Tag: Background Noise

Sleeping With ASMR

Reassuring for part time bloggers, such as myself, is the understanding that fitting in a bit of blog creation in a rush between other things is not supposed, necessarily, to lessen the quality of the output. (Well, the proof will be in blog items I have created of late, as the time to create them is definitely sandwiched between other demands). You will be the judge and feel free to feedback.

The playlist continues to grow in size and I continue to get more picky about the items in it. Such that the archive list of former members also continues to grow.

However, I have noticed a problem with YouTube. For example, yesterday I was watching the playlist and a set of adverts kicked in, there were a lot of them. After a few minutes the video started and them immediately another set of adverts kicked in. This then continued, I retried over the course of the next few hours with the same result. Of course, this is not conducive to sleep. I could not in all conscience recommend a set of videos if I knew this was going to be the experience.

I am hopeful this was an error on the part of YouTube and not some new revenue generation idea. If it turns out to be permanent, I will shut down the blog as I will not be watching YouTube any longer. I am now some months ahead with generated blog articles so we will see if by the time I get this one released, things have improved (or at least returned to how they were).

Shoulder Examination

This one has notes, now the established marker of a professionally created video:

“31 Jan 2021 RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the shoulder.  It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

There is also a title page:

“McMaster MSK Examination Series, Shoulder Examination, RheumTutor.com, Raj Carmona, MBBS, FRCPC, Rheumatologist, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada”

So quite a lot to work with. The url is still current: https://www.rheumtutor.com/.

A page lists out the videos that can be seen (helpfully it appears these are all available on YouTube https://www.rheumtutor.com/msk-examination/videos/.

McMaster University of course has its own webpage https://www.mcmaster.ca/, the available programmes seem to feature health and medicine strongly https://future.mcmaster.ca/programs/.

And of course, the university has its own YouTube channel with 1.2K videos as at today’s date. Rather too many for any single review but perhaps a channel for a future visit.

Raj appears to be an associate professor at the university and has been at McMaster nearly fourteen years.

This video at just over seventeen and a half minutes is a decent length for a medical examination video.

Raj has a nice calm voice but the video is rather marred by continuous background noise of the variety we are used to enduring in these kinds of videos.

Helpfully the “patient” here is also identified as Dr Kim Legault MD FRCPC Rheumatology Fellow McMaster University.

As an educational video it seems (to the uninitiated) to be useful. The comments seem to reinforce this view. From our perspective it seems to also be a useful video for relaxing off to sleep.

The video is jam-packed with medical terminology. There is far too much for the odd definition to be helpful. (Although this would be my usual style). If you are watching, some definitions come up on screen, but I’m expecting that you’ll be listening so these will not be of much assistance.

I suggest for this one that you let the terminology wash over you but let me know if you find it frustrating. I always review the Procrastination Pen playlist and this could in the future find itself in the dreaded Procrastination Pen archive list i.e. those videos which do not stand up to long term examination.

Although the video shows as posted to YouTube in 2021, the tail page of the video indicates created in 2011 so it was already old by that time.

Not unexpectedly the channel is RheumTutor, thirty videos and six playlists. The choices are narrowed by the fact that a number of the playlists concern giving injections, which I am not certain would be a restful subject for some readers. The video we first looked at occurs in a playlist called RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This consists of seven videos of which this first one is video number six.

Ankle and Foot Exam – McMaster MSK Examination Series

At nearly twenty-three minutes in length this is another chunky video.

Again it has notes: “10 Nov 2019  RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the ankle and foot. It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

The title page is similar to the one we saw for the first video reviewed in this post.

The sound is consistent with that first video. Here the “patient” is not identified, possibly because we only see the foot which has been helpfully decorated to indicate some of the internal structures. I would guess the “patient” is male but given there is only one foot to go on that could be way off.

Later in the same video the credit goes to Dr Andrew Duncan MD, Internal Medicine Resident McMaster University. He appears to be the owner of the foot. Andrew appears to have been at McMaster until 2014.

The tail page of the video indicates it was recorded in 2012 which would fit with this time period. Some of the conditions described are a little off-putting to be honest, I think that this is too much for real restfulness. This will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Back Examination – McMaster MSK Examination Series

Notes again: “10 Nov 2019  RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the back. It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

This is just as with the previous videos in terms of approach, voice, presenter, location, noises, structure. This one credits Brendan Flowers MSc Clinical Clerk McMaster University it looks like Brendan attended in 2012 which fits with the filming of the video.

Elbow Examination – McMaster MSK Examination Series

If you have seen one of these videos, then you are going to be at home with the look-feel of the rest. Same layout, same voice, same background noise. If you liked the first one this is a breeze, but not so great if you did not like it.

Again there are notes:

“10 Nov 2019 RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the elbow. It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

The format of this will by now also be familiar. The tail page of the video indicates it was filmed in 2012 and it was posted to YouTube in 2019.

The “patient” is credited again this time Dr Arthur Lau MD FRCPC Theumatology Fellow McMaster University. Arthur seems to have been there from 2011 to date so one would imagine a true asset.

It is just over thirteen and a half minutes so a bit shorter than the last one.

The great thing about professional videos is the lack of surprises. The last thing you want when trying to fall asleep is to find that someone thought a brass band backtrack was fantastic in this video whereas the previous two did not include it. The downside is that if you do not like the style it is very unlikely you will find a video in the series that is any different.

For example, thus far the patients do not get a lot of contribution so if this bothers you this particular series is just not for you. I accept feedback if you want to indicate your displeasure about it.

Hip Examination: McMaster MSK Examination Series

Notes: “10 Nov 2019 RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the hip. It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

Almost exactly as before.

A return of Dr Kim Legault (who we saw in the first video). By comparison with the other videos a real short one at just over twelve and a half minutes. This one is filmed in 2011 so possibly the earliest one we have seen thus far.

Knee Exam – McMaster MSK Examination Series

notes: “11 Nov 2019 RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the knee.  It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

Dr Kim Legault is turning into a bit of a favourite it seems as she appears again in this one. This one is just less than fifteen and a half minutes.

The video is consistent with all those we have so far seen (quite an achievement). It is filmed in 2011 so as for the previous video.

Shoulder Examination

This is where we came in.

Hand and Wrist Examination

The final video in this playlist

It starts in a different way. No shot of a seated Dr Carmona in this one. It is quite long for this series at nearly twenty-one and a half minutes.

Back to Brendan Flowers. It was filmed in 2012 and posted to YouTube in 2021.

There are notes: “3 Feb 2021 RheumTutor MSK Examination Videos

This video was created by Dr. Raj Carmona.  It is a step-by-step instructional video for examination of the hand and wrist.  It is designed for medical students, residents and rheumatology fellows, but would also be beneficial to general practitioners and allied health professionals.”

The breakdown of the video is not as structured as in the previous videos – perhaps the style was evolving at this stage. But presentation in all other respects seems the same.

In summary this is no Dr James Gill but I think all of them deserve a place in the Procrastination Pen playlist. (Assuming YouTube stop deluging me with adverts I’ll keep reviewing that list for less deserving videos.

The RheumTutor 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 this 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 krakenimages 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