krebel on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Some people have echoed the concern that the material to write a blog dedicated to ASMR is soon enough going to dry up and I shall come to an abrupt halt. Recently, however I have signed up to an ASMR group on Facebook. This group receives ASMR posts daily and a great many of them. It seems likely that there will always be ASMR material. It also seems that the popularity of ASMR isn’t going to wane in the short term. ASMR seems to have now been established as an interest for a sufficient time that I think it unlikely that this is a fashion or a fad.

What will perhaps be more challenging is the area I have chosen to explore, which is of ASMR-inducing videos where that was not the initial intent of the video. I find this a great deal more interesting, like uncovering a diamond in a coal mine.

It does mean quite a bit of work in sifting through the very many unsuitable videos. However, the mental reward when the like of Hollie Berry or Shane Brun are discovered does to some extent compensate for that. Although, unsurprisingly, there are many more videos which are not of that calibre.

Every once in a while, I will take a side route to illustrate videos that are not quite on theme but might be of interest. If, one day, I cease to discover new inadvertent ASMR there is always the world of professional ASMR to take a look at. It might even be that readers of this blog will encourage that direction, perhaps to advertise their own ASMR material, for example.

For now, I have another video to look at.

Head to Toe Assessment: Greta Garber

This is quite brief in terms of the videos we have looked at of late, at just over six and a quarter minutes.

The notes are informative: “18 Nov 2020

Head to Toe Assessment done by Greta Garber on November 18th for NSG 261 Skills Test #2”

NSG261 appears to be one in a series of exams with NSG262 and NSG263 material also being readily available in terms of study guides, quizzes, advice and so on. So it does not appear to uniquely identify a specific institution. Where colleges offer NSG courses these seem to be in relation to a nursing qualification, so it might be that NSG is just an odd abbreviation for nursing.

Greta Garber is the medical professional in this video, the “patient” is Audrey Stephens (almost certainly misspelled). Given this is filmed in 2020 it might have been when Greta was at Miami University.

Miami, of course has its own channel with around hundred and ninety-seven videos at the time I am looking at it. However, we have experience of university channels now and mostly they are about promoting the university (unsurprisingly) and experience tells us it is a poor source for ASMR material.

The address is given which sounds like “233 Gaslin”, but which almost certainly is nothing like that. Many of the commentators have mentioned that whoever is handling the camera probably had a bad cold that day, or at the least is used to breathing through their mouth. At times it sounds like someone trying to make a certain kind of telephone call.

The poster for Phi Mu turns out to be a “fraternity” at Miami. I’m not at all informed about what a fraternity would do or why they exist. This one seems to exist as a way to meet like-minded women, which amongst other things, seems to be involved in some charitable events. Perhaps that is why all fraternities exist. Interestingly, the word seems to originate with the term brotherhood, which makes its re-use as a term to define a group of women interesting. American websites seem to more typically use the term “Sorority” to define a group like this. I’m not sure of the ramifications (which could potentially be political).

Although it starts a bit energetically – it seems like it was quite hard to take it all seriously – the video settles down and becomes quite gentle (in places anyway).

The channel is Greta Garber there are four videos of which this one is by far the most recent. The others do not look very promising as ASMR candidates.

cheer winter

Given the music and photographic content I would say it is a nostalgic celebration of success designated for participants only. Definitely of no use for an ASMR video.

meniscus

well, the title is medical so it promises to be more interesting. The music at the start is a lot less so. It is slightly over two and a half minutes so really not very long. The video includes the channel owner and someone called Kayla, who on the face of it has a much better voice.

It was obviously filmed in the equivalent of a canteen with the background noise that we have come to expect from such locations. It then appears to move to a more medical room with a similar level of noise. There is the air conditioning unit running which could have doubled as a cooling plant at Chernobyl. It could have been a very good video in principle but I think it is more likely to keep you awake than lull you off to sleep.

VOTE GRETA GARBER FOR SECRETARY

Loud, so loud. Really not at all what we want to hear.

So that’s it. Not a huge one this time I’m afraid, but I’m sure that we will have next time another for your delectation.

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

In searching for new ASMR videos I’m prepared to try various avenues. You will have noticed that on occasion I do voyage away from the main theme, which to date has been medical (and similar) examination videos.

Despite the attrition of videos slowly being removed from YouTube, the Procrastination Pen playlist continues to grow and hence I can afford to be quite critical of its contents and to weed out those that are less desirable for sleep promotion than at first thought.

The overall playlist as usual appears at the end of this article, so if you are short of time scroll straight to the end and pick it up from there.

If you’re still reading, onto today’s idea.

Of late I have noticed that some gruff and loud presenters seem to calm down and go quiet when dealing with young people. Today’s is a foray into that area therefore.

It is this one:

Rachel Bridges Head to Toe Assessment

As expected, it is quiet, calm and methodically presented. The only thing I would say is that you might need to turn the volume up a bit.

At just over twenty-five minutes, it is quite a good length and it seems others think so too as the channel has over two thousand subscribers as at today’s date. However, (probably sensibly) comments are not permitted which means I cannot tell if ASMR fans have already tracked this down. (As we’ve seen before some comments are less than helpful).

The small person seems suitably entertained including being tickled at one stage, I think.

The medical institution is not identified. Rachel has an identification badge but I cannot make out what it says.

There is as expected continual background noise (probably air conditioning) as we’ve heard before.

I would guess from the orientation of the video (Portrait mode) that it was taken using a mobile phone or similar device.

Rachel maintains a conversation with the small person throughout, including in areas I thought they would find hard to comprehend.

I think this one belongs in the Procrastination Playlist, although it might be subject to future weeding.

This one is posted in 2018 to the following channel:

Rachel Bridges

The videos on here range from five years ago to five months ago and there are only four of them. There has to be a reason why there are quite so many subscribers. I would make a wild guess some ASMR fans have got here before me.

Looking at the other videos:

September 15, 2017

Very brief, just over a minute and appears to be reading from a piece about nurse practitioners. Rachel has a good voice but this one does not seem to be a great fit for the playlist. I think this might be an assessment piece for a course which is in line with other videos that have been featured before.

Another very brief video:

January 20, 2023

This one is on the role of a psychiatric nurse mental health practitioner, again, it is reading from a script and is not a good fit for the playlist.

The next one is another “Head to Toe” but without the small person (the person involved is more adult sized). Let’s see if my theory about people changing behaviour based on whether a person is a young person is supported by the second video.

The video is this one:

R.Bridges Head to toe assessment

Straight away the presentation is a lot faster than the last “Head to Toe” on this channel, and a lot less measured. However, the tone remains quiet. The presentation is so fast in places I am not sure what medical terminology is in use.

I have a feeling that the “patient” here actually has a slightly better voice (than Rachel). However, he gets little to say (he is also unidentified).

Comments are permitted but there are no comments that are helpful to us (such as where this is for example).

However, at one stage the badge comes into view and I believe it states “NP Student” at “Indiana Wesleyan”.

So at least we have identified the location, if not the “patient”.

We’re back to landscape mode with this one but the background noise persists. The volume is slightly louder, not markedly, but I would say the approach is less gentle (than the first video in this article).

It is just over nineteen and a half minutes so still a good length and on balance I would say also belongs in the Procrastination Pen playlist. However, I keep reviewing this playlist and videos get demoted to the archive playlist all the time based upon their long-term sleep promotion effects (or otherwise).

The video goes out of focus at one stage but, given you will not be watching but lying there praying for sleep whilst listening, I think that’s unlikely to affect you.

As is not atypical for assessment videos. There are occasional thuds as equipment is relocated – in the past I have weeded videos for this, and this one might be another that goes the same way.

I notice that (like me) the patient has apparent problems with the heel to toe exercise (not great if you have dodgy balance).

So a couple of videos from Rachel worthy of conclusion and so, as is habitual on this site, I have created a Rachel Bridges playlist:

The main playlist on the Procrastination pen is (as always) here:

The archive list of videos which whilst once in that main list were found over time to be less listenable than at first thought is here:

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I hope that you continue to find them restful

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Anas Belmadani on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

It came to me today that this series has been going on so long that I should provide an ongoing introduction to these articles, so that any newcomers will know what is happening. This needs to be brief enough though, so that the stalwart reader doesn’t get bored.

The aim of this particular blog series is to explore the use of ASMR videos for sleep. Specifically, to be helpful in the getting off to sleep and getting back to sleep when you awake in the middle of the night.

I’m assuming you have a device that can attach to the Internet somewhere near to your bed. On this device that you can open YouTube, browse to The Procrastination Pen playlist, click on shuffle, lie back and listen to the rest in peace. (This might require some kind of sleep-friendly headphones or similar).

My focus so far has mainly been on ASMR videos which have ASMR effects despite being designed for something else (most commonly medical exams so far). These are so-called “unintentional ASMR” videos. There are quite a number of these so I doubt we are going to run out of these any time soon. However, I do occasionally stray into the professional ASMR arena and select one of those videos that appeals.

Each article reviews a video or videos that came up on YouTube. These frequently are found through recommendation by YouTube. I then determine whether the ongoing playlist needs to be enhanced by addition of the reviewed video or that the video needs to be rejected. (In which case the video will still be clickable from the article itself – if you decide you rather like it).

You are free to recommend videos that you feel fit the bill or to disagree with my choices (I may even change the playlist in response to contributions).

At intervals, I review the playlist and pull out the less-successful videos into an archive list of those that seemed to make the grade but over time have not proven to be quite so restful. I use the Procrastination Pen playlist myself so I have a reasonably constant interaction with it.

Today’s video appears to have once been on YouTube on a different channel but was taken down for some reason. The comments indicate that it is a very welcome restoration.

The channel is ASMR Archivist and the notes state that its mission is “an archive for lost AMSR videos” (I assume that’s ASMR). This seems like the kind of place that we could enjoy.

That said, on exploring ASMR Archivist we find just one video (today’s video) and zero playlists.

So today’s article is going to feature just the one video.

Cate Darnell – Head to Toe Assessment

It is so popular that we find that it has an entry in the Internet Archive.

This indicates that it was deleted in 2020, but sadly not where it was deleted from – i.e. where its original home was.

As a consequence of being so popular we find that a similar thing has happened to this video as for the Vicki Scott video covered previously That is, the video is now posted in several places on YouTube. For example here:

On a channel called Sleep ASMR (which seems appropriate)

Our video is just shy of twenty-six minutes long so not the longest we’ve seen. It seems to start with “Miss Spagboll” (I’m sure I heard that incorrectly).

The badge on the patient is just not discernible enough to make it out however it could be Honors College which resolves as The University of Alabama in Huntsville. This has a channel UAH Admissions. This channel has forty-three videos and seven playlists but it appears this is all about marketing the university rather than medical examinations.

Possibly the Cate Darnell video once came from a Cate Darnell channel which has now gone.

Our video looks like an assessment video for a nursing university. We’ve seen these before of course. There is the normal level of background noise, air conditioning again, I think.

Cate has a brilliant accent and talks very quietly, just the sort of thing we are looking for in a video.

As usual the odd definition may help (well they do me – as I have no medical background) in this case bruit is an abnormal sound generated by a turbulent flow of blood.

I have no idea what Cate did next but for our purposes it is a shame that she did not produce a whole wealth of videos à la Dr James Gill.

The comments as usual are very helpful, one points out that details of Cate are online and that the video is over a decade old.

As many commentators state this is an excellent ASMR video. Definitely one for the playlist.

Sadly there will be no playlist for ASMR Archivist on the Procrastination Pen (there is only one video)

However, the overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

(and now it includes the Cate Darnell video).

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after repeated review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening experience to log on, this interrupts the listening experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

As before, I should provide a brief introduction for those who do not know anything about:

a) this blog

b) this subject.

I’ve written on this before and it might be worthwhile reviewing that post for details.

In brief though, this section of the blog involves reviewing ASMR videos, or indeed any video that could be relaxing enough that when you are desperate for sleep it might encourage you to get some.

The result is a playlist of such videos and the opportunity to feedback as to whether my choices were appropriate that week.

The YouTube Channel this time does not have many subscribers two hundred and seventy subscribers in fact, so it is almost an unknown channel. Is this an ASMR find? Possibly…

The video is:

Head to Toe

This has a reasonably high level of background noise, possibly an open space perhaps (although the part we get to see is enclosed by curtains). The nurse is Keisha whose channel this is (more of that in a moment). The “patient” does announce her name which I think is “Mallory Myers” – that looks wrong to me but it is what it sounds like.

The comments as usual are a bit off the wall, even brutal, but fortunately if you came for the sleep then you will not be reading those (or even watching the video). It is all about the sound.

The video has the hallmarks of one of those we’ve seen previously i.e. created as part of an assessment process. For example this one includes the fake washing of hands and the insistence on drawing curtains for privacy that are already drawn.

I’ve concluded that somewhere there is a checklist that student assessment videos are unthinkingly adhering to.

These videos have a feeling of being “busy” i.e. trying to cram everything in that the assessor wants to see. This includes a number of technical terms I imagine very few patients would be bothered to hear about.

There’s also a long period of more-or-less nothing at the end when Keisha is doing the paperwork, presumably this is again a requirement.

The examination is lovely and calm, the background noise quickly stops being distracting. There are moments of shared humour and there seems to be reasonable rapport. This is a good Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

It may have been recorded at Valdosta State University – the nurse’s shoulder badge at one stage appears to indicate this location. This university of course has a YouTube channel, with three hundred and four videos as at today’s date but it does not include any of those listed on Keisha’s channel.

The channel is Keisha CoxKelly.

There are seven videos as at today’s date with the above one being the most obvious candidate for ASMR. There are no playlists. However, with only seven videos we can probably take the time to review them all. (Well I can, and you can scroll to the end to listen to the playlist).

There are no videos posted more recently than eight years ago presumably that is how long ago Keisha was a student.

NG Tube

One thing that we can be absolutely clear about here is that there will be zero patient interaction. The patient appears to be plastic.

There is background noise, more insistence on fake privacy and cleanliness measures.

It is quite surreal watching the one-sided interactions in this video.

The notes state it is VSU college of nursing which seems to confirm my earlier guess about the location.

Nonetheless Keisha retains the quiet voice of the previous video and the procedures appear calm and measured. Even if it is apparent that a plastic model cannot actually swallow a tube.

There’s also an amusing point where the person videoing films their own fingers.

This video is a bit borderline. I’ll add it to the Procrastination Pen playlist but it may fall victim to a future weeding process.

FOLEY Cath insertion/removal

This time the video notes confirm that it is Valdosta State University College of Nursing. There was no need to go investigating shoulder badges after all.

The background noise seems worse because Keisha seems very quiet on this. The microphone is presumably not fully up to the task.

The “patient” has no legs which is almost as distracting as people talking and laughing in the background. The patient is plastic, which is a bit of a relief given the subject area. (I’d probably get some kind of YouTube content warning otherwise).

The camera-holding person is a bit of a fidget but given we’re here to listen (and to sleep) that is not such a concern. The sound isn’t amazing but it is unlikely to cause you to wake up in a hurry at 3am (unlike some YouTube adverts I can mention). Therefore, on-balance I think we can include it in the Procrastination Pen playlist (with the emphasis on potential future weeding activity).

Insulin Mixing

This also suffers from low volume. However, I am not so clear this will matter late at night when, necessarily, the volume will be way down in any case. (To ensure that you are not woken by the very playlist you were using to fall asleep in the first place). There is no patient in this video so it does not really qualify as an exam as such.

Keisha seems to be admirably measured in approach. I’m sure there must be classes on Zen meditation or something similar happening in the background to generate so many medical trainees this calm.

I’ll put this one in the Procrastination Pen playlist (even if only temporarily).

Wound Care

The one-sided conversation is nearly as surreal as the virtual door which you can neither knock upon nor close to “provide privacy”. The sound is slightly better apart from the traffic noise which makes itself felt. Once again this includes a plastic “patient”. At least he/she isn’t loud.

The snapping gloves noises are a bit of a wake-up though.

At nearly thirteen minutes it is amazingly long for a one-way interaction but I suppose the great thing about it is that it is quiet. Another video that’s on the Procrastination Pen playlist (possibly pending a future cull).

IM and SQ injections

I would guess this features two student nurses, our favourite, Keisha, and what sounds like “Sky Voss” but probably isn’t. This is filmed in a public area with minimal screening. So far so normal student assessment video.

At just over seven minutes it doesn’t hang around. As injections are not my favourite thing I’ll be watching from behind the sofa.

There is fake privacy and cleanliness again. There is also quite a lot of technical terminology, (as we saw previously). I’m presuming no standard patient would comprehend, let alone request this.

Fracturing the ampule was a bit of a shock (it is loud) but not as bad as the gloves snapping in the previous video. I’ll feature this video on the Procrastination Pen playlist for now.

I’ll schedule a playlist review shortly and remove any that no longer seem up to the desired quality.

IV administration

This is positively whacky; on this occasion the “patient” is a plastic arm.

The sound quality starts bad and seems to get a lot worse. It is like someone is trying to record the video with the microphone actually inside their pocket. There is almost no reception of what Keisha is saying. The presentation could be excellent but sadly it can’t be heard.

Hence this one needs to be rejected from the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The playlist for Keisha is here:

The overall playlist of every video that made the grade after a review on this blog is here:

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after lengthy review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case people have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I dislike these as they require me to stop and login to verify my age. You may find that you have more patience than I do and so are prepared to give it a listen.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep as a result.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Till next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

There comes a point where I’ve been checking for ASMR videos for so long that I start to come back to items that I have covered before.

This one concerns me because I have seen it in my suggested videos list quite often so I am not certain that it has not featured somewhere previously in this blog.

If it has, then I apologise and I’ll ensure any duplications in the playlist are removed – I can imagine that would prove to be very irritating.

ASMR🏥🩺Unintentional – Physical Examination

I think a number of channels are carrying this video, at least it seems to come around in YouTube recommendations rather often. However, finding a duplicate with such scant information (I just have the first names of the participants) might be interesting.

Twenty-nine minutes of medical exam and the title calls it “Full Physical Examination” not only that but it tells us who originally supplied it i.e. Prohealthsys.

The “patient” in this one is Courtney, the medical professional is James. The location seems to be a gym. Courtney’s voice seems a little peppy for ASMR. James’ voice is better. Be warned though this isn’t going to be a James Gill. However at intervals it is quite gentle, which is better for us.

This is the first time I’ve seen the gown-held-like-a bikini-approach, although it is referred to in other videos as a technique to preserve privacy.

The Channel is A Quiet Place this has one hundred and seventy one videos and one hundred and thirty four subscribers on the day I’m looking at it. There are quite a few videos in here which I recognise and have featured previously elsewhere on this blog. There is also any number which I have not previously featured and so will probably crop up in future blog items.

Prohealthsys have their own channel this has four hundred and twenty eight videos but not the one above. Most appear to be featuring a Dr Vizniak who is not the medical professional in this video.

I would guess this is a Prohealthsys video which is an older one and has now been removed from the main Prohealthsys site.

Checking for “Prohealthsys exam” (via YouTube search) I find that there is the one above and a reversal of the roles in this one:

30 min Full Physical Exam Flow

This is on channel SuninSavannah which appears to have only this video on it.

This video also appears on Roos but with the title:

Unintentional ASMR | Full Medical Exam | Med School

It comes up so frequently in YouTube recommendations that I suspect it also crops up on other channels.

Courtney’s voice here is just way too loud, I mean talking to a football stadium loud. For some reason the air conditioning now sounds like it is supplying a blast furnace and there is a sound like a background trickle of water as well.

The presentation is also fast. If I’m wanting something for sleep, slow and measured is the way to go.

I have to confess to disappointment as following the James’ presentation I really wanted to like this video. But it wouldn’t be fair to add this to a playlist.

So one video only. There is no need to create a playlist for that.

The overall playlist for the videos covered so far in this blog is here:

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after lengthy review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case people have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos regarding age verification is here:

I dislike these as they require me to stop and login to verify my age. You may find that you have more patience than I do.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of a result.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Till next time.

Photo by Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

For newbies to the blog, a quick guide. As an old codger I am finding it increasingly difficult to sleep. After messing about for a while with different solutions, I found that a number of YouTube videos were relaxing. Even if I could not get off to sleep, they distracted me from the anxiety of realising I would be tired in the morning.

Sometimes this was enough to get to sleep. Sometimes if I woke up in the night, it was enough to get back off to sleep again. Sometimes I could content myself with lying there just watching the video.

I came across the “unintentional ASMR” category whilst searching YouTube and discovered there is a whole resource of videos which engender ASMR effects in those who are fortunate enough to feel them.

This started an idea, what if I went in search of videos that might be suitable for ASMR or at the very least be relaxing enough for sleep. What if I tried to find videos that did not appear to be listed on existing ASMR channels. I would then have a long playlist of relaxing videos and maybe some of them would not have been found by some people looking for ASMR videos.

I thought that my research may help other people – those who perhaps do not want to spend time finding relaxing videos but just want to get some sleep for goodness sake.

As I come across more videos I review them, post them up here and add the good ones to an ever-expanding playlist. Every so often I review the playlist and archive those that have not stood the test of time. Hopefully, eventually, the playlist will just consist of quality ASMR videos. I always welcome suggestions for membership/deletions.

Today’s was covered previously but in that case consisted of a compilation video (which was the following three videos somehow welded up into one. I usually dismiss these compilation videos but in this case the join was largely unrecognisable so I let it pass. After this blog article I may well be weeding out the compilation video in favour of the following (On the assumption that they are any good of course)).

NEU_General Exam – Part 1

Those who read the previous blog article will be familiar with the participants. If you haven’t read the previous blog article, I’m pleased that you are a new reader and why not go take a look.

As usual we look at the video and we look at the YouTube channel where it is found (in the hope other juicy ASMR videos might be discovered).

The channel is redbreadproductions it has fifteen videos as at today’s date and it would appear that we have snaffled the only three worthy of greater attention. Yay us and onto the review.

This video is Part One of a three-part video series

The intro helpfully tells us it is the Northeastern Physician Assistant Program 2010, which appears to be this one.

Northeastern has its own channel replete with the kind of self-promotional videos which regular readers will now be familiar with.

However I was amazed to find this one amongst them:

It is not exactly a positive endorsement but hey it is early days yet – some ASMR videos have only been up for 5 years for example.

Our video has a rather too funky intro music track – it’s a shame but not the first time we have seen this.

The intro then goes on to say “The General Physical Examination”.

The whole video is only six minutes and twenty seven seconds.

It suffers with a humongous amount of background hubbub. It seems to be extremely loud and the weighing scales even more so. Clang, bang wallop and so on.

It sounds like the examination is next to a staff canteen in which some truly hot gossip item is doing the rounds. The kind of thing where it would be tempting to open the door and yell “shut up” quite offensively only the lull would last all of half a second and then resume even more loudly.

In any case, for our purposes, this is a tad distracting especially when the background discussion descends into laughter.

The rapport between medical professional and patient is excellent so the associated noise is even more distressing.

NEU_General Exam – Part 2

Thank (pick deity of choice) the background gossiping has abated – perhaps between videos the participants went out with some duct tape and taped their mouths up. The video is just over nine minutes, so a bit longer than previously, and is so much quieter and more attentive it is like we’ve started a whole new series.

The aircon is of course a constant companion but it is almost welcome after the unwelcome additional noise of that first video.

I also like the noise of the tuning fork in this one which I have never noted before despite watching a large number of similar videos.

NEU_General Exam – Part 3

Some of the conversation has returned – a little more muted like a room full of children a fraction of a second after an adult has really screamed at them. (Just like that event – expect the noise to build and build).

However, the medical professional’s voice is truly excellent. It would be great to find further instructional videos in which she features (preferably in a quieter room). However, I have not been able to do so.

I notice she says “doing good”. I assume this must be correct although I would have thought “doing good” was being saintly and in this context I would have thought it was “doing well” i.e. in good health. I am obviously too awake whilst writing this else I would not notice things like that.

Right at the end we get thanks to Rebecca Scott, Ph.D, PA-C (I assume she was the medical professional) and Rebekah Saunders, PA-SI (I assume she was the patient)

That’s all folks. A brief one this time, so you can get back to work and stop procrastinating. More next time.

These three just barely squeeze into the playlist as the quality isn’t amazing – they may well be subject to a future weeding process.

I’ve created a NorthEastern playlist for them here:

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

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after lengthy review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case people have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos regarding age verification is here:

I dislike these as they require me to stop and verify my age, I cannot be bothered to do this when I am trying to sleep. You may differ, in which case this playlist is for you.

If you liked this blog article why not subscribe to this blog.

Photo by Joe Cleary on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Channels dedicated to ASMR are like the sweets of the ASMR world. Whilst sweets are an easy source of calories requiring no more than that you unwrap them; ASMR channels provide a range of videos pre-curated, edited and enhanced for ASMR effect. Sometimes I find a great video and I just can’t find anything like it anywhere else. I’m afraid the video this time comes from a channel which is (you guessed it) dedicated to ASMR.

Just like the aftermath of sweets though I have this sense of guilt about it since this blog has been dedicated of late to ordinary videos that just happen to have ASMR effects. Here we have some videos where someone else has decided that for me (i.e. done all the work).

Normal service will swiftly resume I assure you.

The channel is Roos it has two-hundred-and-seventy-three-thousand subscribers at the time of writing about it.

The first video is this one:

Unintentional ASMR | Full Medical Exam | Checkup

I’m sure this video is almost certainly edited to enhance its ASMR effect.

Thirty-seven minutes seventeen seconds so this is long for one of these edited videos.

The notes are: “21 Aug 2020 #asmr #unintentionalasmr

I will try to upload more unintentional ASMR video’s from the medical field, because I personally like these the most. I suffer from anxiety and depression and these video’s help me a lot, so I want to make them more easy to find. Please subscribe to get notified with the latest uploads. Original video can be found here: Hope you will feel relaxed after this video. Xx”

There are no notes with the video which tell us about the content.

However the “patient” is introduced as Kate and the medical professional I think (it isn’t that clear) introduces himself as Leonard Alvier (probably nothing like that spelling) student medical practitioner. No helpful comments on this video (in fact one derogatory one). So all-in-all a limited opportunity to discover this video anywhere else (such as the original source for the video).

This is introduced as Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, and Throat Exam. To be honest Leonard’s voice is not the most marvellous at the beginning (but that isn’t the first time we’ve come across that problem).

However, once the exam proper kicks off, this all settles down and it becomes a great deal calmer. At one point Leonard makes an error and has to repeat part of the exam, but this does not seem to significantly affect the progress. He also seems to get equipment problems (with a penlight) despite “changing the batteries today”. I wonder if that happens in a real exam? Errors like this seem to crop up in these videos which must show that they are filmed in a live environment and unedited after that.

The video finished rather abruptly in the middle of the Romberg’s test which causes me to speculate what happened then… (If anyone knows where the original is let me know).

I’ve seen a few now where the medical professional gets the patient to say ninety-nine during the exam.

It turns out “If it sounds louder over one area of the lungs, this is a sign of fluid (from pneumonia). We have patients say the letter E and then, if it sounds more like an A when we are listening to the lungs, this also can indicate pneumonia (because the fluid in the lungs transmits sounds differently).” So now we know…

This is a good one for the playlist.

The next one is this:

Unintentional ASMR | Medical Exam | Nurse Check Up | Demonstration With Ross

The notes are: “8 Feb 2021 #unintentionalasmr #realpersonasmr #medicalasmr

Unintentional ASMR

Nurse demonstration with Ross

I do not own this video, it has been shared for asmr purposes only!

#unintentionalasmr #realpersonasmr #medicalasmr”

I have no idea who Ross is so it doesn’t help in locating the original source. The introduction to the video states “Advanced Health Assessment Special Techniques: Cardiovascular & Peripheral Vascular System. Faculty Demonstration with Key Learning Points” sadly no guidance as to which institution it was filmed in. The medical professional here has a great voice. Ross does not seem to get a lot to say. “Ross” by the way occurs in other ASMR medical exam videos on other channels for example:

I am beginning to discover that we cycle back to the same videos via other channels as the process of discovering new videos continues. I will endeavour to point out duplicates as they come up. Let me know if you see any.

Cranial Nerve Examination | Nurse Check Up | Unintentional ASMR

The notes state: “7 Jan 2021 #unintentionalasmr #realpersonasmr #medicalexam

Ross is Back | Unintentional ASMR Nurse Examination | Full Physical

I don’t own anything. This video belongs to the university of Washington

#unintentionalasmr #realpersonasmr #medicalexam”

This indicates that the University of Washington is worthy of some future attention. (they, of course, have their own channel.)

Fortunately this time the video has a tail section that tells us the nurse was Jessica-Burke-Lazurus BSN, RN Midwifery-DNP Student (well she was when it was filmed in December 2011).

The model is Rosson Wiebe PMHNP-DNP Student and it was filmed at the Center for Excellence in Nursing Education at the University of Washington for use on graduate health assessment courses. The closest channel I can find appears to be this one:

University of Washington GME

Unintentional ASMR | Full Medical Exam | Med School

This one is familiar in that it comes up in a number of recommendations via YouTube when I am reviewing other potential ASMR videos there are four hundred and eight one thousand views at the day I am looking at it and a few of those are probably me.

We quickly find that Courtney is the “patient” which is interesting because there is another video where the roles are reversed and Courtney is the medical professional. And the medical professional here – James as it turns out – is the patient. The James and Courtney pairing will almost certainly get better coverage in a future blog post.

The branding is Prohealthsys, which has its own channel on YouTube.

That channel does not have the above video in it any longer. There seem a number of Dr Vizniak videos but a brief review isn’t producing much in the way of ASMR content. It might be deserving of a more in-depth review in future.

The video concludes with reference to the Prohealthsys website.

The video seems to be filmed in a gym rather than a hospital (or school) environment – there is a set of weights in the background for example. Mirrors in amongst the gym equipment give some view of the environment which is not directly in front of the camera.

The examination table has a set of books laid out under it on a shelf – which is an arrangement I have not seen in any other video to date.

There is the constant background noise that we are used to in hospital-like environments which I have always attributed to air conditioning – although they must be in a desert judging by how hard this sounds to be working.

Definition: Cerumen Ear Wax

Dermotomes an area of skin supplied by a single nerve

There was a reference to “Mid-clavicular line” it turns out there are a few anatomical lines.

Pictures seem to be the easiest way to show these

and

The medical professional has a nice steady voice not actually quiet and certainly no Dr James Gill. However I think this is a good one for the playlist.

On a connected theme is this one:

Unintentional ASMR | Full Medical Exam | Med School

Here Courtney gets to examine James – the reverse of the earlier video. In the video where James was the medical professional Courtney did not get to say a great deal and I concluded that the video was a reasonable one for the playlist.

In this one Courtney is the main participant and so talks all the time. Sadly her voice is too loud throughout for this to be properly restful. Whilst similar material is covered to the earlier video this really is not suitable for the playlist.

The remaining videos are off-subject for us and all posted greater than one year ago. It looks like Roos moved from medical exams to makeup videos at this time – perhaps this blog will change in a similar way eventually but I won’t guarantee it.

Fortunately, this means we can cover these videos swiftly and dismiss them as irrelevant to the subject we’re trying to focus on. I’ll feature them in case anyone finds them of interest. (If prompted I may even add them to the playlist).

Unintentional ASMR | Winged Eyeliner Tutorial | Minimal Talking | Makeup

This is not a medical-related video so it isn’t relevant to this particular blog post. Unless I change focus in the future I will not be cycling back to cover it again however I have included it here in case any ASMR readers find it restful.

Macadamia koeken met witte chocolade | Recept | Bettyskitchen.nl

Noisy, loud, boisterous, fast, no no no no. Not in the playlist

Unintentional ASMR | Victoria Jackson Cosmetics | VHS Commercial 90s

Nothing medical here

Unintentional ASMR | 80’s Make-up Look | Colourful Eyes | VHS

Not medical either

Unintentional ASMR | Make-up Tutorial | 80’s Make-up Kit | Soft Voice

Still not medical

Unintentional ASMR | 80’s Makeup and Hair Makeover

I’m probably biased in my assessment as makeup videos have no interest for me. However I have considered videos which have an alternative theme to medical exam ASMR videos previously (and I am certain to do so in the future).

Let me know if you’d like a makeup playlist and I will set one up.

The Roos playlist on The Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist for all videos reviewed on The Procrastination Pen (and found worthy of listening to) is here:

The archive playlist (for videos previously in the above list but weeded out because after long term review they were found to be wanting) is here:

I only include the above one for people who might have had the odd one of these as a favourite.

The playlist for videos which could have been in the master playlist (but require a logon to verify your age) is here:

(Personally, I don’t bother with these as the logon, when you’re trying to sleep, is a pain in the neck but you may be more patient).

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Photo by Amy Chen on Unsplash