Category: ASMR

Sleeping With ASMR

“Unintentional ASMR” now seems to have become a “hot” category in that a large number of videos are being labelled with this term. It therefore becomes one of those categories that is easily abused. To the extent that I wonder whether some of them are in fact “unintentional” or are instead scripted by ASMR professionals keen to attract additional views.

On the face of it this video looks genuine:

Unintentional ASMR Cranial Nerves Exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9En6xPy6bg

Not that I would be an expert in diagnosing videos that have been put together to confuse the unwary. This has been liberated from somewhere but the text gives no clue as to the identities of the participants. That said, there is limited possibility of tracking the originator down, less verifying that those featured are not simply actors or (whisper it) ASMR artists.

I notice that the comments reference “sandwich breath” which was featured in a previous blog item. However I have to confess I cannot (yet) clarify fightfightfightfight, or putapitapaper. “The bulldog” will be clarified below.

From the video we have Mr Evans and Dr Wu, for whatever credence we can place in this. The crest that appears at 0:08 indicates this could be a hospital or university. A Google Image search indicates that it could be the “Royal Prince Alfred Hospital”.

However a search of the website, does not reveal this video and an overly long search of YouTube using the “Royal Prince Alfred Hospital” title reveals a heck of a lot of videos, but not this one. This might be like the Hollie Berry experience which, lacking further evidence, I put down to older training videos which had subsequently been pulled from YouTube and yet preserved by the ASMR community (for which we need only be thankful).

So after that lengthy distraction/discussion, what is the video like in terms of ASMR? (Which is presumably why most people are reading this). Dr Wu is excellent, a properly attentive voice, measured, calm, not overly loud. I can’t think how many videos I have rejected due to shouty presentation. Mr Evans does not get a lot of opportunity to talk in this one so I can’t really judge how he stands up ASMR wise.

L M (for that is the name of the account where this is posted) seems to have a few of these videos available. At the time of writing ten. As usual they are variable in their ability to produce ASMR effects.

There is but one playlist this contains music videos and not any ASMR material as far as I can tell.

My favourite (of this set of videos) so far being the one above. You will notice that some of them are similar and feature the same people. My guess would be that they were originally destined to be training videos – probably a little while ago by the look of them.

Ten is quite a long blog post but without obvious methods available to filter them I will crave your indulgence. If you’re bored already scroll right to the end where you will find the relevant playlist.

Sadly, we see Dr Wu no further in any of these videos, so let’s focus on Mr Evans who appears in quite a few.

They are here:

Unintentional ASMR Clinical exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLGlo_N9djw

Dr Lynn (I’m not sure about that spelling) and Mr Evans, the title on the video itself is “Clinical Examination Gastrointestinal”. The comments are quite fun – one thing they point out is that Dr Lynn starts scanning the room as if he is sizing the place up to purchase – what is he expecting to find on the ceiling? Perhaps he’s looking for spy cameras? Anyway this does not in any way affect the ASMR-i-ness of this video (now an established term). Dr Lynn has a great voice in this respect and this one is definitely going into the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Respiratory exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir7kQT15gAc

Dr Lynn (if I’m going to spell it wrong I might as well be consistent) and Mr Evans again. He introduces himself as if he’s never seen him before. So far so normal training video. As someone astutely points out, what is the point of Mr Evans putting on a top in any of these videos since one of the first actions is to get him out of it. However, he seems suitably stoical about it. In my view equally as good ASMR-wise as the previous one. In fact thus far we appear to be achieving a remarkable level of consistency. One more for the playlist then. After this Dr Lynn disappears (from the videos), but Mr Evans, that plucky participant that he is, keeps plugging on.

Unintentional ASMR Hand exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te1OnjqR-wE

Mr Evans again with Dr Richards this time. (I’m more comfortable with that spelling).

(The comments on this video are quite hysterical. Normally I would miss the comments, as I would be hearing the audio whilst laid in bed, so it is interesting to review this video whilst I am more awake.) I notice that one comment asks where the “lovely and floppy” comments are – referring to Hollie Berry. This community all seem to be watching the same material that I am – probably unsurprisingly.

Dr Richards again scans for spy cameras in the same way that Dr Lynn (excuse spelling) did previously. This must be established procedure, perhaps hospital rooms get rogue geckos on the walls?

That said Dr Richards has a great voice here. This is a definite playlist candidate.

Unintentional ASMR Back exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdcYYNFw0I

Dr Richards and Mr Evans again. Now we find the origin of that “the bulldog” term mentioned earlier. This isn’t a term I like particularly as to my ears it does not sound respectful. One of the comments states “bull-dog is a colloquial term for examining assistant”. Goodness knows where they found that because I’ve been unable to track it down.

That said, I am trusting that this is not a dreadful term in some way because I’m intending to include this one in the playlist. It would not be the first time that a term in common parlance a decade or so ago is now regarded as basically rude. If anyone finds this to be the case let me know and I’ll delete it from the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Cardiovascular Examination

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vbaJesbzXY

Dr Richards and Mr Evans again. Once again with the lighthouse head examination of all the walls in the room – maybe an extreme form of arachnophobia.

One of the commentators states “I know she clearly wanted to show that she is looking around the room for surroundings that can give a hint of heart issues (maybe machines, medicine etc.)” This seems the most reasonable statement on the scanning behaviours we’ve seen but if it’s really to detect all those things it is a bit perfunctory.

Interesting that Dr Richards should choose “stop breathing” as a term rather than “hold your breath” – as if anyone could voluntarily choose to stop breathing. “Cosmic Parsec” comments that this is Dr Bethan Richards.

So ends the videos featuring Mr Evans. Now we are into a much more mixed bag ASMR-wise.

Unintentional ASMR Hands & Arms Exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fACorImwU94

Mr O’Neill and Dr O’Carrigan (potentially misspelled both of those). This is such a gentle approach to examination. Very effective in terms of ASMR.

A number of commentators are interested in the use of the term “light monkey grip” which I’ve not heard before this. No doubt this will become another term reiterated in ASMR-related exchanges as we go along reading comments on other YouTube videos.

This one definitely belongs on the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Leg and Walking exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEtmNQv6pg

Mr O’Neill and Dr O’Carrigan again. Yet again Mr O’Neill spends hardly any time with much in the way of clothing on. As one of the commentators relates, he is suspiciously attractive.

One of the commentators states that this is Dr Daniel O’Neill – neurologist and Dr Brent O’Carrigan.

This is another for the playlist.

And now a complete change.

Unintentional ASMR Scleroderma Exam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrAxrsVSwbA

Mr Parker and Dr Blaiswell (potentially misspelled). As a number of people comment the catches releasing on that briefcase at the start is far too loud for proper restfulness – in an ideal world I would edit that out. However this is a lovely peaceful exam. Very attentive and careful.

This is another for the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Activator adjustment (Brasil)

Lots of positive comments with this one but it wasn’t very useful in my opinion. To be honest it is so muted (and there is so much background noise) it isn’t that great as an ASMR video – so I will not include it in the playlist.

The L M playlist is here:

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

I hope that you find it restful

If you like this blog item why not follow this blog.

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Firstly apologies – the sound quality on this is not the greatest. I mean what the heck is that background humming going on? However, it’s also a piece of fun. Even the “patient” finds it highly amusing. In this one the patient will have to go by “X” as they are not identified at any stage.

I’m not sure if it is the giggles which makes it so effective. Usually I dispense with any videos that have the least kind of annoying sound in them. But in this case after a few seconds, it became just background hubbub which I could ignore. Your mileage may vary.

Chest, Lungs, Heart assessment by Nikko Holloway NU 607 Advanced Health Assessment Dr. Wildinger

Initially Nikko (assuming that is the person’s name) is a bit on the loud side, but it soon settles down till the background hubbub is increasingly distracting. (Sadly I have no way of filtering such noises out). It derives into giggles pretty quickly and at one stage they have to quit filming altogether (Warwick medical school this is not).

Nonetheless it was enjoyable and it’s a shame there aren’t any more in this series. (Preferably without the sound of Hades air-conditioning, or whatever it is). I wonder whether Nikko passed whatever assessment it was that she was completing (I’m assuming of course that this is part of an assessment process for a medical establishment.)

Sadly Nikko Holloway (for that is the channel) has only uploaded this one medical examination video. In total there are three videos but whilst the voice is reasonably relaxing, I’m not sure that the others qualify under the medical examination criteria.

For completeness here are the other two:

X- Treme Makeover N. Holloway

This indicates that Nikko attends Jacksonville State University (spring 2020 semester).

Sadly it isn’t up for much in the ASMR stakes so this one will not be in the playlist.

Recording #2

Again it is not up there in terms of ASMR-i-ness (an established term) so I will not add this one to the playlist either.

There do not appear to be a huge number of subscribers or comments for this one so perhaps this is an ASMR find. In any case I hope you find it relaxing.

I haven’t created a playlist for this (it’s one video) however it is in the long playlist of all videos featured in this series.

Why not subscribe to the playlist on YouTube and then you will get automatic updates as I change it.

It’s been a short one on this occasion. More next time.

If you liked this why not subscribe to the blog.

Photo by Mac Reddin on Unsplash

Sleeping with ASMR

For some reason Cranial Nerve Exam has generated a whole heap of videos and not surprisingly a number of these have people commenting that they are great for ASMR symptoms.

Helpfully BrainLine (for that is the YouTube channel where you find today’s video) provides its own playlist for Dr James Kelly (however they call him Dr Jim Kelly on the playlist) which is here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe2Je5-cHxP3DqeLtIRlhCW4gxmgbsPyV

However I am in no sense stating that these are all good for ASMR.

In addition, this playlist is no less than twenty one videos long (and I think that is stretching your patience a tad much for one blog item). As luck would have it the first two are the ones that concern a medical examination and so I will limit this blog item to just those two.

Today’s video is this one:

Cranial Nerve Test

By the way I had not the least idea who Pat LaFontaine is but he turns out to be a famous former ice hockey player.

Hence (I am sure) why his name appears in the title of this video. To ice hockey fans I apologise for my ignorance. All I can say is that he has a marvellously calm voice. (He might be a resource for ASMR videos in the future – if anybody has found any please get in touch).

Dr James Kelly turns out to be something of a superstar himself, his YouTube playlist bio states that he was “the neurological consultant for the Chicago Bears”. All I can say is that he has a great soothing voice and is very much worth listening to if you need to be chilled before falling asleep.

By the way this video is the one that started the now famous phrase “sandwich breath” which appears to occur very often in the comments of a number of ASMR videos. No I have no idea why either but a number of ASMR fans seem to appreciate the fact that other fans are also aware of it.

The BrainLine channel is huge. There are so many videos I am not going to set about counting them so I will limit myself to medical exams and Dr James Kelly (so I’ll start with that playlist).

Of the twenty-one videos contained in this playlist by far the majority are interviews to gain the benefits of Dr Kelly’s expertise on brain health.

In terms of medical examinations there is only one further video:

Neuropsychology Test

This is equally as great as the first one in my opinion.

Both of these will now go into the playlist.

The Dr James Kelly playlist is here:

The playlist of all items featured so far in this blog is here:

I hope that you find them restful.

If you liked this blog item why not follow this blog

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

I’m continuing the medical examination theme as I think at the moment it is proving to be reasonably fruitful. I wonder if there is some association between those providing care and calming/soothing voices.

Perhaps the medical training engenders not only medical talent but a predisposition to calm and soft-spoken. Long may people continue to train – medically – if that is the case.

Dr. Simmons – Exam

For those who are sleep afflicted. In this case I think we’re looking at an examination for someone (Victor) who has a need for a device to assist with a snoring condition. Snoring is something I only started to display in recent years, sleeplessness being not the only effect of gaining so much in age. Nothing like Victor though, thus far no one is suggesting an appliance.

Dr Simmons has a good voice, very calm and very attentive. The other thing I find with medical professionals like Dr Simmons is that they actually listen to what the other person is saying. This is a rare (and I’m sure much appreciated) skill.

Modus Five is the channel.

I count nineteen videos at today’s date of which only a subset are connected with medical examinations. (The current theme for these ASMR articles – although I’m sure that will change in time).

Seven seem to me medical-examination related so I’ll focus on these:

Victor Mouth Piece

Victor again (hence the title) and now we see the results of the earlier examination. CPAP is referred to here – a device that is used to treat breathing difficulties in sleep. These devices sound unpleasant to use and I’m guessing you use them where the alternatives are even more dire (such as apnoea).

The content is quite technical and the results sound quite worrying, hats off to people who use appliances like this and learn to live with them.

It is a little variable in terms of ASMR content and covers different examinations – I am not convinced this one belongs in the playlist.

Dr Simmons – Oral Appliance Therapy

The start of this video is not at all ASMR-y and the sound quality is not amazing. It stacks up as an advertisement. It is fascinating for someone (me) who attends NHS services to listen to a system where insurance information is very nearly the first question someone asks.

I will not include it in the playlist. I’ve included it here to allow you to evaluate it for yourself.

Sleep Apnoea

Not a medical exam as such, more of an interview which gives the background to Dr Simmons interest in this area. Of course, there is an interest in getting people to address snoring. I can only imagine the amounts of money that must be involved here.

Interesting but not much ASMR effect here – so I’ve not included it in the playlist.

Dr. John Roesler – Performing a Nasal Exam

Dr John Roesler rather than Dr Simmons here. This is quite an interesting interview, presumably especially if you do have sleep issues.

However the medical exam does not occur until a good way into the video (the patient is Dr Simmons). I don’t think this one is a candidate for the playlist.

Dr. Michael Simmons – Taking Dental Impression

This seems to start out quite loud and a bit too enthusiastic for a sleep-aid I think.

For some reason Dr Simmons has lost the soothing voice in this one and so it is not effective for ASMR. I also did not find the mixer noise at the beginning that soothing (other people may differ here). It’s not a candidate for the playlist.

Dr. Michael Simmons – Sleep Disorders

Designed for other professionals who are also providing treatment in the sleep problem area (dentists). It breaks the rules as there is no patient, no medical examination.

(Not that breaking the rules is necessarily a bad thing in terms of membership of the playlist.)

Although Dr Simmons is back on form with calming voice I am not going to include this one.

Overall therefore one video that is helpful in an ASMR fashion and quite a lot of fascinating content about managing sleep issues. That though is not the purpose of this blog (at the moment anyway).

Therefore there is no purpose in creating a playlist for Modus Five.

I will add the one video to the overall playlist for the ASMR videos covered so far.

That playlist is here:

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel @theprocrastinationpensite

(I have found the best way to view this is through YouTube rather than embedded in the blog – for example you get access to the ability to shuffle the order of the videos) (which can be helpful if you listen to the same playlist more than once).

I hope that you find it restful.

If you liked this why not follow this blog.

Photo by Lydia Torrey on Unsplash

Sleeping with ASMR

The next item in the ASMR sleep series is a little more complicated. Now that I have been following ASMR-related videos for a while it has become obvious that some ASMR publishing people are trying to game the system.

From the number of follows, comments, views, and so-on I am not the only person who is searching for ASMR content. There appears to be a subset of people who are interested in videos where the person produces ASMR effects by mistake. Examples include speeches made where the person has a gentle voice; a lecture where the lecturer’s tone happens to be the correct one to set off ASMR in some of the listeners; interviews where the participants have very calm voices.

Some professional ASMR artists, (and indeed amateur ASMR artists) are now making videos deliberately but claiming they were produced entirely coincidentally. There is obviously a money angle – the more adherents you have – the more advertising-related revenue you can captivate. So the temptation is there, frankly, to cheat.

Some titles will say something like “by a genuine person” (as if there were non-genuine people wandering around). Sometimes there are “medical examination” videos, with a couple of suspiciously attractive young people in the video who don’t appear to know a great deal about medicine.

In this climate I am a little unsure about this series. They are great videos for ASMR which purport to be part of a medical education series.

Patient Examination Series- Dr Hollie Berry

Given I am suspicious I took a look on DuckDuckGo (other search engines exist) and it turns out there is no Dr Hollie Berry other than as part of this video series (or other people discussing this video series). No LinkedIn account, no medical papers, no references or citations – and no college sites linking to the videos.

So far Aidan Blunt appears to be the only source and he (assuming it is a he) is obviously aware that Dr Berry has this affect in some listeners as he has produced some videos edited in order to enhance the ASMR effect.

Here:

Cranial Nerves Examination ASMR Loop

I have a dislike of ASMR loop videos. There will be (say) a medical exam which is about ten minutes and to make it an hour it will play (or parts of it will play) over and again. It might be that I am just dosing when a part I’ve heard before comes winging back. This is one of those. So I will not be adding it to the playlist.

And here:

Cardiac Examination ASMR Edit

This one edited in order to enhance its ASMR effect. Again I won’t add this one to the playlist, however some people reading may find this kind of thing right up their street perhaps.

And here:

Abdominal Examination ASMR Edit

Also edited for its ASMR effect and therefore, as before, not included in the playlist.

And here:

Upper Limb Neuro Examination ASMR Edit

As before.

However Aidan also produces some more dedicated medical videos so for the purposes of this blog item I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I found this series originally through a posting on Reddit

Which leads to this video:

Cranial Nerve Examination

Which leads me to suspect that the filming was done at Manchester Medical School and the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. However I am currently not able to find any similar video content other than that put out by Aidan.

This video has the smell of the genuine article and is a sensible seven and a half minutes in length which seems to fit with a reasonable length medical examination video found elsewhere.

Aidan Blunt – this is the channel where the Hollie Berry videos are all found. There are thirty four videos here and so too many to feature in any one blog item.

However I started with a Hollie Berry video and so I will concentrate on the videos from this channel that feature Hollie Berry.

Apart from the compilation, ASMR edit and ASMR loop videos (all of which I know to be doctored and therefore will discount) there are these:

Abdominal Examination

This is a sensible length at five minutes thirteen seconds.

Cardiovascular Examination

This one is five minutes six seconds.

I think Hollie may have my favourite ASMR voice of the videos I have covered so far.

Diabetic Foot Examination

Three minutes twenty five seconds in length.

A repeating theme in these is that the “patient” appears either petrified or completely distracted. I’m not sure what they could have said to them to get them in this state. Hollie seems the ideal medical person – professional and relaxing. But for the people in these videos it does not appear to be working.

Lymph Gland Examination

Three minutes fourteen seconds in length. And given the comments I’d say a number of people find Hollie’s voice to be relaxing.

Respiratory Examination

Five minutes thirty four seconds in length. The more I listen the more I think this set of videos is a great find ASMR-wise.

Upper Limb Neuro

This last set seem all to have been posted eleven years ago. I think we can assume that Hollie Berry does (or did) exist and probably made a set of videos for the Manchester Medical Schools a decade or so ago. They’ve moved on and taken down her videos subsequently but Aidan has preserved them for some reason.

Why Hollie should disappear altogether at that point is anybody’s guess but a set of six short videos is all we have of the greatest ASMR voice I have so far discovered. A great shame.

The playlist is here:

The complete playlist of videos covered so far is here:

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

If you liked this article why not follow this blog.

Sleeping with ASMR

In my opinion the first of these is the best in terms of ASMR-i-ness (if such a term could be said to exist). Yet again a change of direction as we look away from standard medical examinations and move to eye-related exams instead.

The channel comes from the Moran Eye Centre at the University of Utah.

Moran CORE (for such is the channel) provide a number of ophthalmic-related videos, but the best from an ASMR perspective is this one:

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Neuro

The key to this I think is probably the interactions between Judith Warner, ophthalmologist and the “patient” Megan (who turns up in other videos in the series). Megan seems to have the most naturally restful voice here I think.

Moran CORE has so many videos that I gave up counting them and so it is critical to limit the videos that I present here. (Both for my typing fingers and your no doubt tired eyes).

Sadly Moran CORE does not present any helpful playlists that include this particular video so the obvious approach is to filter on videos “starring” the same ophthalmologist or featuring the same “patient” (Megan).

What leaps out scanning the videos is that a number of them feature the same “patient”.

Sticking to videos initially that feature the same “patient” we have this one:

The Orbital Exam

Which is with Tom Oberg instead of Judith Warner. Tom actually has a good voice ASMR-wise but again Megan’s is better. The approach is calm and de-stressing. Both Tom and Judith have been encouraging and patient – the kind of person that you want if someone is going to be examining you.

The Ophthalmic Exam: Retina and Posterior Segment

This is with Andrew Davis, who is technically brilliant I’m sure, but sadly does not have a great voice for ASMR. In this one Megan seems to say very little. So it’s a washout for us sadly and will not be added to the playlist.

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Pupils; Color; Eye Movements; Prism

This is Laura Hanson with the “patient” Megan again. Laura doesn’t have the greatest ASMR voice but Megan here gets more of a speaking role which compensates to an extent.

However as before I do not think this makes the grade for the playlist.

Indirect Ophthalmoscopy with Scleral Depression

This is James Zimmerman with Megan. James’ voice is actually quite good here. But I don’t think it is going to be good enough sadly. This isn’t going to make the grade for the playlist.

How to Instill Topical Anesthetics

Lloyd B Williams with Megan. Lloyd also has a good voice. But again I don’t think this one will graduate to the playlist.

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Eyelids

Laura Hanson again, as far as I can tell the last video featuring Megan and so the last of this blog item. This is slightly better than the earlier Laura video I think. However I still don’t think it is going to make the playlist.

Filtering the videos by the “patient” is an arbitrary method for limiting the videos. However Moran CORE has so many videos and they are so varied that I suspect we will be mining this resource in the future.

The Moran CORE Playlist is here:

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

I hope that you find them restful.

unsplash credit Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash

If you liked this item why not follow this blog.

Sleeping With ASMR

This time have one which appears to be verifiably from a medical school – Warwick Medical School in fact.

I did not find the introductory music particularly restful. It is not the first time I have wished that I could edit videos on YouTube (so that I only get the nice bits). (The music quits at nine seconds – in case you want to forward it).

Dr Gill turns up a lot on YouTube and I have no doubt will crop up again in another blog item. He has a very restful voice (well in the videos, I don’t know him personally you understand.)

Respiratory Examination

Not unexpectedly Warwick Medical School has quite a number of such videos. Not all of which are spectacular from the ASMR point of view (it was not their purpose in life let’s face it).

Roughly one hundred and nineteen videos as at today – too many I think to cover in one blog item (unless you’re reading this in order to get some sleep in which case I’m sure that it would have been ideal. I’m sorry to disappoint.)

Fortunately they have been considerate enough to provide their own playlist for this purpose:

Here:

This is still forty three videos long however – perhaps sufficient for a whole series of blog items (now there’s a thought).

I notice that of the forty three – nineteen are actually on the YouTube channel of Dr James Gill himself rather than that of Warwick Medical School – well that’s convenient.

As Dr James Gill has a good voice and his own channel, I suspect we will be returning to him at a future date and so we can discount the videos on his channel for the current moment.

One of the forty three videos comes up flagged as private so we have forty two less nineteen to look at.

That will make this a very long blog post.

If you just want your ASMR kicks scroll right to the end where you will find the playlist details.

Clinical Examination

This is also part of the cranial nerve exam videos – a subject which appears to be very popular on YouTube amongst ASMR devotees.

Clinical Examination

Dr Gill again – obviously a prolific supplier of YouTube videos. I look forward to exploring his channel in a later blog article. This is also a further video in the cranial nerve series, which is proving as popular as the reflex hammer videos about which entire compilations have been put together. (I am not a great fan of compilation videos unless the source videos just cannot be found.)

Clinical Examination

I’m pretty sure this does not qualify under the current category of medical examination as it is more of an instruction video. Actually it is rather good, so I’ll make an exception and add it to the playlist in any case.

Clinical Skills

Dr Gill again, although it is also an instruction video I’m also well-disposed to it and so it is going into the playlist (also it has the benefit of lacking any additional peppy music).

Clinical Examination

Here we see Aden again (as the patient). He seems to crop up in a few of these.

Clinical Examination

Aden crops up again but here he is the medical student in the doctor role. Actually the video is rather good – perhaps a large number of medical students are naturally softly spoken.

Annotated – Clinical Examination

Dr Gill again in another early video – if you’ve stuck with this you’ll recognise the patient as well.

Clinical Examination of – The Shoulder

And yet more Dr Gill (I said he was prolific).

Hip Clinical Examination

I love the fact that Dr Gill asks the “patient” to show him his umbilicus as if this was a reasonably well known term. I had to look it up – it’s your belly button by the way.

Clinical Skills Tutorial

There is something wrong with the sound on this one – it is significantly quieter than the others here. So I think I will drop this one from the playlist.

Clinical History Example

For me the voices in this one are less relaxing so this too I’ll discount from the playlist.

Warwick Approach to Clinical History Taking

Again, not really an ASMR inducer so this one isn’t on the playlist.

Breast Clinical Examination

Not what you’d expect. The person involved is wearing a plastic pair – which I think means I can include it without causing offence. Let me know if offended and I’ll delete it from the playlist.

Breast Examination Models

These are obviously the same as the plastic pair the person was wearing in the video above. Not desperately marvellous from an ASMR point of view though so I will not include it in the playlist.

The Shoulder

Again this voice isn’t quite right for me, so I won’t include it in the playlist. I include these videos only for completeness as different people react differently.

Spine Clinical Examination

Dr James Gill again, the start music is a bit bright but at least it is brief. Not quite as good as the first one but still worthy of inclusion in the playlist I think.

Hand Clinical Examination

What comes home to me in a lot of these ASMR videos is the huge distance between the date of birth of the participants and my own date of birth. In this case 30 years. Fortunately when I am trying to sleep my brain is unlikely to be alert enough to take in what this means for my age – which must be alike to Methuselah now.

Knee Clinical Examination

Dr Gill again – who is starting to seem a significant ASMR asset, the videos in which he appears are quite consistent in terms of relaxing.

Clinical Examination

Dr Gill this time a clinical examination of the respiratory system. Again with the stimulating initial music – it must be some kind of Warwick Medical School brand.

The whole experience conveys an atmosphere of stillness. I can imagine that being treated by Dr Gill is quite destressing.

Thyroid Clinical Examination

Freakily out of focus at the beginning. However that isn’t going to influence any ASMR symptoms. This one features Abbey again (we saw her in the hand clinical examination earlier). This one is really technical in places, I just let it wash over. Let me know if it bothers you and I’ll delete it from the playlist.

The subject of bruit comes up in several of these videos – an audible swishing sound – usually an abnormal one.

Thyroid Examination Demonstration

Dr Gill and Abbey again, who must be the most reliable volunteer in this set so far. If anything this one appears to be more relaxing than some that have gone before in this blog item.

Abdominal System Examination

Dr Gill, and again it starts with the camera fighting for focus. Here Dr Gill is examining David (who I don’t think we’ve seen before). As before a beautifully calm presentation.

Again I’ve created a playlist of these (the longest of this blog so far) which is here:

I’ve updated the complete playlist to reflect the new videos as well

That is here:

I hope that you find it relaxing

Photo by

Victoria Tronina on Unsplash

If you liked this blog item why not subscribe

Sleeping with ASMR

For some time I was simply going into YouTube and filtering by ASMR, searching and finding thousands of videos. This method led me to find squishing sounds, clicking, scratching noises, even purring cats (actually the purring cats are rather good).

However as I stated in the first blog item on ASMR I find it works best when it is someone that is talking quietly and calmly.

Recently therefore I have started to focus on medical exam videos. There appear to be a wealth of these. Several of them feature excited or at least energetic presenters (with a mission, presumably, to motivate their viewers). However as I use ASMR as an insomnia cure there isn’t great mileage in continuing with these.

Some are quite obviously designed to educate an up-and-coming population of medical students and start delving into confusing medical terminology. However, occasionally I will come across one that fits the bill quite well. Today’s video is this one:

Focused Shoulder Clinical Examination

It’s a little disconcerting when it loads as in my browser I get just a grey cassette image – I did wonder if I had the incorrect video, however when played there is some preliminary material stating it is “Associate Professor Shane Brun” at the “Clinical Skills Unit, School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Australia”.

Having found this video, I thought it would be worthwhile checking out Anthony Bender (for the video occurs in a YouTube channel of that name) and determine if there are any more of the videos in this channel that are also worthy of watching.

I found that there were five videos available the one above and these four:

Focused Knee Clinical Examination

GALS Musculoskeletal Screen

GALS is apparently (gait, arms, legs and spine).

Ottawa Ankle Rules Australian Version

However I did not find this very relaxing ASMR-wise and so I have not added it to the playlist. – I’ve included it in this blog so that you can review it for yourself (ASMR effects seem to be highly individual).

Ottawa Knee Rules Australian Version

I have also not added this to the playlist for the same reason.

I’ve again created a playlist which is here:

There is also a Global playlist which incorporates all the videos covered in the blog so far:

Please feedback if they are effective for you or if you have any further ASMR material which would be worth considering.

Sadly these videos no longer work for me so I am looking for new material, which I will shortly publish here.

I hope that you find them relaxing.

Photo by Anastasia Vityukova on Unsplash

If you liked this why not subscribe to this blog.

Sleeping With ASMR

One of the consequences of entering the fifth decade of being alive (which no one seemed to warn me about when I was somewhat younger) is that it is almost impossible to get to sleep. And having got there, to stay in that state for any period of time.

I have tried various hacks for this over the last years, to varying degrees of success, and by chance I happened upon the fact that ASMR works for me.

The little reading I’ve managed to do seems to indicate that only some people are affected.

It also appears that different people have preferences for different sounds.

For me, the most potent trigger is a person speaking quietly and calmly.

Sadly though the effect soon wears off, and over time the same person – with the same speech – stops working.

This means that I am more-or-less constantly looking for new material, which may be of some merit for this blog and for people who react in a similar way.

For some time I have avoided revealing that I find ASMR helpful in that a number of commentators respond to it as if it is akin to some kind of sexual perversion.

However for me it feels more of the kind of attention I would see on a David Attenborough programme in which one monkey is grooming another and both monkeys are more relaxed as a result.

As science progresses it appears that there is more acceptance that relaxing to ASMR is not necessarily a sexual experience.

Hence it is moderately safe to give some recommendations around ASMR that I have found work for me.

I am also getting some playlists together on YouTube for those who do not have the time to look around for ASMR videos.

(Most of the ASMR material I find on YouTube at the moment – although other ASMR resources exist.)

Recently I came across an article for a Welsh stone carver who has been an ASMR discovery after he published some YouTube videos about his stone carving.

There are only three and I found them effective. Three is a suitably short number to start with to see if you feel the same way.

My playlists are here:

https://www.youtube.com/@theprocrastinationpensite

the playlist for Leuan Rees is here:

I will be assembling further ASMR into a complete playlist here:

please feed back if they are effective for you or if you have any further ASMR material which would be worth considering.

Sadly these videos no longer work for me so I am looking for new material, which I will shortly publish here.

I hope that you find them relaxing.

Photo by Colin White on Unsplash

If you liked this article why not follow this blog