Sleeping With ASMR

Long term readers are now very familiar with the way this works. Each week I seek out a YouTube video that might have some ASMR “triggers”. Usually, I choose ASMR videos that were not designed for ASMR effects but that is in no sense a golden rule. So far, I have found that medical videos contain many of the desired elements; quiet, gentleness, paced, and methodical. I have found great voices from men and women. I have also found a many loud ones.

If I find a video that is suitable, I add it into the Procrastination Pen playlist and I look for further great ASMR videos on the same channel where the first one was located.

Some channels contain many videos in which case I select a single playlist from the channel, videos with the same participants, or some other characteristic to narrow the selection.

Where the set of videos has been consistently good, I may in the future return to the same channel looking for more.

The Procrastination Pen playlist unfiltered would grow like Topsy (and indeed it has grown). However, I continue to listen to that playlist – daily in fact – and if I find one of the videos is more irritating than was first hoped I dispatch it to the archive list.

In this way the Procrastination Pen playlist keeps being honed. The result should be a playlist of a consistent quality that any listener would like to hear whenever they are in need of relaxation and/or sleep (whether they enjoy ASMR effects or not).

This week’s video remains on the medical theme and from the title sounds a bit uncomfortable.

HEENT ear pain

This time the video has notes associated with it: “8 Nov 2018

Nicki FNP student health assessment HEENT Ear Pain”

But at least they are not the encyclopaedic notes we have seen associated with some professional videos.

Rather bravely comments are permitted but fortunately there are few of these – we have seen some nasty comments in the past.

We have defined HEENT before of course, but, just in case there was an international emergency that kept you from reading this vitally important blog on that day, here it is again:

HEENT a HEENT (head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat) exam.

Nicki is the medical professional, she does tell us her surname which sounds to me like Myer. That maybe incorrect and even if correct maybe misspelled. At the time of filming, she was a Nurse Practitioner Student.

It turns out that it is Meyer. Additionally, although Nicki is in fact Nicki, she is also Adrianne. It looks like Nicki may have been studying at the Research College of Nursing at the time this was videod. The Research College of Nursing is in Kansas City Missouri.

Of course, it has its own YouTube channel with fifty two videos and sixty nine subscribers, but these are not high numbers in terms of university YouTube channels we have previously seen.

As expected, this channel is more about promoting the college than any medical procedures which might be interesting for ASMR purposes.

Onto Nicki’s video which is under eleven and a half minutes. It’s not huge in terms of videos that we have previously seen (and reviewed).

Initially there is a spoken introduction which is not loud, there is no oppressive background noise and a complete absence of equipment noises. There is no funky start up music so all in all the kind of introduction we look for in a relaxing video.

The tone is low-key and quiet. The initial interview with the twenty-six-year-old “patient” continues at a relaxed pace and this has the feel of a very professional approach to a standard student assessment video.

Nicki (or Adrianne) has a good voice for our purposes with good intonation and a measured delivery.

There is the occasional clunk which distracts slightly.

Nicki appears to have become Simspon (I thought Simpson but that really is the spelling) and went on to work in St Louis.

From our purposes it is a shame that she did not produce a great many more videos. The channel is Adrianne Meyer and it has only four videos and eighty-three subscribers.

Given there are just four, I think we can go review them all.

The ear pain video has proven well worthy of inclusion in the Procrastination Pen playlist so I have high hopes for the remainder.

The next video is this one:

FNP Asmt Musculoskeletal Module 4 Nicki & Melissa

The video includes notes “28 Sept 2018

Nicki and Melissa Shoulder pain eval FNP” as before it also includes comments (although, thankfully, there are few of these).

It starts without music and has a nicely muted introduction. There is limited background noise. However, at intervals there seem to be noises which are either traffic or distant aircraft. It is slightly less than twelve minutes so not substantially longer than the first one in this article.

At intervals it could get a bit monotonous. I’m not going to dismiss it from the Procrastination Pen Playlist on this basis but it might be subject to subsequent review.

Definitions:

FNP Family Nurse Practitioner

ASMT American Society of Medical Technologists

Nicki Neuro Assessment Lab

Notes as before “18 Sept 2018

Neuro Assessment with differential diagnosis”

As before a spoken introduction which is similar. There is a twenty-five-year-old “patient” called Molly. This time there are ASMR comments including some less than helpful ones, which indicates, as expected, that ASMR fans are all over this channel.

It is lovely and calm and deliberate in approach, nothing is rushed or stressed about it.

At thirteen and a half minutes it is the longest so far. Despite this, I think it will be a good candidate for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Nicki M. -Basic Head to Toe Proficiency

The last video of the set and the longest at just over eighteen and a quarter minutes. As before there are notes although, this time, they are a bit cryptic: “23 Aug 2018

Assmt. FNP Fall 2018”

There are no comments, although comments are permitted. Whether this is a good sign…

This time the background noise seems a bit more intrusive. The patient is Steven or possibly Stephen Simpson. There’s a strange coincidence there in that Adrianne or “Nicki” seems to have become Mrs Simpson some way further along the line. Of course, that could be an entirely different Mr Simpson. This is making the assumption the name change is due to marriage of course.

Again, the delivery is nicely level and not excessively loud. The attention is gentle. The approach is deliberate and methodical there is nothing rushed about this. There are occasional moments of hesitation but given this appears to be an assessment video that is expected (a lot is probably riding on it).

I see no reason not to put all four of the videos this week into the Procrastination Pen playlist. Of course, I review that list every day so the odd one may get weeded in the future if it turns out not to stand up to protracted review.

The Nicki Meyer 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 loud 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

Welcome reader, I hope that you enjoy this week’s item. You may well be aware how this blog works but, just in case, here is a bit of background.

Each week I am trying to add to a (what is now quite long) playlist on YouTube. Some time ago, I discovered that I was one of the lucky people who could feel ASMR effects. I also found that I wasn’t alone.

I also discovered that ASMR can help when you’re suffering with sleeplessness. I also found that a number of people suffer with sleeplessness.

If you are not one of the people who are blessed to feel ASMR, then I am hopeful that the fact I seek out YouTube videos which are quiet and restful will be helpful even so. If you lie awake at night, subscribing to the Procrastination Pen playlist on YouTube might be one of the things that you can use for relief.

I seek out videos that are not designed for ASMR (mostly medical videos). I review them for their efficacy and add them to the playlist if they are up to a standard. I then continue reviewing them, by listening to that playlist, night after night. Those that prove to be less effective I weed out to the archive list.

In this way I hope to ensure that the quality of the Procrastination Pen playlist remains high. (Although I am always happy to receive feedback).

This week, a blog item which is a legacy from my previous work in finding medical examination videos. Initially I came across the channel MDforAll when attempting to cover the feedback “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. The channel has sixty-seven videos but sadly no playlists. Most of the videos are very short indeed at a minute or less.

Without a playlist it is hard to narrow these down in any meaningful way. However, on scanning them I found that by far the majority are in lecture mode. i.e. the person is speaking quite loudly. After a reasonable sampling, I’ve decided to reject any of the shorter videos as they are designed for instruction and there are few (if any) relaxing moments in them.

Of the remaining set, I tried narrowing to a blog post where only one medical professional is involved and found two featuring the same person.

This is the first one:

Pediatrics-Toddler

To start with (in common with other videos on this channel) it is a bit shouty. However, once the medical professional starts interacting with the young person that starts to settle down.

There are no comments and no notes. It is hard to know if any ASMR people have sought this one out already. Although given that ASMR fans seem to be natural video hunters, it is highly likely. The video quality is on the obscure side of fuzzy, such that determining where and when it was filmed is difficult. Although, given the presentation, probably a while before the 2010 posting date.

The child concerned is “Zack” who is probably an adult now and none too pleased that this video of him as a child still exists.

At one point, the video zooms in and we can see that the badge on the uniform of the medical professional refers to the Midwestern University Physician Assistant Program.

This still exists and runs from somewhere called “the Downers Grove Campus”.

Midwestern (of course) has its own channel.

Three hundred and fifteen videos at the date I’m looking at it and twenty-four playlists but none of them seem to be exactly on the same subject as this first video.

There is a possibility that something ASMR-y (official term now) may be found there and if so, it will appear on a future blog post.

The video has at intervals a pronounced background buzz to it which may indicate either its age or the state of technology of recording when it was filmed (videod).

The second video, and the last by the same medical professional on this channel, is this one:

Pediatrics-School Age

As before it starts rather loud, the medical professional appears more used to projecting their voice to an entire classroom. The child concerned is “Jeffrey” (probably misspelled) who is somewhat older than “Zack” above.

Again, there are no notes and no comments so it is going to be hard to identify who the medical professional is. If anyone knows do get in touch and I will list the details in an updated blog post.

The MDforAll 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 Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

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

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

Dr. Simmons – Exam

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

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

Modus Five is the channel.

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

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

Victor Mouth Piece

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

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

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

Dr Simmons – Oral Appliance Therapy

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

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

Sleep Apnoea

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

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

Dr. John Roesler – Performing a Nasal Exam

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

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

Dr. Michael Simmons – Taking Dental Impression

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

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

Dr. Michael Simmons – Sleep Disorders

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

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

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

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

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

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

That playlist is here:

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel @theprocrastinationpensite

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

I hope that you find it restful.

If you liked this why not follow this blog.

Photo by Lydia Torrey on Unsplash