Category: Health Assessment

Sleeping With ASMR

I’ve been struggling a little with time of late, and so my attention to reviewing has not been what it was. However, this week I have come across a reasonable Calm track. Although I have to caution people that it contains music, and as you know I do not find music as actually being that effective in pushing me off to sleep.

The track is this:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/7JQNaQVDM

Afternoon Nap

Refresh your mind & recharge your body with a special nap story. After a brief intro and soothing music, you’ll wake up to gentle birdsong.

NARRATOR

Erik Braa

AUTHOR

Calm

As I say, it is not for me. However, given it is dedicated to sleep I thought I should at least give you the chance to try it. However, be aware that most advice is that when you are sleep deprived, try to stick to your normal sleep routine rather than topping up with additional naps as this track would seem to suggest.

Personally, if I get an opportunity for sleep (and I can make use of it) I fill my boots. Who knows when the next such opportunity will present itself.

This week I came across a post which shows that I am certainly not alone in having problems getting off to sleep. I certainly hope that some of the people who are responding to the person posting got the opportunity to read the Procrastination Pen.

This week the professional ASMR artist is PollyTingle ASMR the channel has sixty two videos, seven playlists, 86.2K subscribers so not quite as popular as some we’ve heard of late. The video is this one:

ASMR Cranial Nerve Examination by a Neurologist 🌙 Quiet Voice / ASMR Cranial Nerve Examination

It is a little over twenty-four and a half minutes in length. Of course, it has notes (I’ve truncated them a bit) “1,773,407 views 7 Feb 2022 #asmr #asmrneurologist

This video features pleasant, relaxing music, a quiet voice, and a variety of neurological manipulations.

Unfortunately, I was ill while filming this video, so my voice is a bit sore and I have a slight fever (because of this, I cut out almost half the video 😰). But everything is fine now, and I plan to gradually return to the channel. The next video will be a continuation of the Hobbit book reading, and then I’d like to film some light but interesting trigger video (if you have any ideas, please write in the comments, I’d be very happy!)

Have a good rest, see you soon ❤”

The video is in Russian, and you need to turn off the English US option or you will have a lot of very loud interjections (presumably made by some automated process). The first “so” on the track made me jump off my chair, for example. These will really mess up any restful feelings that you might otherwise have had. Once I discovered that, I realised that the voice is actually very good.

I am not sure why the voice on the English US option is so loud but it really ruins the video in terms of ASMR. I notice that (rather uniquely for a professional ASMR artist), the comments are turned off. It is potentially possible there were any number of negative comments from English-speaking listeners that encountered this problem.

With the Russian speaking version, I have zero idea what is being said (I speak no Russian). However, it sounds very restful. There are, as expected, other noises; paper turning, brushing noises, clicking noises, rustling noises, liquid noises, writing noises. There is also a quiet musical back track (if this was an inadvertent ASMR video this would discount it from the Procrastination Pen playlist).

As you know I would prefer it was just the voice, which, assuming you only listen to the Russian version, is calming without straying into whispery. Quite a feat, given that most professional ASMR videos seem to very much focus on the whispery end of the spectrum.

The drive for the perfect playlist for ASMR sensations (or alternatively just to cause you to drift off to sleep) means that I am concerned that sometimes I have not been sufficiently critical of videos and that some “dead wood” still hangs around in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

I think that as the list continues to grow in size some of the older videos might get a severe pruning. I am thinking particularly of those with perky music at some point during the video, those with air conditioning noises or those which incorporate the odd clang or thud from the movement of medical equipment. Regular readers might be a bit surprised at the videos that get removed in this purge.

If you are not a regular reader, well hey, welcome. This is the Procrastination Pen which for over a year now has been reviewing medical videos (and occasionally videos on other subjects too) with a view to finding any that might produce ASMR effects. Sometimes we have a great day and sometimes it is more “challenging”.

Today I have a URL, and on that URL a whole gamut of videos on medical subjects. It’s odd for me to stray far from YouTube but given someone else has gone to all the effort of collating these videos into one place let’s give it a try at least.

The URL is this one:

Medical Training Videos

It has thirty-two videos (discounting the introductory one) so this might be a very long day in review terms. I suspect if the history of reviewing videos is accurate, we will be fortunate to find one in all of those thirty-two that is of much value but I’m game if anyone else is.

The first video is this one:

Advanced Life Support / Code Blue – How to lead a cardiac arrest (ALS/ACLS simulation)

On the face of it, not the most inspiring ASMR title. Comments are permitted but there are not obviously any ASMR-related ones.

It is a professionally produced video and therefore as we have come to expect there are notes, which are these:

“368,741 views 3 Feb 2017 Most Popular

How to lead a cardiac arrest /code blue using the advanced cardiac life support (ALS/ACLS) algorithms. This 360-degree medical simulation video shows a well-led ALS scenario, unscripted and in real time.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

The video is just shy of eight minutes and it begins in a bit of a hurry, and it is quite loud. Thankfully no startup music but sadly for us that is really all there is going for it ASMR-wise. It has shouting, loud equipment noises and the kind of frenetic activity almost designed to maximise sleeplessness.

Further videos are as follows:

Cardiac Arrest and ALS (Code Blue) Simulation – Training Video with Questions

It is slightly less than seven minutes the notes are:

“168,813 views 8 Mar 2017

This interactive 360-degree training video demonstrates a cardiac arrest (code blue) as if the doctor is leading an arrest for the first time. The doctor will ask questions in the arrest. PAUSE THE VIDEO WHEN YOU SEE THE INFORMATION BAR APPEARING and try to answer them – there are a number of options each time.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

It starts without startup music again, which is great for us. However, it is frenetic and loud (just like the last one). This is not going to be suitable for us.

Cardiac Arrest Experience – Patient point of view in advanced life support / code blue

The notes are:

“182,696 views 8 Mar 2017

This 360-degree video is filmed from a patient’s point of view and demonstrates what happens if you have a cardiac arrest in hospital. You (the patient) would be unconscious throughout.

If you have been a patient or relative involved in cardiac arrest please comment below – we’d love to hear from you.

This is a well-led cardiac arrest and results in a successful outcome (return of spontaneous circulation). In practice most arrests are unfortunately not successful.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Just less than seven and a quarter minutes, no startup music, however it is far too loud for us.

Cardiac Arrest (Code Blue) Advanced Life Support – Mental Health Training

The notes are: “51,203 views 8 Mar 2017

This 360-degree training video demonstrates how to manage a cardiac arrest (code blue) using an automated defibrillator. It was filmed as part of a series to train mental health staff how to manage medical emergencies in mental health facilities.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Just over seven and a quarter minutes, there is no startup music but as before it is loud and frenetic and so not much use to us either.

Cardiac Arrest and Advanced Life Support (ALS) in 360 Degrees – TRAILER

For which the notes are: “35,322 views 12 Dec 2016 Most Popular

Trailer for our Cardiac Arrest and Advanced Life Support (ALS)/ Code Blue simulation videos. These are clips of three 360-degree medical simulation videos we’re producing at Oxford Medical Education to train doctors in running cardiac arrest situations.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Only a little over one and a half minutes but it is excessively loud in any case.

Choking and Cardiac Arrest (Code Blue) Advanced Life Support

A little less than two- and three-quarter minutes the notes are: “38,966 views 12 Feb 2017

This 360-degree training video demonstrates how to manage a cardiac arrest (code blue) due to choking. It was filmed as part of a series to train mental health staff how to manage medical emergencies in mental health facilities.

Produced with Rewind VR studio and filmed in the Education Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

For further information visit ww.oxfordmedicaleducation.com or comment below.”

Again, it starts loud, it continues loud and so it is not useful for us.

Respiratory Examination – Clinical Skills

A little less than eleven minutes. The notes are: “376,646 views 27 Feb 2015 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the respiratory system. It also indicates common pathologies encountered. It is part of a series of videos covering basic clinical examinations and is linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com).”

The start is with an introduction, the person has a good voice for us and it is not excessively loud. The actual examination though is a little on the echoey side as if filmed in a large corridor. The examination is also dogged by background noise (likely air conditioning). However, the medical professional has a good voice for our purposes.

This is a good video for the procrastination pen playlist.

I think that I will conclude the blog post at this one and continue in a second post, failing that this blog post would become really large indeed. To the point of boredom, I imagine.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

The University College London Hospitals 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 DeepAI

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.

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.”

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

Of late I have been finding that just shutting out all noise using the Bose QuietComfort headphones has been enough to allow me to sleep. However, this has been right on the tail end of a period where I was using the Procrastination Pen playlist extensively.

For each of you I imagine that sleep varies, and it is doing what you can on the day to get the maximum rest.

I have been recommending the odd track on Calm based on the fact that I found it helpful. I recently tried “The Hidden Life of Mushrooms” read by “Alan Sklar” https://www.calm.com/app/player/iM8hEBPaao. As expected, Alan has a restful voice and so it makes some good bedtime listening. However, Calm is not free and I am not encouraging you to pay for it.

I am actually finding that for me one of the Calm Dailies is often more listenable than the dedicated sleep presentations. If you do find that the track isn’t for you, the other advantage of the dailies is that they tend to be ten minutes or less.

Recently, of course, I have decided to inject a little variety into the blog by reviewing one video by a professional ASMR artist. The outcomes have been a somewhat variable even amongst those that I have reviewed. Even more so in those that were rejected.

It’s interesting to find that the very criticisms I level at inadvertent ASMR videos are often found with professional ASMR videos as well. This leads me to suspect that I maybe looking for something esoteric in such videos, which others care less about.

However, given the main characteristics for me are a quiet, calm voice with little extraneous noise, I find that a bit surprising.

Today’s video starts with music, and I am not keen on startup music as you know.

ASMR Clinical Trial Medical Assessment for Headache Pain | Trigger Test Assortment on Real Person

The musical start is being used to advertise a Patreon page and as you also know, I’m not rabidly keen on advertising either. However, it could be worse. No one stops the video to declare that their sponsor is “Tod’s burgers”, or similar.

The channel is: Siesta with Sarah ASMR the channel has four hundred and sixty-nine videos and 44k subscribers so I think we can say that Siesta with Sarah is a hard-working ASMR artist. However, at least at the present time, I was unable to find the channel on the ASMR Index.

The video is just over forty-three minutes long, so a substantial one. The voices as you would expect are excellent and the tone great. It is, again, too focused on whispering. I say again in that other ASMR professional videos have also focused on whispering. I would not expect an actual medical professional and patient to be whispering together, unless they were sharing something clandestine.

There is a background noise which is probably air conditioning. I do find it odd that ASMR artists decide to include this as it is one of the factors that tends to mar genuine medical videos.

Wherever the video was recorded there is a reasonable amount of traffic noise, presumably from a nearby road just outside of the building.

There are many rustle noises from clothing, which some people probably find restful.

The concluding music is thankfully brief. Of course, I do not really have a playlist for these videos as the intent of the blog (to date anyway) has been to review inadvertent ASMR videos. However, I will put this one in the sweetie jar playlist in case it is of interest.

But enough of these distractions. The business of this blog of late has been to review inadvertent ASMR videos.

Today’s video is:

How do you do an Eye Exam on an Infant?

This one is a professional video and so has notes associated with it: “131,644 views 28 Mar 2017

Tons of parents ask Dr. Luke Small how he can do an eye exam on a 6-month-old! With a guest star Kenzy, Dr. Small shows you the steps he takes while examining your infant’s eyes.”

Comments are permitted and, for once, they are supportive. The video is eleven and a quarter minutes, so it’s not going to break any length records. It starts without music – hip-hip. However, there is some very impressive air conditioning noise, boo. By impressive I mean intrusive. Dr Luke Small is a tad loud to start but he gets a much milder voice when dealing with the infant.

There is a whirring noise from a small toy used to attract the attention of the child. It is a very quiet and gentle presentation however, whenever Dr Small interacts with the child.

The channel is: Armstrong & Small Eyecare Centre it has seven hundred and ten subscribers twenty-nine videos and four playlists. If we’re looking for similar material, I do not believe that the playlists are going to be of great assistance.

Here we are looking for eye exam material located on this channel and that features infants. This follows the theory I have that adults in videos dealing with children are much more softly spoken than adults in videos dealing with fellow adults.

Scrolling through the videos the next obvious candidate is this one:

Children’s Eye Exams Trailer

The notes are: “600 views 12 Dec 2020

Armstrong & Small Eye Care Centre

1140 Portage Ave Winnipeg, MB R3G 0S7

204-786-8991

http://www.armstrongandsmall.com

Armstrong & Small Eyecare Centre

710 subscribers”

This one is a little over a minute and sadly starts with music, and it is rather loud music. Unfortunately, the music then continues for the entire video. Not exactly what we were looking for therefore.

The very last video which appears to have anything at all to do with this area is this one:

Children’s Eye Exam in Winnipeg, MB

just less than four minutes so barely there at all. The notes are “621 views 8 Jun 2015

Our Winnipeg optometrists at Armstrong & Small Eye Care Centre specialize on paediatric eye care and eye exams. Schedule an eye exam for your child at 204-786-8991!

Armstrong & Small Eye Care Centre

1140 Portage Ave Winnipeg, MB R3G 0S7

204-786-8991

http://www.armstrongandsmall.com”

It starts in the manner of a news programme i.e. one person interviewing another person. Here Dr Small’s voice remains the most relaxing but the format itself is not relaxing. The air conditioning noise is now very muted to such an extent that it is barely perceptible. Shame that couldn’t have been the case on the first video. Sadly, this isn’t the kind of video that we were hoping for either.

So just one video this week.

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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

I notice that media outlets are now declaring that six hours of sleep is just not going to be enough. Which is all very well, but if you are above the age of fifty and have a reasonably busy life, I can more or less bet that many of your nights will have less sleep in them than that. The reflection that as you get older, waking up in the middle of sleeping gets a more pronounced experience does not help if it is three AM and the one thing you don’t want to do is to wake the person who you’re sharing a bed/bedroom with.

At such times, perhaps the Procrastination Pen playlist and a decent set of headphones might be the saviour of the night. (YouTube adverts excepting).

Of late, I have told you when I come across a meditation on Calm that I liked and regular readers will note that I have developed a taste for the daily meditations featuring Jeff Warren. This includes this one https://www.calm.com/app/player/5iglULfMFq “Patiently In A Rush”. I am finding the dailies on Calm to be much more useable than the tracks dedicated to sleep and so again here too. Sadly, Calm is not free and I am not trying to persuade you to pay for it.

A habit I have established is the review of a professional ASMR artist in each of these blog articles. If only in contrast to the inadvertent ASMR that I have been reviewing for greater than a year now.

Today’s video is this one:

ASMR Appointment with Your Doctor

It starts with the medical professional typing into a computer and ignoring anyone else. This has the benefit of being accurate to real-world experience but is not a noise I would want to start an ASMR video with. Perhaps we should be thankful there is no peppy music or thanks given to some sponsor or other.

This video is a little over twenty-one minutes and so is not a huge length for one of these videos. The notes are largely dedicated to advertising, so I won’t bother with them. A quick scan of the comments indicates that they are largely positive. The channel is VisualSounds1 ASMR with 326K subscribers and 1.1K videos. Wow that is a lot of videos. There are twenty-six playlists, none of which obviously focus on medical themes.

Unsurprisingly VisualSounds1 ASMR is also on the ASMR Index.

There is a quite loud background noise, either air conditioning or a sound mimicking air conditioning and I do wonder (again) why ASMR artists include this. I am constantly looking for inadvertent ASMR videos that do not have this type of background noise.

The style is of a person responding to an individual (unheard/unseen) which I believe is probably to make the whole video feel more personal. It can also be a tad on the confusing side until you latch on to what is going on.

The tone, is of course, excellent but tends to delve into the whispery. This seems to be the volume that most professional ASMR artists use. It has the benefit of being ASMR-y but the disadvantage of being much less believable as a rendition of a real medical exam. I cannot remember one occasion in which a GP has ever whispered at me. Perhaps I am missing out…

Hopefully, that was a bit of fun and now back to the day job. Today’s inadvertent ASMR video is this one:

Macleod’s examination of speech

It is, of course, from a channel that we must by now have done to death. Farsight Channel has 102K subscribers and fifty-nine videos which seems a very high subscriber to video ratio to me.

The notes will be familiar to regular Procrastination Pen readers: “84,162 views 6 Jul 2013

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”

We are now used to the slightly stilted and artificial sounding sound track from this channel and this particular video is no different. There is no startup music, no background noise and no strange narrator with a less desirable voice. In fact, in terms of the videos I commonly review this is pretty good. However, it is less than three minutes in length which gives YouTube plenty of opportunity to slide in loud and distracting adverts prior to the next video in the playlist.

The problem with reviewing this site a great deal before, of course is the likelihood that I repeat previously-covered videos. To obviate this possibility, I decided to narrow my search to speech and speech related videos on this channel. This only produced one further video which is this one:

Macleod’s examination of the facial (VII) nerve

The notes don’t really need to be repeated… There are only four comments, but even in that small number they are somewhat variable. It is less than a minute in length and this time there is a narrator. As usual, with the use of narrators, the voice of the narrator is louder and less inclined towards ASMRishness. In other respects, it is similar. The voices of the participants sound odd as if they do not belong to the people participating in the video, just as before.

The Farsight 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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

Hello and welcome to the Procrastination Pen. This week like last week, and the previous week… I am reviewing YouTube videos for their potential as an aid for restful sleep. To assist in getting from awake to asleep and in getting back to sleep when you wake up in the early hours of the morning. Most importantly, to avoid any noises that are likely to wake you up if the video keeps playing after you have dosed off. In the latter I’m afraid I cannot take account of YouTube adverts which are frequently up tempo, loud, intrusive and take no account of the time of day in terms of how quiet or restful they are.

Before we move onto the normal activity, which is the review of inadvertent ASMR videos, I have, of late, been reviewing one professional ASMR video as a change, and in case anyone liked the idea.

This week I am looking at this one:

“Let Your Destiny Unfold” Rainy Soft Spoken & Personal Attention Healing (ASMR REIKI)‪@ReikiwithAnna

It is on the channel Reiki with Anna which has 156K subscribers and five hundred and seventy videos. Where do these ASMR artists find the time?

In line with all ASMR artists I have reviewed so far, Reiki with Anna is suspiciously attractive. Surely if it is the quality of one’s voice that was critical then this would not be necessary?

In common with many ASMR artists Reiki with Anna also occurs on the ASMR Index.

Today’s video is just over forty and a half minutes and so is a reasonable length. Immediately we see why such videos are easier to listen to than inadvertent ASMR videos. There is no startup music and the artist has, as expected, an exceptional voice. The tone is great. The rain is unnecessary for me but I believe some people find such noises restful.

There are lots of additional noises: taps, clicks, a light background music, noises from equipment, even the sound of jewellery rattling. The latter stemming from the movements that are happening in the video. These distractions are not what I am listening for; I’m just here for the vocals.

The video does seem to be a bit “new age” for my taste but I cannot criticise the voice.

Sadly, YouTube will be YouTube and my listening was regularly punctuated by loud, irrelevant adverts. Hopefully your listening will not be so punctuated. Of course, these professional ASMR videos do not really have a playlist on the Procrastination Pen. I will add this one to the Sweetie Jar playlist which has become the repository for those I have reviewed thus far.

Of course, this video is not the meat and potatoes of this blog, which has always been to cover inadvertent ASMR (or at the very least restful) videos.

Today we return to a channel that I did promise I would revisit after a moderately successful first review of it.

The channel is Farsight Channel and will be familiar to regular readers.

The video is this one:

Macleod’s examination of the sensory system of the lower limbs

A bit less than three and a half minutes. The notes state: “235,864 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”

One of the comments indicates that the voiceover is AI generated. If this is actually what was done, I wonder why anyone would choose to do it. It results in a very unrealistic presentation.

This is Omar and Amy as we saw in the previous blog article, we are now used to that pairing. The actual examination is quieter than the narration track, even though the voices are a little stilted.

Macleod’s examination of the motor system of the lower limbs

This is just less than five and a quarter minutes long. Ben and Omar who we have also seen before. The notes state “674,799 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”.

These videos are consistent with one another and there is rarely a difference worthy of additional comment.

Definition: Clonus: involuntary muscle contractions.

Plantar Response:

Lawrence 1960 20.4-en

Macleod’s examining for meningeal irritation

“214,625 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”

This is just over a minute, so barely there at all. It features Omar and Amy. Again. Amy has a quieter voice than the narrator. However, there is still that uneasy sense that the voices are not the actual voices of the participants.

Macleod’s examination of the hip

The notes will come as no surprise if you have read the previous blog articles: “63,188 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”

It is a little over six and a half minutes long. Omar and Ben are the participants. Here, if anything, Ben is a little louder than the narrator. However, I do not think he is excessively loud for our purposes.

Definition:

Trochanter – a picture is probably best for this:

Gray243

Although there is plenty of moving of equipment, there are none of the associated noises which we commonly hear.

Macleod’s examination of the cardiovascular system

Amy and Omar feature, and this time the video is a more substantial length. This is almost thirteen minutes long. I think we have an idea what the notes are likely to say by this stage, such that I will avoid further reference to them unless something moderately interesting comes up.

Again, Amy’s voice (artificial or not) is the best one here. Omar’s is completely flat and the narrator’s is a bit on the loud side.

Definition:

Endocarditis inflammation of the inner layer of the heart.

Ischemia a restriction in blood supply

Macleod’s examination of the motor system of the upper limbs

A little over six minutes long, Ben and Omar are participating. It is consistent with the previous video containing these two participants.

Definition:

Fasciculation a muscle twitch.

And that is probably about as much of that as you can tolerate in one blog post. I will revisit this at a future date. The Farsight Channel continuing to provide a rich source of suitable videos.

The Farsight 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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

There has been a (hopefully unnoticeable) period of downtime of late, as there seems to have been no brief periods to sneak in a video review. That being the case, I am somewhat grateful of the backlog of material I had built up over the Christmas break. Today though, a few minutes available and a new video review.

Of course, for a very short while, I have been slipping in a review of a professional ASMR artist video. Today’s channel is ASMR Rebecca.

The video is this one:

A Very Realistic ASMR Eye Exam (new props!)

This is just over twenty-five and a half minutes. It starts with various rubber glove noises which seem to occur in several videos and I have now decided I really dislike. The vocal tone is better than some I have covered. At least the voice is closer to one an actual medical professional would use (a lot less whispering here).

I notice that the eye chart is displayed as in a mirror, so it’s a little challenging to read. However, as we are here to listen, I doubt it matters. To me, various parts of the exam seem to be out of focus which might be deliberate.

There are numerous additional noises which I think are supposed to appeal to ASMR fans who respond to different “triggers.” I just find them distracting. For example, there is drumming of the fingers, clicking noises and noises of a pen scratching against paper.

All told for a professional ASMR video, I found that there were rather too many distracting noises for me. I know that some professional ASMR artists include as many triggers as feasible in each video, but this scatter gun approach, to me, means that there is no particular focus. Surely it is better to focus solely, for example, a video on those who like scratching noises rather than whispers + scratching noises + clucking noises + finger drumming and so on and so forth. As each person finds their specific trigger, others are put off and as the artist moves onto the next trigger, they put off the one who was until that minute entranced.

This video is also not helped by extraneous background noise in terms of a car alarm somewhere sounding off. (Probably a good key to restart the entire filming process).

That said there are hundreds of comments on this video and a quick scan through reveals that they seem to be positive. This slightly increases my perception that people are watching due to the way a person looks rather than the ASMR sounds a video may have.

However, the presentation is, as expected, carefully put together and the tone is excellent (eyesight tests appearing as if in a mirror, excepting).

I will put it into the sweetie jar playlist so that you can have a review for yourself.

Onto the core theme of the blog, which is videos that were not designed to be restful but are, nonetheless, relaxing in content. Today, we return to Dr Abraham Verghese who we have featured before in this blog.

On Being a Doctor and Connecting with Patients

Just over four minutes so not a huge video. It has notes which thankfully are not as lengthy as we have grown used to. “14,160 views 7 Jan 2020

In this video Abraham Verghese, MD, best-selling author of In My Country and Cutting for Stone, discusses the origins of the study he coauthored identifying 5 practices that foster meaningful connections between physicians and patients. Learn more at ja.ma/presence5.”

There are few comments but they are quite encouraging – this makes a welcome change. We’ve seen Abraham Verghese before and on that occasion, we concluded he had a good voice for us and so again with this video. There is no introductory music (hurray) no weird background noises (hurray) and no people wandering across the camera (hip-hip…).

This though, is not a medical examination as such. It is a monologue. But it is calm, measured and most of all the volume control isn’t turned up to 11.

Sadly, background music commences after a while, but it is at least calm music and the volume does not suppress the speaker. So, I may make an exception and add this into the playlist. It might though get booted on review into the archive list.

The channel is JAMA Network which has 1.3K videos at the time I am looking at it. Try covering that lot in one blog post.

I think I’ll try for any of those that feature Abraham Verghese and focus that way.

A search on Abraham Verghese’s surname brings up videos that do not include him. However the videos in their entirety number only six so I’ll go with it and see if we have discovered any hidden gems.

The first is the one covered above leaving just five to review.

How to Prepare with Intention

With notes: “1,357 views 21 Jan 2020

Preparing with intention is one of five practices that can help doctors connect with patients. In this video, Donna M. Zulman, MD, MS, Jonathan G. Shaw, MD, MS, and Abraham Verghese, MD, from @StanfordMedicine explain how this practice works and why it’s important. Learn more at ja.ma/presence5.”

It is just over two minutes long, so hardly there at all. Abraham Verghese is this time drowned out by background music and this continues as Donna Zulman speaks and it fails to desist when Jonathan Shaw contributes.

In fact, it ruins the video from our perspective so I’ll move on.

How to Agree on What Matters Most

This is less than one and one half minutes and starts with Abraham Verghese again. There are notes of course: “877 views 21 Jan 2020

Agreeing on what matters most is one of five practices that can help doctors connect with patients. In this video, Donna M. Zulman, MD, MS, Jonathan G. Shaw, MD, MS, and Abraham Verghese, MD, from @StanfordMedicine explain how this practice works and why it’s important. Learn more at ja.ma/presence5.”

In this case the music does not quite overpower the speaker, even as the video moves on to Donna Zulman and then to Jonathan Shaw, so I think I’ll tolerate this one. How long it will last in the Procrastination Pen playlist though…

I am becoming much more critical of late and some of the videos that have been in that playlist for a long time are now getting booted to the archive list.

Listening to Patients Intently and Completely

A little less than two minutes and so all of these videos have the advantage that they will not delay us long. They have the disadvantage that they provide spaces for more of the oppressively loud and distracting adverts that YouTube chooses to put into the gaps between videos, even when those videos are obviously being played overnight!

Why I would want a loud and funky advert blasting from the headphones at 3am is anybody’s guess. But, I suppose, it is more important that a few more pence are added to the coffers.

The video has notes as expected: “2,749 views 21 Jan 2020

“The data source is the patient, and the most important thing is not to interrupt them, and let the story unfold.” Listening intently and completely is one of five practices that can help doctors connect with patients. In this video, Donna M. Zulman, MD, MS, Jonathan G. Shaw, MD, MS, and Abraham Verghese, MD, from @StanfordMedicine explain how this practice works and why it’s important. Learn more at ja.ma/presence5.”

It starts with Abrham Verghese again and I am saddened by the fact that all the participants seem to have reasonable voices but they are masked (even if partially) by continuous background music. I am mystified why anyone would do that, unless it is to frustrate ASMR-seeking listeners – in which case it is highly effective.

Achieving Diagnostic Excellence

This is a much more substantial video, it is very nearly half an hour in length. As if to reflect this it also has much more substantial notes so I’m just supplying an extract of these: “1,345 views 20 Sept 2022  #JAMALive

Arguably, a clinician’s most important role is providing an accurate and actionable diagnosis for patients. But challenges stand in the way, including tool limitations, inequitable access, and discontinuity of care. In this roundtable Q&A discussion, Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH (Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, UCSF), Jonathan H. Chen, MD, PhD (Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research, Stanford University), and Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD (Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation), discuss issues affecting diagnostic excellence, the emergence of artificial intelligence–driven tools, and ways to make the diagnostic process patient-focused. Hosted by JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, MD, PhD.

Visit http://jamanetworkvideo.com for more content like this.”

Comments are permitted and the only feedback is relevant and well-thought out, which makes a refreshing change. This also means that there is no feedback from ASMR fans.

The video commences with funky music but thankfully that soon desists. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo starts the video. I’m not sure that Kirsten would be the first choice in terms of voice for ASMR but at least the presentation is not excessively loud.

Sadly, the format which is like a Zoom call (other chat-related softwares exist), does not lend itself to an ASMR supporting video. This one does not belong in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Coronavirus Update With Eric Topol

On the face of it, this is not a subject that is likely to be restful. It is the longest video so far seen in this blog post at a little shy of forty-one minutes. There is a whole medical manual of notes with the video, so here is a brief extract: “19,983 views Streamed live on 23 Jul 2020 #Pandemic #COVID19 #Coronavirus

Eric Topol, MD, Scripps Research EVP and omnivorous science health care and tech commentator, discusses the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”

There are a number of comments, many of which reflect the concerns surrounding the subject, but no obvious ASMR-related comments.

There is no startup music – heaven be praised, so a nice peaceful start. However, we are again faced with a Teams-call like interface and not a medical examination as such. The presentation starts with Howard Bauchner who actually has quite a reasonable voice. Eric Topol is the person being interviewed who, if anything, has a better voice. Sadly, as before I do not think this is suitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The Bedside Manner 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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

I have been promising for a little while now that I would make some recommendations regarding tracks on Calm that I have used when sleep seems to be avoiding me. In fact, Calm has a whole range of material dedicated to sleep. This seems to be getting updated so regularly that it is hard to point to any one specific track. That said, I did rather enjoy “A Calmling in New York”. Perhaps a little too music-based for my usual relaxation but you may well have a different point of view. You can find it here: https://www.calm.com/app/player/qJEZPZzlDS but a warning, Calm is not free (and I am not trying to encourage you to pay for it).

Of course, if you are really stressed of a night time, it might just be that you want to be as relaxed as possible whilst acknowledging that sleep just isn’t going to happen for you that evening. In which case, some background noise might be just what you need.

I often give up in these situations and switch on the TV, listening with headphones on. It is not infrequently that I wake up a few hours later, a change of location and some background noise being all that it took to knock wakefulness on the head.

However, if it is looking like a few hours of being awake, you might do worse than to launch the Procrastination Pen playlist, set YouTube to shuffle and lie there listening to the various restful tracks that are available.

I have been in the habit recently of reviewing one professional ASMR artist’s video. Just because I’ve been reviewing inadvertent ASMR for over a year now and it is probably time for a change. (Small though it is).

Today’s video comes from LeannaASMR who is featured on the ASMR index here.

ASMR| Comprehensive Abdominal Exam, Full Medical Roleplay (Soft Spoken)

At a little less than twenty minutes it is rather short for a full-length professional ASMR video of this type. I do notice that there is a rising tendency for ASMR artists to publish their videos as “shorts” i.e. something only a few minutes long. Perhaps this video is trying to draw a middle way between the hour-long material we’ve seen and the one-minute shorts that are at the other end of the spectrum.

The video has quite a lot of extraneous noise; clicking noises, crumpling noises, equipment noises, the odd thump, in fact, the noises I have been hoping that inadvertent ASMR material would not contain. I assume that this was included here for effect but it marred it for me. The voice, meanwhile is as perfect as you can imagine for a professional ASMR artist and does not stray into the whispering level, which tends to make such videos completely unbelievable (what medical professional conducts an examination using a whispering tone)?

So, enough of all these distractions back to the overriding purpose of the blog which is to turn up inadvertent ASMR material or, at the very least, videos which are calm and restful (and hopefully without too much in the way of extraneous noises).

Today’s video comes from a channel that I have covered before N Sight has 3.08K subscribers and twenty videos. The proportion of subscribers to quantity of videos is something of an achievement, I think.

The video is this one:

Nails: Demo Exam

It is four- and three-quarter minutes so not long enough to keep you. There are notes “264,441 views 17 Feb 2016

In today’s medical practice, knowing how to spot physical signs of nutritional imbalances during a routine physical examination is an essential diagnostic tool. This nutrition-focused nails exam is conducted by Kara Fitzgerald, ND.

N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine.”

But perhaps wisely comments are not permitted.

Sadly, it has startup music and that startup music is a bit peppy to be properly restful. There is background noise but it is not excessive. Kara has a good voice, the “patient” does not get to say a great deal. Some of the included pictures are majorly off-putting and so, if this blog was not focusing on listening, I would be lairy about making it a member of the playlist. My recommendation is to listen and not to watch.

Fortunately N Sight has an entire playlist dedicated to the Nail Exam category and this playlist contains four videos.

 The playlist first featured is, in fact, number two in this playlist. The first video is this one:

Nail Exam: Introduction, Equipment, & Patient Positioning

Again, there are notes: “7,955 views 17 Feb 2016

In today’s medical practice, knowing how to spot physical signs of nutritional imbalances during a routine physical examination is an essential diagnostic tool. This nutrition-focused nails exam introduction is conducted by Kara Fitzgerald, ND. N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine.”

The same two participants are featured and again we have funky startup music (sigh). The video is a bit longer than three-and-a-quarter minutes and does not initially start with a medical examination. Kara Fitzgerald starts presenting and as such the vocal is a little louder than in the first video. The patient does not appear until the two- and three-quarter minute mark, it is interposed with yet more funky music and I find that quite distracting.

The second video is the one we came in with, and the third video in the playlist is this one:

Nails: Teaching Exam

This is much more substantial at a little less than seventeen and a half minutes. There are notes again “43,265 views 17 Feb 2016

In today’s medical practice, knowing how to spot physical signs of nutritional imbalances during a routine physical examination is an essential diagnostic tool. This nutrition-focused nails exam is conducted by Kara Fitzgerald, ND.

N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine.”

And the same two participants. The far too energetic music tops and tails the video, as before.

This time we are into the meat and potatoes of an examination. Here, Kara’s voice is much more measured and I would say is pretty good from our perspective. It is not too loud or energetic.

I would say (music excepting) this is a pretty good candidate for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The final video is merely a wrap up. It is this one:

Nails: Conclusion

it is only slightly more than a minute. Same startup (and concluding) music. No medical exam this time and just like that it is all over.

The N Sight 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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

Recently I have been including a cameo role for a professional ASMR artist. I’ve limited my adventurings to videos where they are playing a medical professional to fit in with the ongoing blog theme, which has focused on medical-themed ASMR videos for well over a year now.

Once a person strays into this area though, you very quickly realise that there are a huge number of medical-themed ASMR videos and the scope for spending hours on really quite unsuitable videos is commensurately high.

After trying a few, I also happened upon another hazard which is that the first several minutes of the video is given over to the junk the sponsor of the video wants to sell. Quite a lot of heinous-instantly-disposables in such videos. It convinces me that any video organised this way is unlikely to get much space on this blog. There is quite enough intrusive time given over to advertising as it is, without it forming a part of the video itself.

This one seems to escape some of these problems:

ASMR Head to Toe Assessment 2024 [Full Body Medical Examination] | ‘Unintentional Style’ Roleplay

Sadly, there is the ever-present air conditioning noise which I would think a professional ASMR artist could ensure was dispensed with. There are also some equipment noises, including some loudish beeps, whirring equipment and clunks from moving equipment around. This is rather like many of the genuine medical videos we have reviewed. There is the sound of rubber gloves which is quite off-putting. The video is a little over forty minutes so quite substantial and as expected the tone of the presentation is nigh on perfect. In this case two recognised ASMR artists are collaborating so in a sense it is two for one in that both voices here are excellent (if they weren’t then the number of subscribers would be something of a surprise).

The channel is Ivy B ASMR it has 350K subscribers and 1.9K videos so someone deeply loves this ASMR artist (or rather quite a number of someones).

So, well worthy of consideration, I think. I will place it into the sweetie jar list. However, bear in mind this list does not receive anything like the attention of the main Procrastination Pen playlist as it has not been the focus of this blog (at least so far).

So, after that brief sojourn into videos created deliberately for ASMR, back to the inadvertent ASMR video and, perhaps the slightly more difficult task of finding a video with potentially relaxing effects amongst the large number of videos which are unsuitable.

Today, we return to Stanford, which has been a rich well of restful videos.

Venous Testing

This is just a little over five minutes in length, so blink and it is already gone. It is a professional video and so, as we would expect, there are notes. “4 Jul 2012

Visit: stanfordmedicine25.stanford.edu

This video is from the Stanford Medicine 25: an initiative to enhance the culture of bedside medicine and physical diagnosis. Visit our website to learn more. The ankle brachial index is one of our “25” diagnostic techniques that we teach.”

There are no ASMR-related comments and quite frequently this means it isn’t a desperately great video.

It starts with the standard Stanford musical intro (boo hiss). The medical professional is John Cooke MD and John has an excellent voice. There is a slight background hiss which is unfortunate, but nothing as bad as some of the air conditioning we have heard.

There is a doppler device in use which some people might find off-putting. The noises from this device seem to get louder and more explosive as the video goes on. There is also the standard Stanford end music as well.

We have visited the Stanford Medicine 25 channel prior to this and we know that the videos tend to be divided into playlists.

This video comes from the playlist Stanford Medicine 25: Ankle Brachial Index. There is only one other video in this playlist, and it is this one:

Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) Test: How to Perform

The notes do not introduce anything substantially new. This one is also presented by John; this time the video is seven- and three-quarter minutes long. There are comments and this time, the odd one might be ASMR-related (the comments as usual are variable). John continues to have a great voice in this video. But we know what is coming when the doppler device is produced again.

The doppler device does produce the odd distracting noise. This is a shame because I do like John’s voice and the pacing of the presentation. It is only because of this that I am considering running with these two in the playlist to begin with. Sadly it is quite likely that both will ultimately get culled for the archive list.

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.

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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

For a little while, I have been reviewing a professional ASMR artist with the understanding that as they have set themselves up to produce ASMR material, that material had better be top notch. That is, I am disposed to be more critical of such videos than I would be of a similar inadvertent ASMR video.

This one caught my eye because it is seeking to emulate the very type of video that I habitually review i.e. the inadvertent ASMR video:

ASMR Head to Toe Medical Exam | Cranial Nerves, Physical Assessment | “Unintentional” Style

It is not completely quiet I notice; there are equipment noises, background noises, noises from participants moving around and using medical equipment. In all, not as quiet as I would expect for a professional video. The voices are of course as close to perfect as you can achieve and we’d expect that. It is setting its stall by the ASMR flag after all.

It is odd to find the participants whispering, but not unwelcome in the scheme of things. It does make the occasional noise seem louder than it would do otherwise.

The video is just under forty four minutes and so quite long compared to a lot of the inadvertent ASMR material we have been reviewing of late.

There are notes “308,882 views 16 Nov 2024 #asmrunintentional #asmrmedical #asmrheadtotoe

Let me know if you can spot the surprise towards the end!!! ASMR Head To Toe Medical Exam | Cranial Nerves, Physical Assessment | “Unintentional” Style

SUBSCRIBE FOR DAILY VIDEOS https://bit.ly/Subscribe2MadP

my personal insta:  / just_madspam 

asmr insta:   / madpasmr 

For collaborations: madpasmr@gmail.com

Wear Headphones

This is an ASMR medical role-play, I’m not a real doctor and if you have a medical condition please consult with your physician. This video does not display accurate information therefore none of the information should be taken as accurate/truthful facts.

#asmrheadtotoe  #asmrunintentional #asmrmedical”

The channel is MAD P ASMR. This has 603K subscribers and 940 videos (no one need say that ASMR is not popular).

I found that MAD P ASMR also has an online review. It is good to see that there are other bloggers involved in a similar area.

As with other professional ASMR artists we have so far seen, the attractiveness of the participants tends to be towards the well above average level and so I remain unclear if it is the quality of the sound that is the main appeal (and quite probably it is not).

There are comments, of course, and surprisingly they predominantly are positive. MAD P ASMR is obviously a well-respected contributor.

As we have seen before in a video of this length, YouTube is going to hammer in advertising as frequently as it can get away with and quite a lot of that advertising is not going to be restful. This is a major downside of using YouTube for this kind of material.

Around the twenty-seven-minute mark the video continues but one of the participants has left and a new one has joined. That seems odd and usually I would have thought this the perfect cue to start a whole new video.

I’ll refer to this as the second half of the video (although it’s more like the final seventeen minutes) and it seemed to me to start a little louder. However, this, for me, makes it seem a bit more realistic as all the whispering did not seem the kind of thing your average medical professional commonly engages in. The voices are still muted and probably still much too whispery to be considered a model of real life medical professional behaviour.

At least the part where the patient is talking but the medical professional is just typing into a computer seems representative of real life. (I’m not certain the typing noises are exactly what I would call restful though).

There are various unwrapping noises, which perhaps some people will find appealing. They don’t really appeal to me that much. There also seems to be a quite elevated set of blood pressure instrument noises. The sound of palpating the back sounded more like someone hitting a drum, so I am not sure how the microphone was set up for this.

In the final moments the medical professional starts spraying the back of the “patient” with something which appears to have a glitter-like substance in it. A bit surreal for a medical exam.

In all though, this just adds up to my being extra critical because this is a professional ASMR video after all. I still think it is worthy of review and I am going to add it into the Sweetie Jar list.

Well, that has been a somewhat lengthy diversion from the real meat-and-potatoes work of this blog which is to find inadvertent ASMR videos. (i.e. real videos which may have some relaxing effects rather than ASMR professionals playing doctors and nurses).

Today’s material follows on from an earlier blog post. In this, I introduced the Geeky Medics channel and we got to see videos featuring Dr James Lower and Dr Andrew Pugh.

My preferred method for refining which videos we would review from the channel was to look for videos that featured James.

This led to a very long blog post and enough extra videos for several more blog posts besides. I arbitrarily divided them up for part 1 and this is part 2.

Hip Joint Examination – OSCE Guide (Latest)

There is startup music but different startup music to the videos we saw in the last article. James is in for another examination with Andrew. This time all kinds of leg manipulations are seen but what we hear is similarly quiet and methodical to all those videos that went before.

As we saw in the previous article there are notes – but I won’t repeat them here. Comments are permitted and as before some of those comments are not fully helpful.

This video is just over four and a half minutes. It is so speedy that it is hardly there at all. There is of course background (air conditioning) noise. It is almost rude to have a video without it. Although when it does happen, it is so – so welcome.

Knee Joint Examination – OSCE Guide (Latest)

The video is six and three quarter minutes this time and if you read the previous article, this video will be familiar. (Some elements of the video are obviously just repetitions of filming completed for other videos).

Selecting James as a method of thinning out videos has resulted in a sample of a good percentage of the videos on the website. Overall, this will bulk out the playlist (which really wasn’t the aim).

In order not to tax your reading patience, I think six videos is going to be sufficient for this article.

Dix-Hallpike Test & Epley Manoeuvre – OSCE Guide

This is just under two and a half minutes so it is not hanging around this one. Andrew and James appear again but James appears different and the video is posted much more recently up to now the videos have been six years old but this one is a slimline five years ago.

The new startup music is firmly established and dogging the start of the videos. Andrew’s voice seems to be at a higher volume for some reason and the background hiss a little more established.

Here we have Mr Ben Cosway as ENT Registrar for the first time in the credits at the end of the video as “Reviewer”.

Lymphoreticular Examination – OSCE Guide (lymph node, spleen and liver examination)

This one is a little over four- and three-quarter minutes in length. Startup music, tick, Andrew and James, tick, hissing background noise, tick, initial pre-amble, tick, move onto actual examination, tick, (of which a fair amount is actually in silence – heaven be praised no background noises). In summary, it is just like those we have already seen.

This time the reviewer is Dr Adam Gibb Clinical research fellow in Lymphoma, he seems to be at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust which is in Manchester.

Subcutaneous Injection (SC injection) – OSCE Guide

This one is not brilliant if injections are really not your thing (don’t watch!) It is just two- and three-quarter minutes in length. Andrew and James continue their merry dance across the screen. (To be fair it has all been relaxing so far, apart from the odd extraneous noise in videos which we can afford to dismiss from the playlist, given the resource of videos on this channel is just so large).

Otoscopy and Hearing Assessment | Ear Examination | Rinne’s & Weber’s test | OSCE Guide

I’ll make this the last video in this blog article but there are quite a few more for a future article or articles. It is slightly more than three-and-a-quarter minutes so none of the videos today will waylay you for very extortionate periods of time. It features Andrew and James again, the Morecombe and Wise of medical examinations. There is whispering, so I take it all back, medical examinations really do feature whispering, but perhaps not for the entire length of the examination.

There are a few disturbing ear related images, but as you will be listening rather than watching, you should be well placed.

The Geeky Medics 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 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.

Picture DeepAI.org

Sleeping With ASMR

I had been stockpiling blog articles and had built up quite a number, to the extent that for several months I simply stopped writing. There was every danger that videos would be taken down from YouTube before the article ever saw the light of day and hence any evaluation of the videos would have been a waste of time.

I am happy to report that the backlog is now so tiny that I am danger of running out of material for the blog altogether. I am sure that regular readers would be delighted deeply concerned in case that happened.

Perhaps this is now a good time to start bringing some changes, in order to inject a little more life into the blog, but without the drama of a revolution. To this end I thought I would review at least one video on a medical theme that comes from a professional ASMR artist. If this proves to be a popular change, perhaps I will make it permanent.

Moonlight Cottage ASMR has 1.39M subscribers at the time I am looking at the channel. Some details of Moonlight Cottage have been recorded online., So obviously Moonlight Cottage is a professional ASMR artist (and a very successful one). The channel has one hundred and twenty nine videos and so there is space there for many videos which are not on a medical theme. So far so good.

However, I have self-elected to stick to a medical theme for the moment, so I have selected the following video:

The Shelter | ASMR Sci-Fi Roleplay (medical & skin exam, soft spoken)

It is a little over half an hour and so substantial enough in length and, given it is a professional ASMR video, we are setting the standard very high in terms of review.

It starts with an ocean which is that great standby of relaxing tracks but sadly also with music… It isn’t particularly oppressive music, but I was expecting something spoken or even whispered. It is beautifully constructed in the manner of a professional film, good costumes, effects, scenery but that isn’t why we are here. What does it sound like?

There are a number of distractions in terms of triggering sounds that work for some ASMR fans but sadly not for me: rustling noises, scraping noises, beeping noises. If one of these is your trigger then fill your boots.

As expected, the person participating has an excellent voice and is exactly the correct tone. I am guessing if this was not the case then 1.39M subscribers would be subscribing elsewhere.

However (and no doubt due to the science fiction theme) there are a number of less welcome noises as well. Clicks, beeps and whirring noises crop up sufficiently often to be distracting. There is also a constant background hum as if the video was shot in an area with air conditioning, but I suspect was added to improve the perception of the video being shot inside of a spaceship or similar. Usually I hope to get videos entirely without such background noises but I can see why it was done in this case. There are clunks from equipment, and further sounds from it being dragged – the sort of noises I have avoided in inadvertent ASMR videos.

The tail end of the video contains no speech at all, but more of the beeps, sliding noises, background air conditioning noises i.e. the parts that were less impressive about the rest of the video.

All that said, the bar was set very high, precisely because this is a professional ASMR video and I do think you could do worse than listen to the video for yourself. I’ll add it to the Sweetie Jar list which currently is the only one I have for such professional videos.

That may change if this aspect of the blog proves to be more popular.

So, now we have dispensed with the additional extra video, what about the meat and potatoes of this blog i.e. an inadvertent ASMR video.

Today’s video comes from a site which regular readers will well recognise:

University of Leicester

So it must have something going for it.

The video is this one:

Cardiovascular Examination – Demonstration

It is only five- and three-quarter minutes long and has a little of the straight-to-video quality about it. The patient is Mr Jackson. The notes tell us something about the participants “Presented by Dr Adrian Stanley PhD FRCP Consultant in Cardiovascular Medicine. Produced and Directed by Dr Irene Peat FRCR FRCP, Dr Nicholas Port MBChB BSc and Jon Shears.”

Fortunately for us Dr Stanley has a great voice. The video is not hampered by startup music but it is by the constant background noise, presumably from air conditioning. The pace is good rather than excellent. But it is quite relaxing, I think. 

This forms part of the Clinical Examinations playlist which is ten videos long – perhaps a little long for us today.

However, the University of Leicester does have another Cardiovascular based video worth examining, which is this one:

Cardiovascular Examination – Explanation

This one is nearly thirteen minutes long and shares many of the attributes of the last one, only more so, obviously. There are a few more noises as Mr Jackson gets to undress at the beginning, but Dr Stanley still has a great voice and in this longer video the pace seems much more measured (that might purely be personal perception). There are heart sounds included in this one but these are not excessively loud or off-putting.

The University of Leicester 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.

Picture DeepAI.org