Air Conditioning – Page 7 – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

For those of you who have been following the blog the subject matter will not come as any surprise or the purpose of this writing. For everyone else welcome to the blog. It exists purely to review unintentional ASMR videos, to locate the best ones and to create a playlist of those videos.

The aim is to find the most relaxing videos on YouTube (or occasionally from elsewhere) which can be used to help you drift off to sleep, get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night, and to completely fail to disrupt your sleep due to loud music, loud equipment noises or strange contributions from the air conditioning.

This week, a video which seems to fit into the range of student assessment videos, of which, we have seen more than a few already.

The entire Channel contains fifteen videos which is way more than I usually review at one sitting. However, as you can see the longest of these is less than seven minutes, such that I may make an exception in this case.

The video is this one:

Head, Face, and Neck

It is barely longer than three minutes so it isn’t going to take long to listen to. The medical professional is Leah and it is safe to assume that it is she who owns the channel (as we shall see).

The volume track is muted and sounds distant as if being recorded under water. There is the ever-present sound of air conditioning (which we’ve heard often before).

The approach is gentle and methodical. However, there is the noise of people apparently talking in the background. This is heavily muted though and so in this specific case, is none too intrusive.

The video has no comments and it looks like it is unlikely that we will find out where it was filmed. Although posted in 2023, of course, it could have been filmed at any time.

The channel is Leah Barlow and has eighty five subscribers – which isn’t a huge number in comparison to some we have seen.

There are fifteen videos which is a large number for any single blog post. However, in overview it appears that Leah appears with a different “patient” in several of these videos. Therefore, if we stick with Leah and the patient featured in this video, we have a much more restrictive list (we can return to Leah in a future blog post).

Musculoskeletal Exam Practice

This is slightly longer at five- and three-quarter minutes but still not particularly taxing in terms of attention. It is almost identical in terms of sound with the last one. I think the patient states her name as Mackenzie and d.o.b. 2/15/01 which for those of us in the UK is 15/02/2001. However, I had a hard time making that out and the spelling is probably incorrect in any case.

Again, the presentation is muted in comparison to the background noise which includes a healthy amount of chatter coming through from adjacent rooms.

There are loud noises as footwear drops to the floor, which may cause this one to ultimately be dropped from the Procrastination Pen playlist. (Off-putting noises are the commonest reason for dropping videos into the archive list). It is not the first time I have wished that I could alter a video in order to eliminate such noises, given that a number of videos are excellent in part, and dire in another part.

At intervals there are raised (even excited) voices from an adjacent room and this proves to be quite distracting.

There are also noises from the equipment as the “patient” moves around.

Neuro Exam Practice

Just over six and a half minutes and if anything, the background noise is trying for a starring role. The video proceeds as for the two we have already reviewed. It is gentle, methodical and, background noise allowing, relatively quiet. If there was a God of air conditioning then a few sacrifices need to be made to appease him or her. There are loud equipment noises and some hilarity about the loud equipment noises. (This will probably see it dropped into the archive list). Mackenzie seems to have developed a cold as there is much snivelling and coughing.

This one is really too loud, including some quite energised chatter from an adjacent room.

There is also entertainment due to the fact that Mackenzie proves to be ticklish.

Cardiac Exam

A bit over four and a quarter minutes. There is loud knocking to start with. Mackenzie seems to say that her surname is Delavaso, but it probably isn’t that at all. The air conditioning has started playing drums for Motorhead but thankfully the background chatter has settled to the level of irritating that can be safely ignored (I think).

Thorax and Lungs Exam

Four minutes long. Loud knocking to start, as before. More loud equipment noises more air conditioning noises, but the conversationalists have decided all the loud discussions of previous videos were dreadfully rude and so a background murmur is all that can be heard.

It would be truly quite a good video if the clunks and clangs of the equipment didn’t attend every movement of Mackenzie. Not the first time equipment noises have proved to be a deal breaker for this blog though.

Cardiac Practice

A little under five minutes and the microphone is now officially inside the air conditioning outlet. The voices in this are heavily masked by the sound of forced air.

This really isn’t suitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Ear exam

Less than two and a half minutes, in other respects similar to previous videos. Leah has a good voice but the extraneous noises are at intervals off-putting or irritating.

I’m inclined to include this one, if only because it is so short.

Nose, mouth, throat exam

A bit more than four and a quarter minutes. The knocking at the start seems a little more muted but the background conversation has reasserted itself, somewhat irritatingly.

Mackenzie has an identity badge which could have told us where this is being filmed but sadly it is out of focus so I can’t make it out.

Leah seems much more hesitant in this one than the others we have seen here. There seems to be much hilarity again, so presumably both participants are uncomfortable with the process.

That’s it for this item, but I think we will be revisiting Leah in the future.

The Leah Barlow playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been working through that playlist repeatedly and some of the videos that were members have now fallen from favour. If any of your favourites are in there you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Tatyana Eremina on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

This week, for a change, I thought we’d look at a medical teaching video in the hope of finding some relaxing material. Actually, that’s no change at all as we have covered this channel and this institution in a previous blog post.

In that blog post I concluded that the sound quality really wasn’t all there. I limited the post to just five videos, concluding that a number of them were not going to make it to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

However, there was the matter of the remaining videos to review, so I thought I’d give the channel a second chance, in the hope that there is a diamond in the rough as it were.

As previously indicated the tutor is Justine Ward who desperately needs a better microphone and quieter surroundings to get the best sound on her videos. Sadly she has neither here.

The channel is Dominican College. The purpose of this set of videos is not completely clear. I do not think they were designed with audio quality in mind.

In which case I think I will limit myself to reviewing just five videos on this occasion as well.

September 22, 2019

A bit longer than the last (previous blog post) at four and three-quarter minutes.

It shares the same limitations as the others reviewed so far, in that the voice of the teaching professional seems to be at the end of a long tunnel.

One thing that does come across is how gentle she is with the “patient” in this. It is also the first time I have come across a video in which a person with restricted motion is reviewed (left shoulder).

Again, the video ends abruptly (this has become somewhat of a theme).

This appears to be a duplicate of the video called “C-spine and UE ROM screen 9/22/19”. We only need one in the playlist so I’ll drop this one.

September 22, 2019

Definitions again

Goniometer a device used to measure an angle.

Nares the nostrils.

Occiput the back of the skull.

Acromion the upper part of the shoulder.

It is interesting that the focus is on reimbursement based upon Insurance Companies. This is strange to a person in an NHS system that money payment for treatment is a contingent process, like stage payments on a mortgage. Health obviously having a very definite value in such a system.

It appears to be a duplicate of the one entitled “C-spine goniometry 9/22/19” we only need one in the playlist so I’ll drop this one.

September 22, 2019

Again, we see the extreme care taken in manipulating. With feedback felt about where rotation should cease. Any pressure on joints is applied with care.

September 22, 2019

Definitions:

Lateral epicondyle: the rounded bit on the outside of the elbow.

C-Spine and UE ROM screen 9/22/19

We can probably rattle through these barring any surprises because they are consistent in terms of sound quality.

C-spine Goniometry 9/22/19

We covered this above as the second September 22, 2019 video.

The Dominican College playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

Another week and onwards towards a longer playlist and another set of videos (from YouTube) to review.

Today we have another set from a student, presumably this was originally created as part of an assessment process.

As is typical for this type of channel, the last update was some time ago and now the channel is not maintained. We have already seen that some videos can be taken down and these could become the same, so my advice is “get ‘em while you can”.

The channel is Jordynlee21 and the updates are nine years ago (2015). There are four videos, which as you will see, have pretty much the same title but feature different “patients”.

There are no playlists available on the channel so, in no particular order, this is the first one.

Head to toe Ashley Brehmer- South University

The camera pans the room in the most disconcerting way. The initial verbal description is a bit drony, as if it is narrated by someone who is just going through the motions.

There is an ever-present background noise (probably air conditioning). This is a situation with which we are now well familiar.

South University appears to be located in Savannah Georgia as we’d expect it has its own YouTube channel.

As is usual, the channel for South University does not include medical examination videos.

I’m always fascinated by the terms used by those using a stethoscope such as “Intercostal Space”, this gives a good definition:

“2nd intercostal space (i.e., the space between the second and third ribs).

3rd intercostal space (i.e., the space between the third and fourth ribs).

4th intercostal space (i.e., the space between the fourth and fifth ribs).

5th intercostal space (i.e. the space between the fifth and sixth ribs).”

At intervals the presentation does settle down to be more gentle and is more the kind of video that we’re looking for (or “hearing for” if that could be a term).

In this case the medical professional is Ashley, I am not clear who Jordyn Lee (the name of the channel) is. The channel has been around since 2009 so considerably before the video.

Callie Donnay head to toe- South University

Again, with the maniacal whirling of the camera about the room, presumably to demonstrate that there are no prompts in the room for the student. However, I would have thought it straightforward to pan the room initially and then introduce material subsequently, but maybe I’m over thinking this.

The medical professional is Callie Donnay, again, the video is posted nine years ago. The air conditioning noise remains ever present. The “patient” here is the medical professional from the previous video i.e. Ashley Brehmer.

Sensibly there are no comments permitted; we’ve seen negative comments against such videos before.

Eventually the video settles down and gets reasonably quiet. I wonder if initial nerves in such videos is the reason that they often set off loud and settle down later.

There is the occasional clatter as equipment is moved around. This is distracting but not massively off-putting.

Alana Haas head to toe- South University

Alana Haas is the medical professional. Again, the camera pans the room. The “patient” confirms it is actually a hospital and not a domestic setting as we have often seen before. The patient states her name as Jordyn Hutchinson. The surname isn’t Lee – so perhaps she is not the owner of the channel. The patient states the date as 2013 so the video is posted somewhat later than that (which seems a bit odd if it is part of an assessment process).

Like the previous videos, the voice isn’t spot on for ASMR and the background noise is always present. However, there are periods of calm. Again, there are clattering noises which are only marginally distracting.

Jordyn Hutchinson head to toe- South University

Here, Jordyn becomes the medical professional. I’m not sure how common the spelling Jordyn is seen (I’m more used to Jordan). However, it is conceivable that Jordyn married and took the name Lee and hence the channel belongs to the self-same Jordyn.

I’m not sure how that could be verified as the videos lack any notes.

As before the camera sweeps the room and the medical professional starts off loud, so far, so familiar.

The patient is Alana Haas who appears in the previous video.

It settles down and is moderately quiet. I do often hope for another Hollie Berry but I think these videos are adequate for getting to sleep.

They’re going into the playlist and I’ll rely on the review process to sweep them into the archive list if they cease to be appealing.

The Jordyn Lee playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than unwelcome loud equipment noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Jennifer Uppendahl on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Recently, I am finding some variability around the efficacy of using just the ASMR videos to get some sleep. Some nights very effective, some nights a distraction, and some nights just not effective at all.

On such nights, I tend to lie on the sofa and tune into the dreariness that is late night television (dreariness is probably advisable as really compelling television is only going to keep you awake for longer).

However, there are other things to try, for example, there are free online meditation resources. Some people I am told find the discipline of meditation really diverting. I have until recently found focusing on meditation to be one more thing I do not want to do when I am tired and I want to sleep.

However, never say never, I recently have received a gift subscription to Calm and I am giving some of the meditations a try. So far without positive outcome, but you never know.

Meantime I am back to finding more ASMR videos. I am trying to stay ahead as I notice that some of my blog posts already have blank spaces where videos used to be. Videos are obviously being taken down.

Previously, we have dealt with the Sterling Freeman part of this partnership.

Now we have Olivia Rabone and, as we saw in that previous blog post, this looks like it is a video designed as part of an assessment.

Head-to-toe physical assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

As we have heard before, the ever-present air conditioning to provide an audio background for us. In this, Sterling Freeman is the “patient”.

Sterling is currently a Registered Nurse at Martin County Hospital District Texas. She attended Howard College

Olivia Rabone attended Howard College Texas until 2022

Howard College has (as we’ve come to expect) has its own channel.

However, the badge on the shoulder of Sterling does not look anything like that on the Howard College Channel.

Sterling also studied at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

This college also has a YouTube channel. However, the badge is not like that on the uniform.

Sterling early in the video confirms that they are both at Howard College, Big Spring Texas. (Perhaps the college has subsequently changed its branding).

We also get the confirmation that this is 2019, which was very likely Sterling’s final year there (although Olivia appears to have attended for longer than that).

I always find it amusing that in these videos the students provide privacy by drawing an invisible curtain. We have seen this before of course.

I’ve seen a few applications of a blood pressure cuff in these videos. Given how far Olivia has to wrap that cuff around Sterling’s arm I think it might be bit on the large side.

The assessment proceeds at the pace of an express train. This makes me wonder if trainee health professionals are under the cosh to get things accomplished in the smallest amount of time possible.

Olivia seems to be reciting from a mental script as the empathy quotient in this video is not obviously high.

Against that, the tone is really pleasant; it is not excessively loud. It makes a good Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

The channel, unsurprisingly, is called Olivia Rabone. It has eight videos on it, which is a number I think I can cover here without over stretching your attention. (The Procrastination Pen playlist is at the end of this article if you want to skip to that point, simply scroll down to find it).

The remaining seven videos are:

Head-to-toe physical assessment- Sunny Kuykendall & Olivia Rabone

Although Olivia hosts this one on her channel the medical professional here is Sunny and the “patient” is Olivia.

Sunny has her own channel which might be worthy of a future review.

Judging by Sunny’s shoulder badge (which is the same as Sterling’s in the previous video) this is also filmed at Howard College.

We have the constant drone of force-driven air to keep the ears entertained. In this case the medical professional’s volume is not aligned with this background noise. It is quite difficult to hear what Sunny is actually saying. This might be ok if the air conditioning noise was more restful but I do not find that it is.

The camera appears to be a huge distance from the two participants. This is unusual for videos of this type. However, given we are mainly here for the listening experience I cannot judge this video solely on that basis.

Sunny at intervals seems to be distracted. Potentially she is trying to follow some standard assessment checklist.

This does make it a little difficult to relax into the experience (and fall asleep to it for example).

Overall, I think the sound quality discounts this video from the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Head-to-toe physical assessment- Olivia Rabone & Stacy Kuykendall

This continues in the vein of the last video, with a high background noise in relation to the main spoken audio track.

Stacy Kuykendall is a remarkably common name in Texas it turns out (including one woman whose children were killed). The upshot of which is that I have been unable to determine if Stacy has a YouTube channel.

To be honest given this is set up exactly like the last one it didn’t stand a chance from the outset so I will not be adding it to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

CNs, Musculoskeletal, & Neurovascular Assessments-Olivia Rabone

The background noise on this is really intrusive, including what sounds like a whole flock of rock doves trying to outcompete one another.

There are a number of non-medical and non-ASMR comments with this video. But none of these have any interest to us.

There is the noise of overflying planes. At one point Olivia starts laughing, which given the challenges involved in filming here, is probably unsurprising.

If you’re watching as well as listening, there are also some strange artefacts coming from sunlight across the lens.

As before, there are occasional gaps as Olivia consults a checklist so it is a little staccato in approach.

It just isn’t there in terms of ASMR, so it will not be into the Procrastination Pen playlist.

CN’s & Musculoskeletal-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

Here we are straight back to the partnership that we started this blog item with. Although the partnership is the same, it appears that someone stuck the microphone actually inside the air conditioning outlet.

The audio track is nearly completely occluded by the constant whirr that is going on.

It is a shame because in all other respects this is the equal of the video that we started with in this article, but I don’t think it can really go through to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Respiratory & Cardiac assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

Yet again the background noise is high. However, I think this is just acceptable. It is very calm and considerably more methodical than some others featured in this blog post. However, it may well suffer an early weeding if it proves to be distracting on subsequent review.

A louder vocal track would have compensated for the air conditioning. Perhaps YouTube videos of the future will incorporate an air conditioning filter designed to eliminate all that excess noise.

HEENT assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

This seems to start a bit louder, but so does the air conditioning. I could probably provide a good service to listeners if I could somehow process all the sound tracks to eliminate background noise. Sadly, however I am no sound engineer.

There are relatively few comments but just shy of seven and a half thousand views, which sounds remarkable.

To be honest, I’m not certain it is a great Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

NG tube/EN/PN discussion

This is so much quieter than the others which must be down to the change of venue. This is filmed inside someone’s house. The start of the video though is not restful. It is almost in the format of a lecture with the delivery a tad hesitant.

Someone off camera starts coughing and Olivia is merely reading from a script.

This one isn’t for the Procrastination Pen playlist either.

The Olivia Rabone playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been listening to that playlist most nights and some of the videos that were members have now been removed. If any of your favourites are missing from that main playlist you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than occasional intrusive noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

Continuing in our search for medical videos which may induce ASMR in some listeners (or at the very least induce enough relaxation to see you napping) we have today’s video:

Hip Extension and Hip Abduction MMT

This one is from the channel Dominican College which has just seven hundred and three subscribers as at today’s date (this seems a little low for a college). There are one hundred and ninety-four videos at the time I’m looking at it. This is a tad too many for any single blog post. There are seven playlists but many of these have a high number of videos in them. So in this case using playlists to narrow the field may not be effective. This is thirty-eighth in a thirty-nine video playlist “PT541 Basics of PT (2022)”

I do not think that we will be covering thirty-nine videos in any single blog post even though some of them are quite short.

Today’s video is obviously filmed in a classroom setting, there is a general hubbub happening as for people chatting in the background. The sound is quite muted and the background noise is prevalent (I’d guess air conditioning again). It ends rather abruptly as well which might be off-putting.

It is marginal in terms of the purpose that we wish to put it to (engendering restfulness). This is no Hollie Berry or Vicki Scott. I’ll let it sneak into the Procrastination Pen playlist but it might be subject to future weeding.

The channel tells me very little about the college itself – merely that the channel was established in 2018.

Checking for Dominican College online I find that it has been rebranded to Dominican University now. I think I’ve found the correct one as it offers a PT programme (which is the subject of the playlist).

It is located in New York and has an interesting history.

Whilst we’re in the playlist let’s see if there are any others worthy of examination.

Given the large number of videos in this playlist I think we’ll need to arbitrarily cut the number. I’m going to choose five and then revisit on another occasion.

Gross UE ROM Screen

I wonder if the small number of subscribers is because it was posted for a specific reason, say a class during a time of Covid or something similar.

The tutor is Justine Ward. Sadly there is no channel for Justine, there might have been a chance to find something with better audio quality.

The sound quality is no better on this video and given it is less than three minutes it isn’t worth adding to The Procrastination Pen playlist.

Assessment of knee flexion end feel

A short video at just over a minute. Sadly the sound quality does not improve, the teaching professional really needs a lapel mic. Given it is so short, again, I don’t see the point in adding it to The Procrastination Pen playlist (it might have sneaked in had the sound quality been better).

The theme of these videos is they all seem to end abruptly which is even less great given it gives the opportunity for a loud YouTube advert to kick in immediately afterwards.

UE strength screen

This is two minutes long and the sound quality is not great. There is however no classroom banter in this one which helps. Someone does clear his throat part way through (I assume the person holding the camera).

There is a repeat of the “don’t let me move you” phrase we’ve encountered before. Again, I don’t think this will make it to The Procrastination Pen playlist.

Assessing ankle DF and elbow ext end feel

This is very short at just over one and a half minutes and the noise quality is not the greatest here. It’s noisy to begin with, slightly better as it settles down later on.

It’s also unnerving in places. I’m sure if some of the manipulations were tried on my elbow for example, I’d be nursing it for a long time afterwards.

It doesn’t belong in The Procrastination Pen playlist.

There is only one candidate video this time. As a consequence I will not create a playlist on The Procrastination Pen for Dominican College.

However, the playlist for all videos covered on The Procrastination Pen so far is here:

I recommend you view it on YouTube (rather than on this blog) then you will be able to use the shuffle function so that the videos play in a random order.

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

I hope you find the playlist relaxing, any feedback is welcome.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cate Darnell – Head to Toe Assessment

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

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

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

On a channel called Sleep ASMR (which seems appropriate)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(and now it includes the Cate Darnell video).

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

In writing this it is all too easy to assume that you have made the journey thus far with me and have some idea what this blog is for. However, it is to be hoped that people are meandering into the blog, from some search engine or other, all the time. If you have done that, this article may be your point of entry.

If so welcome.

I hope that those who have been reading (and subscribing) for a period of time will have patience whilst I tell you what you’re looking at.

The purpose is to generate a playlist – simply that. A great long playlist of videos from YouTube. Videos which, after careful listening and review have been found good for ASMR (or at the very least to be restful and relaxing, sufficient to nestle a person off to sleep when they have a stressful day to come and desperately need the rest).

The writing is actually the review process and I assume that a lot of people will just scroll to the end of the article and pick up the playlist.

Some people may take an interest in the review and take a moment to read and reflect on it or to vehemently disagree and to leave comments.

At intervals I will further edit the playlist to try to ensure that only the more restful videos are included.

This time we are starting with a video on a much more official sounding channel than some of our recent dalliances have been. No professional ASMR curation here.

The Exam for Shoulder Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

A rather nice piece of introductory music this time, although what it will sound like once you’ve heard it a few dozen times in the dead of night and you’re tired, irritable and have an important meeting in the morning, I’m afraid I can’t predict.

The medical professional this time is properly announced in the video Dr. Brinda Christopher Sports Medicine Physician FFSEM MRCP BSc MBBS. A rather dazzling array of qualifications there. The patient isn’t introduced.

But how does her voice sound and is the video very relaxing is what we have come to find out (well I have and I assume you have too as you’re reading this).

Certainly, Brinda has a very quiet voice, sufficiently quiet that the background aircon is quite apparent in this video.

The comments are quite enlightening with some comments from people seeking instruction for exams and some from those coming to this channel for ASMR videos. (I am not the first to find this video for ASMR purposes).

Although it is quiet it isn’t tops for ASMR with me. It is worthy of a review though and probably worthy of the Procrastination Pen playlist. (It might fall victim to a subsequent weeding, we’ll see).

The channel is Stanford Medicine 25. There are two hundred and forty-four subscribers at the time I’m looking at it. There are eighty-five videos as at today’s date and thirteen playlists. This video occurs in a playlist called Stanford Medicine 25: Musculoskeletal Exam.

This playlist consists of eight videos of which the above one is the very last in the set. Dr Christopher only features in three (of which the above is one).

The other two featuring Dr Christopher are:

The Exam for Knee Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

As usual with institutional videos (see the ones from Warwick) these are of a brand i.e. the same introductory images and the same image bottom right-hand side. (This last presumably in an attempt to preserve copyright of the entire video).

You might be intrigued (as I was) by the term crepitus, which is a noise coming from the joints on movement.

I’m not sure what the “patient” is called here, I thought that Brinda thanked “Chad” but it might just be my ears.

The last video with Dr Christopher in this playlist is:

The Exam for Ankle & Foot Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

In this we establish that the patient here is “Chad” the same patient in all three videos covered in this article. From the accent I would guess Chad is an American person. That’s in keeping with the institution location but is in quite a contrast to the more English accent of Dr Christopher.

These three videos obviously belong together, the same medical professional, the same “patient” the other five in the set (contained in the Musculoskeletal Exam playlist) less so.

Therefore, I think I’ll call this article at an end here and resolve to follow on with the rest of that playlist (and the channel) in future blog items.

The Stanford Medicine playlist on The Procrastination Pen is here:

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

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I dislike these as they expect me to login to verify my age. This interrupts the listening experience in my view. You may be happy with this interruption 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 Heyphotoshoot on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

We are back to fairly safe ground this time. Firstly, this video is not found in a channel dedicated to ASMR (this blog focuses on unintentional ASMR videos for review material). Secondly, we are back to a Cranial Nerve exam which has featured before.

Neuro PACES is the channel and it is fairly easy to cover as it contains in total five videos none of which is longer than ten minutes (in fact all are quite a bit shorter than that).

The Cranial Nerve Examination is this one:

Cranial Nerve Examination Example

A nice calm start but progress through the video does seem to be quite hurried. Dr Michael is the medical professional, Mr Foot is the “patient”

I would guess that in order to get the entire exam completed within five minutes Dr Michael really needs to be motoring along.

The video is quite a bit different to the Vicki Scott one in this respect.

As the video progresses, if anything, it gets even quieter but the pace never seems to slow down much. To me that is not too distracting and it is a good video for the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

The patient here states that the sensation in his face is unequal. This is the first time we have come across this in any of the videos covered so far. Surprisingly there is no mechanism here for noting that concern, that seems unusual. In addition, the medical professional here does not echo back the concern. Reflecting the concern has been more typical in the videos we have covered so far.

The link at the end of the video links back to Liverpool university neurosciences research.

A number of the videos seem to have been set up specifically for the neuropaces course organised by:

Professor Benedict Michael, Professor in Neuroscience, MRC Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant Neurologist

Professor Tom Solomon, Chair of Neurological Science and Honorary Consultant Neurologist

Dr Viraj Bharambe, Neurology Consultant

Dr Rosie Heartshorne, Neurology Registrar

I’ll make a guess that Dr Michael and Professor Michael are the same person.

Investigating the rest of the Neuro PACES channel we find that there are no playlists. Without a playlist order to guide the sequence of videos to review let’s begin with those videos dedicated to medical examination:

Lower Limb Examination Example

This features Dr Michael again, this time with Mr Jamieson. Again, this is a very gentle presentation. This one is pretty nigh ideal for our purposes and is a definite candidate for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The patient here seems to be really struggling, the first time I’ve seen this featured in a medical examination video. The videos reviewed to date have always featured healthy people. I’m guessing these are usually student volunteers. This is quite a good vindication of what the process is supposed to be for i.e., verifying an unwell person’s condition.

For our purposes though it is a good ASMR candidate and like the previous one merely five minutes long. I’d say Dr Michael is as good here ASMR-wise as Dr James Gill which is quite a statement to make.

Neurology Lower Limb Examination for MRCP PACES. NeuroPACES.mov

https://youtu.be/zSqczy8Km2M

The patient isn’t introduced in this video and Dr Michael starts off in much more robust fashion than in the previous two videos, (it’s quite a bit louder, as if he is trying to enunciate for a distant audience). There is a consistent background hubbub as if it is being filmed in a public area.

However, it still has its quiet and attentive moments which brings it back into a candidate for the Procrastination Pen playlist for me. It is still not quite as good as Shane Brun though.

In common with the other videos in this article it really motors though and is all over in five minutes. Overall therefore this one is not a great Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

The Solomon System- NeuroPACES

This time the medical professional is flagged at the beginning Professor Tom Solomon PhD. FRCP of the Walton Neuro Centre NHS Foundation Trust & University of Liverpool

The “patient” is quite quickly introduced as Simon.

This is a longer video at eight minutes fifty seconds (though that is still not long in terms of the many videos we’ve reviewed in the past).

Professor Solomon has not got quite such a calm voice as Dr Michael sadly. I think again the problem is that he is presenting to a wider audience so his voice is louder. But at least there isn’t the background hubbub in this video.

There is quite a good description as to why some of the tests are actually performed and how to do these tests in the minimal time.

I’m not going to add this one to the Procrastination Pen playlist though.

NeuroPACES: The Walton Centre Neurology MRCP PACES Course

Another calm start, however it is just an intro video to the neuro PACES course. We get promotional material including funky music. This is not the kind of thing you want when you’re attempting to doze off.

This one is not going into the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The NeuroPaces playlist on the Procrastination Pen channel is here:

The overall Procrastination Pen Checklist (featuring all videos covered in the blog so far) is here:

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I dislike these as they require me to stop listening and login to verify my age. You may find that you have more patience than I do in which case this list is for you.

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

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

Till next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

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

a) this blog

b) this subject.

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

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

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

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

The video is:

Head to Toe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The channel is Keisha CoxKelly.

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

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

NG Tube

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOLEY Cath insertion/removal

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

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

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

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

Insulin Mixing

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

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

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

Wound Care

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

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

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

IM and SQ injections

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

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

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

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

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

IV administration

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

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

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

The playlist for Keisha is here:

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

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Till next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

As promised in a previous blog post we are back again at the Merck Manuals channel. Last time we were covering the Ortho Exam playlist.

Relevant videos from this playlist/channel have already been added to the Merck Manuals playlist on The Procrastination Pen YouTube channel.

And into the overall The Procrastination Pen playlist:

There are twenty-two playlists in this channel some of which are extremely large. (The “Merck Manual Consumer Version” contains ninety videos for example. If I attempted to cover all of those it would not be not so much a blog post as a book on ASMR).

Since my last blog post they have changed elements of the Merck Manuals channel to state that it is not available outside the United States.

I hope it wasn’t something that I said.

If like me you’re not in the United States I am afraid that you are left with whatever remaining crumbs there are in terms of videos that are still available.

Parts of some playlists remain accessible.

The playlist:

The Neuro Exam – Merck Manual Professional Version

Contains seven videos which are still visible outside of the US. (Who knows how long you’ll be able to see even these. I suggest you go listen to them before it is too late).

How to do the Mental Status Exam | Merck Manual Professional Version

https://youtu.be/14s9jMf4vR8

This is another video with funky start up music. I mean, really, don’t they know I’m trying to sleep?

The narrator here is way too loud sadly. Fortunately, that doesn’t last very long. The “patient” states that she is in Philadelphia in the Einstein Medical Centre. It’s not your standard ASMR stuff in that it is a little bit loud even in the medical exam portion.

I also notice that the medical professional asks how many nickels there are in a dollar and I realised that I did not know (in case you’re also not located in the US the answer is twenty apparently).

Some of these tests are a bit tough. It made me wonder about my own memory as I’m not sure I’d be able to pass such tests.

The video is just a bit loud I think and not great ASMR material so not one for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

How to do the Cranial Nerve Examination | Merck Manual Professional Version

It looks like startup funky music for videos in this playlist is going to be a theme.

Here the narrator is more muted and much more in keeping with what we’re looking for, I think. The video is designed to be for teaching/instruction so although there is an examination of a patient the actually dialogue between medical professional and “patient” does not feature in the video.

However, I think this one will make it to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Cerebellar Examination: How to Assess Gait, Stance, and Coordination | Merck Manual

There is music at the start as before. Maybe eventually I will find a way to edit videos for their ASMR effects but that currently is not the purpose of this blog/playlist.

The narrator has learned his lesson after the somewhat loud presentation of the first video in this list. He is quite calm and reasonably quiet.

The exam proper appears without audio – the narrator is filling in what the stages in the exam mean. It is an instruction video that is also quite good for ASMR. This video will also be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

How to do the Motor Examination | Merck Manual Professional Version

I notice that comments for these videos are turned off. Turning off comments stops some of the crazier contributions that we’ve seen of late but it also stops us working out if others are using these videos for their ASMR effects.

To me they seem a good find, this one included.

How to do the Sensory Exam | Merck Manual Professional Version

This is the longest video of the set, but it follows the format of the other videos seen so far. We’re entirely reliant upon the quality of the narrator here (especially to distract us from the music interludes). Fortunately, he has a good voice.

There are intrusions of parts of the genuine exam here. The only distraction with these interludes is the background noise. This is almost certainly the air-conditioning noise which we have become used to from other videos.

In this playlist whilst the medical professionals have changed between videos the “patient” remains the same.

Another good video for the Procrastination Pen playlist, I think.

How to Test Reflexes | Merck Manual Professional Version

Apart from the first video these have been consistent. Quite a good find this series and this particular video is worth making part of the Procrastination Pen playlist.

How to do a 4-Minute Neurologic Exam | Merck Manual Professional Version

https://youtu.be/5UuQV-0o4CE

This is exactly the same format as the other videos covered in this article. They were all posted six years ago. I notice that the notes tell me something about the Merck Manual:

“First published in 1899 as a small reference book for physicians and pharmacists, The Merck Manual grew in size and scope to become one of the world’s most widely used comprehensive medical resources for professionals and consumers. As The Manual evolved, it continually expanded the reach and depth of its offerings to reflect the mission of providing the best medical information to a wide cross-section of users, including medical professionals and students, veterinarians and veterinary students, and consumers. • Merck Manual Professional Version: http://www.MerckManuals.com/Professional”

I’m guessing that there is some financial consideration involved in its use. If it produces videos of this quality, I’m in favour (well until they totally remove my ability to see the videos in any case).

However, if the video recording guys are reading, please quieten down the funky music at the beginning (or better still go for a silent intro).

This is another one for the Procrastination Pen playlist, I think.

The Merck Manuals playlist has been updated with these videos.

The overall playlist containing all the videos featured so far is here.

The above playlist has now grown quite large so I have started to weed out some of the less effective ones. However I realise that some people may consider them favourites so I have added the removed videos to an archive playlist.

However, if people who post videos keep taking those videos down again, or making them unavailable to a person writing a blog in the UK, then I may find the weeding is being done for me behind the scenes.

There is also the playlist for the small number of videos I have covered that require age verification. There has been limited demand for these so I doubt I will cover many more (unless I do so by accident).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5WRzP-r5mY&list=PLoNk1vXn1i4E3Lj_4mYQlX1QvGafeFLPg&pp=gAQBiAQB

I hope that you find them restful (and that you get some great sleep).

If you liked this blog item why not subscribe to this blog

Photo by Shona Macrae