Head to Toe – Page 3 – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

Recently I have noticed that the videos available in The Procrastination Pen playlist have started to reduce. I haven’t commenced any new weeding activity so the videos have not been jettisoned into the Procrastination Pen archive playlist. Nonetheless the number of videos is going down.

Looking at the Procrastination Pen playlist, I find that ten unavailable videos are hidden at the current moment. It is tempting to conclude that because an extra spotlight has been shone on them by The Procrastination Pen blog, people have rushed to hide them from view. More realistically, I think this is the natural process of attrition. Two of the videos are now showing as marked private and eight have been deleted.

It would appear there is a race on to getting the material listed on this blog before the featured video disappears.

It would be great to create an archive of ASMR videos so that they would be permanently available. However, I am no legal expert and I suspect that there maybe a whole argument about original ownership of videos, permissions, fees and so on. The upshot is that unless the blog keeps on rolling forwards, the playlist is going to continue to diminish in terms of the number of videos it contains.

It also means that you need to get listening to the featured videos soon after I publish the blog article, as videos are obviously being removed and you may be left with a small subset of those featured.

Another undesirable outcome is that some of the blog items are going to have blank spaces where videos used to be. I can’t see how to avoid that, other than to keep deleting old blog items. That may, ultimately, be the approach that I have to take.

I’ll keep rolling forwards with articles, unless it becomes obvious that simply by documenting videos in this blog causes the videos to be removed. In which case, the blog will have become a Jonah of ASMR and I will desist with it. (However, given the statistics on this blog I think that is unlikely and extremely unlucky if it turns out to be the case.)

And so, to today’s video:

The Full Neurological Examination

This begins with the kind of funky music that we have become used to. How much nicer it is when we find a video that does not employ music. This one is narrated and the narrator has a good voice. Immediately it seems that we are in safe hands.

Definition:

Romberg’s test – a test of balance involving a person standing with feet together and eyes closed.

The voice of the medical professional, which we hear briefly at intervals, is also a good voice and better still there is little background noise.

Just examining the comments, reveals that a number of other listeners have discovered its relaxing effects.

The channel is UCL Clinical Skills which as at today’s date includes thirty-nine videos. That is quite a few to document in one blog post (and I’m sure that you’re in a hurry to get to the Procrastination Pen playlist).

There are no playlists on this channel, so the habitual mechanism of thinning down the number of videos to a size that can be readily dealt with in one post by focusing on a playlist on the channel is not going to work.

The backup method is to look for videos where the same medical professional is involved or the same patient.

In this case, there is more than one video involving the same patient. I’ll focus on just those videos this time.

Abdominal examination (basic for Y1 & Y2 students).

There is more funky start up music (oh dear) and a different narrator. The sound quality is not so great but no less relaxing. There is now evidence of background noise on some of the narration tracks.

There is also a variability in volume which is undesirable when listening and trying to get to sleep.

However, it is still a good one to include in The Procrastination Pen playlist, I think.

Neurological sensory examination of the lower limb (basic for Y1 & 2 students).

Here we have the same narrator as in the last video and the same start up music. It would be great to edit that startup music out.

The volume of the narrator seems to be lower which will make inter-video volume an issue if you are listening to the playlist. The background noise in the examination parts of the video seems a bit higher. There are hardly any comments, so it is possible that this is not getting as much ASMR listening time as the previous videos (let’s hope The Procrastination Pen can change that).

Neurological motor examination of the lower limbs (basic for Year 1 & 2 students).

The self-same intro and narrator. The narrator used in the first video (who had a better voice) has obviously packed his bags and headed for the beach which is a shame for us but probably great for him.

Definition

Clonus a rhythmic stretch reflex.

An introduction to examining the cardiovascular system; Y1 & Y2

We’re now well used to the start-up music. The narration sound quality is not that amazing on this video. It sounds like the narrator is at some distance from the microphone (or the microphone hails from 1958).

Definition:

Peripheral cyanosis: extremities having a blue colour.

An Introduction to the Abdominal Examination – Y1 and Y2

We are ringing the changes with the narrator here although not with the introductory music. It would be delightful if that music would just go for a walk somewhere rather than play at the start of a relaxing video. The narrator’s voice is really too deep in this video to be properly relaxing and comes as a bit of a shock after what has gone before.

However, it is not sufficiently off-putting to deny it membership of the Procrastination Pen playlist. (Although it may be weeded out in the future).

Fortunately, the delivery is well paced and spaced. Which soon allows relaxation to return, although this isn’t a top ASMR candidate by any means.

Definition

Epigastrium upper area of the abdomen.

Cardiovascular Examination

We’re back to the peppy music. This time the narrator sets off as if she has to speak to an auditorium, loud and a bit clipped. Perhaps that auditorium is full of misbehaving children.

It is not a relaxing presentation.

Although we have the same patient it is not as chilled as previous videos in this set. I do not think that it can sneak into The Procrastination Pen playlist.

This set of videos must be excellent for instruction, I’ve seen a few medical examination videos now but I am still learning a great deal by watching. However, that is not the purpose of this set of blog posts.

Abdominal Examination

We’re back to the deep voice we heard in “An Introduction to the Abdominal Examination – Y1 and Y2” above. It isn’t marvellous ASMR-wise however not enough to discount it from the Procrastination Pen playlist. It might be dropped on future review though.

Definitions

Glossitis

Inflammation of the tongue

GALS Screen (Gait Arms Legs Spine) examination – real time

There is no narration on this one which is actually rather refreshing. The medical professional is relatively quiet. In fact, this is a great video for ASMR purposes. His tone is good and his approach methodical, everything that we have been looking for thus far.

Some of the videos do repeat some of the material from previous videos in the same series. I am assuming that this will not be too off-putting of you follow my advice to play the playlist on shuffle so that you do not just get them one after the other.

That’s it for now.

However, the channel has been good for us so I intend to return here to look at some of the other videos it contains.

The UCL Clinical Skills playlist on The Procrastination Pen is here:

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

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 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

The first thing that strikes me about today’s video is the very quiet start. What a change to some of the canned music that usual precedes videos on YouTube. There is also the absence of oppressive air conditioning noises that plague so many of these.

The patient “Natalie” (possibly misspelled) announces that she was born 10/15/98 and the medical professional states “so you’re 20”. 10/15/98 is 15/10/1998 (UK Format i.e. October). We can assume that this is filmed 2018 which given it was posted four years ago seems to indicate that it was filmed and posted around the same time.

Head to Toe Health Assessment

The patient states that she attends Colby Sawyer college https://colby-sawyer.edu/ which is a school of nursing and so potentially where this video was filmed. Colby Sawyer, as expected, has its own YouTube channel with one hundred and thirty-eight videos, four hundred and one subscribers and three playlists. A brief check seems to indicate that sporting videos are quite important on this channel but, probably unsurprisingly, these turn out not to be videos suitable for a blog about ASMR.

For today’s video the channel is Marissa Nance and consists of this one video and no playlists.

I’ll make the assumption that this was for an assessment in that year and I’ll assume the medical professional here was Marissa.

It remains wonderfully calm and, judging by the comments, I am not the only one to think so. Many ASMR fans have checked this one out previously. Although sadly, the negative not to say nasty, comments are here as we have seen in the past.

This one is distinguished in that both Natalie and Marissa have calm voices, that is a rare (if not unique so far) find.

It seems over rather too soon, given there are no alarming noises throughout the entire video (something we have not always been able to say).

So that’s it, just the one for you today but I am certain more will be coming very soon. The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

(and now it includes the Marissa video).

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

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

a) this blog

b) this subject.

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

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

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

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

The video is:

Head to Toe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The channel is Keisha CoxKelly.

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

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

NG Tube

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOLEY Cath insertion/removal

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

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

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

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

Insulin Mixing

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

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

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

Wound Care

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

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

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

IM and SQ injections

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

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

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

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

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

IV administration

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

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

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

The playlist for Keisha is here:

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

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

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Till next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae