Sleeping With ASMR

I was reflecting that, in the world of ASMR, it is something of a miracle that anyone takes the time to read anything.

Specifically, those people using ASMR to aid in sleep are unlikely to be the type of person who is taking a leisurely stroll around the estate with the dogs followed by a slow browse through the morning papers.

No, I suspect that they are the kind of person with a hectic day, coupled with a hectic evening and a brain that whirs away throughout that time. A brain which they are then desperate to find the “switch” for so that they can turn it off on demand and get some desperately-needed sleep.

It seems incumbent upon me to take as little of the available time of such a person. On that basis, I’ll ensure these articles stay brief and I’ll remind anybody happening upon this article that the playlist, this is dedicated to producing, can be accessed, (without reading this article in its entirety) by scrolling to the last paragraph where you will find the details.

It is simply to add that I recommend you pick up the Procrastination Pen playlist on YouTube where you can watch it using the shuffle-mode available there. This ensures the presentation is random so that you are not always watching the same material in a predictable sequence. I write the articles in the order of the channel I am investigating and the playlist is populated in the order that I write the article. This produces a playlist where videos of similar content are bunched together. That might prove a bit dull to watch if you simply watch the playlist in order.

Today’s video follows the medical examination theme we have been covering for a number of articles now.

Hand overview

It is just over sixteen minutes long so a reasonable length but unlike the majority of professional videos we have seen includes no associated notes.

Comments are permitted (bravely in my view). But at least the comments reveal to me that the ASMR community is all over this already and hence this will come as no surprise to any ASMR fans out there.

A bonus point for this video is that there is none I mean zero introductory music. I wish that many other videos were the same.

The medical professional introduces himself as Curtis Robb and that he is located at the Royal Orthopaedic hospital.

Curtis is a gift to ASMR afficionados, his voice is beautifully quiet and measured. I can imagine many presenters would give a great deal to have a voice like this.

The video quality is not great at all, it makes the straight-to-tape quality of the 1980s look great. But given no one will be watching, because they are trying to get some sleep, this should not be an obstruction.

The channel is EdwardTDavis and contains just fifteen videos. It is possible that it is the same Edward Davis who also works at the Royal Orthopaedic hospital.

Fifteen is not a huge number but perhaps a little many for our overworked relaxation seeker, so I will try to limit myself to videos in which Curtis Robb appears.

(I think we will be returning to this channel in the not-too-distant future).

There appear to be four of these including the one at the start of this article. The remaining three are as follows:

Hand run through

At just two and a half minutes this is brief even for us. (I’ve known YouTube adverts that are quite a bit longer than that).

Curtis remains on good form. Although there are no obvious ASMR-related comments there is no reason to suspect that ASMR fans are not also tuning into this one.

I notice that all the videos on this channel are dated eleven years ago as at today’s date, so I wonder what happened. This could have been a great ASMR resource, this channel (had the posting of videos continued, that is).

Foot and ankle run through

This is every bit as good as the last two and the comments that relate to them relate also to this.

The “patient” is Sarah – the same patient as in the other videos.

Foot and ankle overview

this one is a bit more substantial at eleven and a half minutes. Curtis Robb is still excellent in terms of his voice. Sarah appears again as a “patient”. The location this time seems to be a lecture theatre or conference hall rather than a hospital room.

The Edward Davis playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

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

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

ASMR is now so mainstream that even the most restrained of media outlets is now featuring ASMR in their articles, but I was intrigued to come across an article in which it was being used to cure insomnia, after all isn’t that exactly what I have been trying to achieve with my little old blog here.

It is supportive to come across people struggling in the same way and coming up with vastly similar conclusions, it is feasible that I am on the correct track.

The Procrastination Pen playlist is now a great large collection with enough videos to guide you through the longest night. I even found the other night I was listening to a video that I had forgotten I had even covered in this blog.

Today’s video is a short one:

How to palpate the carpal bones in the wrist

Just over four and a half minutes. But it does not stop it being a good one for our purposes. It has a brief piece of music at the start which is a bit loud to be honest. After which the presentation is nicely measured. Not what you would call quiet though.

Fortunately, there is no background noise and the format is landscape (not that generally we will be watching so much as listening to it, of course).

As a professional video it comes with a healthy set of notes:

“17 Mar 2015

Occupational Therapist reviews how to find the carpal in the wrist. YES we know she said palpitate and meant palpate … its ALL GOOD!  Learn more here: https://www.liveconferences.com/packa…”

Clicking the URL produces no result, no surprise with a video posted that long ago.

Although comments are permitted, this one seems to have escaped the trolls and there is no obvious posting from an ASMR fan either. I can’t believe I am the first, although it would be delightful to find a new video for the ASMR community (those that read this blog in any case).

The channel is Treatment2Go ExploringHandTherapy

There are three hundred and fifty two videos in here as at today’s date, that’s rather a few to review in any one sitting.

There are zero playlists, none at all. Using the playlist as a mechanism of thinning down videos for review is therefore not going to help us here.

There also do not seem to be any videos present in the same series.

Taking a sample of the videos I found that a number of them are loud, contain distracting music, or are just not a good fit for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

There are very few remaining, including this:

Using Neurodynamics in Rehab

The notes are:

“17 Mar 2015

Physical Therapist discusses neurodynamics and treating upper limb pathology”

It is reasonably quiet, no startup music, no significant background noise. Not exactly the quietest presentation we’ve ever seen however.

Most of the remaining videos have an unpleasant (loud) startup sequence – I’m not going to start with those. Some have a very loud presentation style which is completely unsuitable for our purposes.

It looks like we have mined the resources this channel has to offer and come up with two-brief videos.

At least you only had to be a here a few short minutes, then you can get back to what you were doing. More ASMR material next time on the Procrastination Pen.

The Treatment2Go playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

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

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Manki Kim on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Exploring YouTube, as I do now several times a week, leads to many random dead ends. Let’s face it, when faced with a screen full of prospective videos, I am looking at a thumbnail of each video and making a guess as to what the video will sound like for any ASMR fans out there that are reading this blog. Which of the many videos might be relaxing for a person, like myself, seeking more sleep than they currently achieve.

I am not that successful. For every video you have seen, there are many dozens with off-putting noises, strange sequences or that my suspicious senses kick off – thinking that, in fact, they were generated by a professional ASMR artist.

Of those I have evaluated, a subset get into the Procrastination Pen playlist. Sadly after a period of listening, quite a few of those subsequently get archived because they just don’t turn out to be that appealing in the long run.

It is therefore no surprise that once a good video is located by ASMR fans on YouTube a loyal following develops. In some cases, once videos are taken down, ASMR fans recover the video and repost it on their own channel.

(Much as I applaud this from the viewpoint of video availability, it is fraught with risk – out there are some hungry copyright solicitors and they, I am certain, would love to spot infringements of copyright and gain any fees due as a consequence).

Today’s video does not permit comments. From the perspective of defraying the Internet trolls this is jolly good news. However, it does not assist me in determining if ASMR afficionados have found this one already. In most cases, I assume they have. ASMR fans are substantially faster than I am at discovering new content.

The video is this one:

Neuro exam 2

It is just shy of ten minutes, so not terrible in length in terms of a medical examination video. There are no notes, so I suspect an amateur, rather than a professionally, produced video. It starts a bit loud, and straight away we get the impression this is another of those videos produced on a course required as part of a student’s assessment.

That said, background noise is negligible, the volume is not terrible (other than the occasional clang of equipment which is normal in terms of such videos.

Sadly, it is in portrait mode. I assume because it is filmed on a mobile phone but this will not be a problem because you’ll be listening rather than watching.

My viewing was constantly interposed by adverts at an inappropriate level of volume (which seems to be YouTube’s latest thing). I have no hatred of the adverts as such, but if I’m watching a video for ASMR content, an advert some levels of volume louder than the video seems a very bad idea.

But I digress. The pace of the video is slow and the level of speaking is (mostly) quiet. The scene is in a medical room but there are no clues as to where. At intervals there are other people talking in the background which is quite common in this type of video as well.

As we have seen before participants find it hard to take the process seriously and this is also the case here with laughter on occasion (on other occasions obvious boredom).

Someone interrupts the video at one stage (also a hazard in these videos) by knocking on the door. The BBC doesn’t seem to be challenged in this way…

The channel is Anna Cason.

I’ll assume that Anna was the medical professional and given it was posted earlier this year, may well still be on the course that it is a requirement for.

The channel has fourteen videos and no playlists. That is a fair few for one blog item and it looks like the current participant is the favourite “patient” as she appears in the majority of them. So I can’t go for my much used method of only reviewing videos with the same medical professional or same “patient”.

So I’ll go through all of the videos in the channel (as at today’s date anyway). If you haven’t the time for such a lengthy post, scroll to the end and the playlist will be waiting there for you. Hop over to YouTube – click the shuffle function – lie back and drift off to sleep (well in theory at least). Please let me have any feedback (such as favourite videos you’d like including).

The next video is this one:

Peripheral vascular exam 2

I think the patient introduces herself as “Emma Hilt” but it could probably be anything as it passes in a real rush. April 16th 2002 is her DoB, not that it is relevant in checking if this is a genuine medical video.

This video is short at just under three and a half minutes. Again, there is a comforting lack of background noise. No notes, Emma (I’ll assume that is her name) yawns frequently throughout so it obviously isn’t the most compelling thing she has on that day.

There are more equipment noises – I guess quiet equipment just isn’t a priority. Either that or medical professionals are more interested in moving equipment around quickly rather than doing so quietly, which seems a sensible choice.

The next video is this one:

Bedside assessment

This is just over six and a half minutes

I think that Emma tells us that she is at nursing school (although I have no idea which one). She seems either very bored or she’s getting even less sleep than I habitually do. There are conversation noises from adjacent rooms (although it isn’t excessively loud).

There are more equipment noises but mostly a very measured examination.

Nose mouth throat exam

These videos are remarkably consistent given they are produced as part of a student assessment. This, has more laughter and, to me, a more obvious set of air conditioning noises. But at least it lacks the conversation from adjacent rooms. Emma still seems utterly bored. Perhaps she has in mind her own set of videos, yet to be filmed, for the same course.

Hearing exam

The same two participants in what is quite a short video at just over three and a half minutes. No notes and no comments. Background noise, now seems to be a companion – which is something that we are used to of course.

Eye exam

This is almost identical with the previous ones apart from noises relating to what I assume are messages arriving on a mobile phone (perhaps the one being used to do the filming). It is just over four and a half minutes in length. There are air conditioning noises, general amusement in places and utter boredom for the “patient”. It is feasible that these were all filmed at one time and that the process was just a tad wearing.

At one stage Anna forgets her medical terminology and one gets the feeling it’s all getting a bit tiresome for them.

Skin, hair, nails exam

Anna forgets which video she is supposed to be filming. Emma announces she has “KP” which I had to look up.

KP: Keratosis Pilaris painless bumps on the skins – a long term condition.

Anna again forgets where she is going and then gets very loud, perhaps to block out the conversation from an adjacent room. There is a thudding sound at one stage almost as if someone were tapping the phone that is doing the filming.

Abdominal exam

The same participants this video is just under four and three quarter minutes. Background conversation noises are there from the outset and air conditioning is really getting into its stride. Anna sounds fed up with the process already.

Emma states that she has IBS.

IBS Irritable Bowel Syndrome a lifelong condition affecting the gut which can be controlled but not cured.

Anna is again amused at intervals.

The phone is relocated part way through with associated clanging noises. Presumably equipment was kicked at the same time. Anna forgets what she is supposed to say but the approach to the examination is quiet.

It’s quite unusual to see one of these videos in which the person participating seems quite stuck. However, I don’t think this impacts the ASMR-i-ness as such.

There seems to be equipment missing (perhaps a hammer) which is reminiscent of the student who used canteen equipment to film one of these videos. Anna just uses her finger.

Peripheral vascular exam

The same participants feature again, the video is five minutes ten seconds long. If all of these videos were filmed in one session, I assume it took the two of them a very long time. Anna has problems getting through the door initially so there is a loud bang at the start. There is background conversation from an adjacent room and at stages it continues quite loudly. Air conditioning has now fully established itself and is working on becoming a session musician.

Anna forgets what she intends to say (but at least we are fully aware that she is not following notes off screen).

More message noises are heard from the phone being used to film this. There are more equipment noises and Anna is again amused by the parts that are going wrong (mainly where she forgets terminology).

Cardiac assessment

We’re in the swing of this now and all the same symptoms are in this one that were in all the previous ones. The level of background noise merely differs.

Just over five and a quarter minutes so not long. It follows the exact same theme as those we have seen previously. The start is quite stumbly as if Anna is finding her way through it. It remains quiet though apart from overheard nearby conversations and the low roar of air conditioning, which is constant.

I think Anna’s voice is actually improving as we go on and if some of those niggling additional noises were dispatched this could have been a really great video. In any case I’m intending to trial these in the Procrastination Pen playlist with the understanding that some or all may ultimately get dispatched to the archive.

Lungs and thorax assessment

This is approaching six minutes which feels long in comparison to some of the others but for the videos we commonly see is still a short video.

We’re used to the intro now as it runs through exactly the same set of sentences each time. The examination itself though differs (fortunately for us).

Anna appears to be struggling to remember some specific terminology (unclear what). There are noises of doors opening in adjacent rooms so it is feasible that other students are filming vastly similar videos for their courses in the rooms next door to this one.

Overall, though, a good video for the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

Head, Face, Neck Assessment

Here, Emma is wearing some kind of identity badge which one would hope would give us the institution involved. Sadly, it is too tiny for me to read so it remains a mystery. Just under four and a half minutes, so a short one in terms of this set and the last one in which Anna and Emma appear together.

It seems to start a bit louder than previously and the air conditioning is ever present (or I’m getting tired by now).

However, to have produced this number of videos in such a short period is quite a piece of work.

Definition:

Crepitus – noise when moving a joint

Does anyone not have this?

Neurological exam at home assessment

Anna now has a new “patient”. Michael Atkis (I think) DoB. 02-12-03 (December in case there are any US readers). This, as expected, changes the sound profile markedly as Michael has a much deeper voice than Emma.

However, he does not get to talk a great deal.

The background air conditioning now sounds like it is aiming for some kind of award and the extraneous background talking noises are now quite pronounced.

Michael tells us that we are at “college of nursing” I think – it’s hard to discern. But I cannot make out where that would be.

This is over seven minutes in length. Again, Anna is a bit tentative, apparently as she forgets some terminology.

Having seen this examination done professionally by Vicki Scott we have been a bit spoiled; I think. This one is a bit more filled with humour – especially as Anna forgets the content she needs to perform.

Musculoskeletal home assessment video

the last one in this set and this has been a rather long post for which I apologise. Anna returns with Michael. Almost identical to the previous one in terms of sound – maybe more noise from the next-door room than previously.

Just under seven minutes so only slightly different in length to the previous one. Anna laughs quite a bit in this one too.

Very loud equipment noises in this, I jumped at one stage because I was listening rather than watching the screen.

The Anna Cason playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

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

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Christian Krebel on Unsplash

Sleeping with ASMR

Eye exams seemed a rich resource after the item from Moran Core. In the drive to find more ASMR videos I have tried a number of avenues. Mostly I find that ASMR devotees are there way ahead of me, sometimes by decades.

And so here, with the first comment referring to the video being “relaxing” made seven years ago. As the saying goes: the best time to watch an ASMR video was ten years ago, the next best time is today.

The video is this one:

Eye Exam Wilmington Delaware (www.SimonEye.com)

It’s a professionally produced video and therefore there are notes: “28 Aug 2009

An explanation of what goes into an eye exam.  How is it done? What is the Doctor looking for? And what you need to be aware of. For more information, please visit Simon Eye Associates http://www.simoneye.com

At just less than ten minutes this is a staple length for us and features Dr Brian Gardener (probably misspelled) as the medical professional here.

There are several links to the organisation https://www.simoneye.com/ so that we’re in no doubt what we are talking about. Brian has a great voice. There is limited to no background noise and the approach is methodical. So far, so fantastic.

The video quality is fuzzy to hazy, not a problem if we are just listening in order to get some sleep.

The “patient” is Sean (possibly misspelled) I think women with a similar name often have this spelled as Sian so there is a strong chance it is wrong. The comments refer to Sean (I’m standardising on that spelling) featuring in other videos, if we can spot them that maybe a theme for another article.

I would say that Brian has a better voice than Sean, but neither is a terrible voice for our purposes.

The channel is Simon EyeAssociates and it only has a total of eight videos. Despite the comment, Sean only appears in one of them (on this channel in any case). However, eight videos is not a terrible number to review in a blog post, particularly as it would appear that some of them are not what we are looking for.

In no particular order, the videos are as follows:

Children’s Eye Exam (www.SimonEye.com)

The medical professional is not identified. The “patient” sounds like it might be “Elon” so I’ll stick with that. It is a little loud, but a charming presentation nonetheless. As before it has notes: “18 Mar 2014

In this video we show you exactly what’s involved in a children’s eye exam.

For more information, please visit our website: http://www.simoneye.com”.

This one has comments but not any that refer to it being used for ASMR purposes. However, I think we may have a candidate video.

It is only slightly less than five and three-quarter minutes and on balance I think this can go in the Procrastination Pen playlist. It might fall prey to a subsequent weeding but we will see.

How to Choose the Perfect Pair of Glasses for Your Face Shape

I notice that these videos fall into two distinct age groups, those posted nine years ago and those posted thirteen years ago, of which this is one of the more recent ones.

This is two and three-quarter minutes and the presentation is fine but sadly it is dotted with distracting background noises.

This one also has notes “18 Mar 2014

In this video we show you the various glasses that look good on different faces. Judy will take you through and show you exactly what you need to know in order to choose the perfect pair of glasses.

For more information, please visit our website: http://www.simoneye.com

There are some comments about the client “Lauren” but nothing about it being an ASMR video. There is another client, Patti. There are no comments at all about Patti. The next client could be LaSandra (almost certainly misspelled). There are no comments about LaSandra either.

In any case the background noises ensure it does not belong in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

How to Insert and Remove Contact Lenses (www.SimonEye.com)

The medical professional self-identifies as Carey (almost certainly misspelled), a contact lens tech.

As before there are notes: “18 Mar 2014

In this video we show you how to correctly insert and take out your contact lenses.

For more information, please visit our website: http://www.simoneye.com

It’s just shy of four minutes so not a huge length video, but sadly in the background random noises as before. It is as if it was filmed in a backroom of an active shop or similar. Carey has a good voice, but the background noises mean that this one will not get into the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Delaware Optometrist | Simon Eye Associates (www.SimonEye.com)

Oh no! The fear of any ASMR video watcher, funky background music. Urrgh. It could be an advertising video. I’ll skip right over this one then.

Dry Eye Syndrome – Delaware Eye Doctor (www.SimonEye.com)

This is just shy of ten minutes so a more substantial video again. Featuring Dr Tessa Payne (probably misspelled). Dr Payne (or other common variants of that spelling) does not seem to be on the current doctors list so apologies Dr Payne if I got that wrong.

Dr Payne has a great voice but yet again the video is polluted with conversations going on in the background. In places this rises above merely a hubbub and disqualifies this one from becoming a favourite one for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Optometrist Wilmington, Delaware (www.SimonEye.com)

This starts with music again – usually a warning sign. It is a narrated video and the narrator has a good voice. However, this stacks up as another advertising video (which is of some length for such a video at over seven minutes). The music fails to abate despite continued watching. I do not think this one is for us.

Simon Eye Associates – Wilmington, Delaware – Eye Exams, Contact Lenses, LASIK (www.SimonEye.com)

More music, and at just over half a minute not much time to get away from that music. There is background noise and it stacks up as an advertising video (again). So, another one I will not be including.

Eye Exam Wilmington Delaware (www.SimonEye.com)

Of course, this is where we came in

So just a couple this time, the SimonEye playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

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

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

If you’re struggling for some rest and night time just brings nightmares, this is the place to stumble upon in your internet browsing. Each blog post brings you a new restful video usually drawn from YouTube. The aim is to create a great long playlist of restful videos so you can lie there being lulled off to sleep.

The playlist is regularly reviewed and the less-great videos in it archived off so that it remains a useful resource for the sleep deprived. A number of the people appearing have voices that are so good you may find proper ASMR effects from the videos (but as these seem to differ between people, only you will know if you get them).

I always put the playlist at the end of each blog entry so you can just scroll to there and pick it up if you’re short of time.

For regular readers you might remember the article from which the term “sandwich breath” originates. This is a term exchanged between ASMR devotees to check if you are suitably in the know about ASMR material. There are a few such terms and, thus far, I have only got to the bottom of very few.

In that article we encountered Dr James Kelly and the blog item focused on his voice. However, the “patient” was Pat LaFontaine, who I had never heard of up to that point in time. Readers of that item (or more especially those who watched the video) may have noticed that Pat too had a very good voice for our purposes, in that it is measured in delivery and not excessively loud.

And so, we come to today’s video:

NHL Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine Shares His Story

This is another professionally produced video and hence comes with notes:

“3 Feb 2012

Hear hockey great Pat LaFontaine recount the steps he took during his recovery after several brain injuries forced him into retirement

Watch more clips of Pat LaFontaine –    • Pat LaFontaine & …  .

For more information about brain injury and PTSD, please visit us at https://www.brainline.org.”

The previous blog item was also from this channel and so it is turning out to be quite the resource.

Today’s video is just less than half an hour so reasonably substantial in terms of the videos we look at habitually. It is lovely to be reacquainted with Pat’s voice. It is like meeting an old friend.

I decided that we would not just follow the brainline channel again. I have mined it heavily and there are no further Pat La Fontaine videos in there to be had. Plus the video is such a good one that it would be a hard act to follow.

However, to show how famous the Dr James Kelly Pat La Fontaine video is, I discovered that parodies of it are now being made. This one is just a piece of fun and is in no sense going into the playlist.

The Pat LaFontaine Cranial Nerve Test Except It’s Jeremy and Hannah [ASMR Parody]

It shows how established the ASMR category of videos is that there are so many people dedicated to watching such videos. In some cases it looks like they spend a considerable amount of time in this activity, otherwise how would so many new ASMR videos continue to be made.

The Brainline playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

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

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

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

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

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

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

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

According to a guide I was reading recently, in order to be successful in the cut and thrust world of blog posts this really should be entitled “Ten ways to the sleep you’re hoping for” or similar. Apparently, I should have researched my audience so that I know I’m targeting a fifty-year-old non-smoker living in West Wales with her five cats and a small moped called Nigel.

As you can tell, I have not done that.

So if by some miraculous twist of fate you have happened across this blog post, welcome. I hope that you enjoy and if you feel so disposed tell all of your ASMR-loving friends. If you are living with multiple cats and a moped, or if you are not.

Today we are looking at a video from an establishment that even I have heard of. I am hopeful that it’s expertise also churns out medical professionals with a gentle deliberate manner and calm attentive voices.

Percussion of the Chest (Stanford Medicine 25)

It begins with a funky tune which, sadly has become the norm for such videos. However, the medical professional’s voice is actually quite good. This is quite obviously an instruction video but lacks the elevated volume and strident delivery of many such videos.

The “patient” is Geoff (or possibly Jeff). As usual for such videos some of the comments are not particularly relevant or even complimentary. I am beginning to prefer the videos where commentary is denied altogether.

A search around the Internet reveals that this is Dr. Abraham Verghese who even has his own Wikipedia entry and website.

(I wonder if it is feasible to create a Wikipedia entry for yourself, that could be quite fun).

This is not as great as Dr James Gill but is a worthy addition to the playlist, I think. The video is part of a playlist

In which there are only two videos. The second of which is

Stigmata of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Stanford Medicine 25)

(The same patient, the same medical professional, the same institution).

Again, with the funky music, which, thankfully is soon over. This is equally as good as the last one.

Sadly, it is also quite brief.

So, a brief playlist today but it would seem that we need to follow up with Dr Verghese in the future as he may be a great source of future ASMR videos. Look out for future posts of this type. The Stanford Medicine playlist is here:

The Procrastination Pen overall playlist is here:

I continue to harry this list with demands for ASMR perfection and so at intervals one or more videos drop from this list to the “playlist of Hades” (I mean the Procrastination Pen Archive list):

I keep them here in case I have demoted one of your favourites and you make a reasoned argument why I should restore it to Heaven’s glory (I mean the overall playlist.)

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 have a restful sleep listening to the playlist. If you do why not subscribe to the blog (even I don’t know what is coming up next and it would be a shame to miss it wouldn’t it).

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

Having a bad day at work? Just want it to be over? Despair that you’ll ever chill enough to actually get any real sleep tonight? Welcome to The Procrastination Pen. Here the finest in inadvertent ASMR material is reviewed at intervals. Even better there is an ever-growing playlist of curated items for your delectation. And if after all that you’re still plotting ways to murder the boss in an undetectable fashion, at least you’ll get to listen to a relaxing video whilst you are doing it.

Today we have a video from a channel dedicated to health. Nothing could be more medical than that I am thinking and therefore any ASMR effects must be purely down to chance. So far so much the aim of this sequence of blog posts.

The Lung and Thorax Exam

The notes are helpful, which we often do not find: “Jessica Nishikawa demonstrates some of the techniques of the Lung and Thorax assessment.”.

We know who the professional is before we start. Comments are turned off which is a breath of fresh air after some of the nasty stuff that you sometimes see.

We start with Jessica Nishikawa DNP, FNP-BC. DNP appears to be Doctor of Nursing Practice. FNP-BC is Family Nurse Practitioner – Board Certification

Unless you follow nursing, you, like I, may not have been aware these qualifications existed.

Suffice to say a highly qualified person then, but this is not why we are here.

The background hiss which we have heard often before is present here as well. Initially I thought I was going to exclude this video from the Procrastination Pen playlist, but it soon settles down to be less obtrusive than in some of the videos I have reviewed of late.

The “patient” is McConnaugh (probably nothing like the spelling). A quick search of YouTube determines that McConnaugh appears elsewhere such that he might crop up in a future blog post.

At intervals Jessica looks off video to her right. I’m not sure if there is a person there or if she has notes about what she wishes to cover. However, you’re likely to be listening rather than watching, so it is unlikely to affect you.

This is moderately good – no Hollie Berry but still worthy of a place in the playlist I think.

The channel BilderbackHealth surprisingly has only eight videos (including the above one), so we can comfortably cover this off in one blog post.

The majority of the videos feature Jessica – there’s a couple that look like they are not going to be on theme including one on Log Cabins so it might be that six is the total we’re going to be looking at today.

The HEENT Exam Video.mov

The “patient” is Miley (the spelling may well be incorrect).

HEENT head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat.

Sclera the white of the eye.

It is great to have a medical video from a medical facility (not someone’s front room) and for the noise of air conditioning to be absent. Having got used to background noises of late, it is fantastic what a difference silence makes. I may be weeding some of the more air condition-y (new technical term) videos from the playlist going forwards.

The presentation is lovely and quiet. Positively gentle at intervals.

Definitely a Procrastination Pen playlist member I think

The Cardio Vascular / Peripheral Vascular Exam Video.mov

McConnaugh is the “patient” again

JVP – Jugular venous pressure – used to diagnose types of heart and lung disease.

Thrill – a vibration felt whilst palpating a blood vessel.

This remains consistent with the first video we looked at.

The Abdominal Exam Video.mov

Miley returns as the “patient”.

I’m not sure if this is bias but the videos featuring Miley sound to me moderately more-gentle than those featuring McConnaugh. In any case this one is consistent with the HEENT video featured previously.

The Neurological Exam

Connie is the “patient” here – somebody new. Interesting that cranial nerve one is generally not tested and yet how many of these videos have we seen in which people test coffee or even alcohol to verify that this nerve is functional (its function is for smell perception).

This is a bit more of an instructive tone than the ones that have gone before. However, it is probably indicative of the consistency of this set of videos that I even bring this up. Usually in a group of videos that I review we are lucky to have one or possibly two videos included in the playlist. In this case we very likely will include the majority of them. We have not seen that since Dr James Gill.

The Musculo Skeletal Exam

Chris is the patient this time (I’m a bit more comfortable with that spelling)

The best demonstration of abduction and adduction I’ve seen so far.

I’ve watched a number of these and have just realised that Jessica does her nursing in a set of high-heeled shoes, I have pity for her poor feet and respect for her endurance standing on her feet all day in those shoes.

Anyway, this will probably be the last time I actually watch the video (listening being the more usual approach) so this will be of no concern to me (and likely to you either).

I love the pronunciation of buttocks probably the first time I have heard it pronounced that way.

Another video the equal of the ones we have seen in this post previously.

It’s worth noting that Jessica has her own channel, which given the nature of these videos is very likely going to be the subject of an upcoming blog post.

Hand Hygiene

The guitar music is good, but in other respects this is just not the quality of those that have gone before. This is not going to be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

It also goes all funky subsequently which is just not conducive to great relaxation. (Entertaining though I’m sure it is).

Outside Log Cabins 1.16.21 with Jamie O’Brien and friends

Funky music from the outset, charming images but that isn’t why we are here. This is a poor fit for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

In general, an excellent set of videos and the largest consistent set of videos for the Procrastination Pen playlist we have seen in a while. This gives me more ammunition for ongoing weeding activity to perfect that playlist.

The Bilderback Health 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 Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

We came across Michael Koller in a previous blog post.

At the time I pointed out that he had a page dedicated to videos i.e. this one.

So far I have not tried reviewing videos which have been linked to from a web page. This is a venture into the unknown. It is not possible to add them into a playlist so this entire blog post will buck the trend of all previous blog posts on ASMR and ASMR-related videos.

The organisation of the page is impeccable, a series of links in a table. I’d guess that they are designed for education purposes.

The first video is:

Head to Toe: Male; Dr Michael Koller

There is a link to the main video entitled “Complete Video”. The video has also been divided into four parts (I’m not sure what the point of that is).

There is also a link called “Text”, this turns out to be a fourteen-page checklist. Students have a much greater memory than I have if they can memorise and utilise all of that.

The “Complete Video” link is to this video

the quality doesn’t seem to be great and it duplicates one that we’ve already seen on YouTube so not really worthy of additional review

The “part” videos are as follows:

The quality doesn’t improve just because they are a component of the main video above. These are also quite loud for what we want.

If the tone was a bit quieter, then these might have been ideal.

I was considering asking Dr Michael Koller if he would permit me to upload the videos to YouTube so that they could be enjoyed in the normal way. However sadly he has died so I am unable to do that. As such I cannot upload them to YouTube and therefore, I cannot add them to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

I very much suspect that this is a lost branch of a website which will one day be rediscovered by the Stritch school of medicine and taken down.

For that reason, if you want to see the videos, now is probably the time to do that.

Head to Toe: Female; Dr Michael Koller

For these the only videos available are the Part1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 videos rather than a complete video.

Parts 1, 2 and 3 are secured by a Stritch logon leaving only part 4 for us to see. There is no associated text file as there is for the Head-to-Toe Male video. The reason is not obvious.

This video is much better than any of the Head-to-Toe Male videos in that it is substantially quieter. If this video was on YouTube, it would be in the playlist. I suspect that one cannot just take other people’s videos and upload them to YouTube so I’m sorry for ASMR video fans out there who would like this to be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Head and Neck; Dr Michael Koller

In contrast to the above this video does not come in parts -only the complete video is available. In addition, the above video does not have a “Text” link but for this video a link to the text file is provided.

The text file is four pages long and is again a checklist to go with the video.

At least the music used to start this is gentle, a bit of classic guitar music. Dr Koller introduces Nancy Grecko (assuming that is how you spell that).

The sound for the video is not great – a constant background noise. It is as if the sound track had been lifted from an ancient cassette tape. We have heard background noise like this before.

Given the track is not on YouTube it will not be in a playlist, however I may have considered it if it had been.

I have made an email request to a general contact address at Stritch to see if permission will be granted for me to upload these videos to YouTube. Assuming permission is granted I will upload the videos to my channel in the future and create a playlist as I would normally do. If no such list appears you can assume no such permission was given.

At intervals there are brief snatches of narration which do not have the background noise and this is distracting in that the noise is only emphasised as a consequence.

Thorax; Dr Michael Koller

There is an associated text file, which is again a four-page checklist. There is a bit of a theme developing.

This time there is a complete video

and two “part” videos

The complete video has funky start music (thanks but no thanks). The background noise is still there but just less pronounced than with the “Head and Neck” Video.

Dr Koller refers to “IPM1” in the intro this now seems to redirect to “Patient Centred Medicine 1”. I’m not clear what the Original Acronym was for although it does still form part of the URL in some cases like here: https://www.stritch.luc.edu/lumen/meded/ipm/ipm1/geninfo.htm

Dr Koller refers to this being a composite video composed of videos that are found elsewhere – my apologies if you notice some overlap (I have not done so).

This is a reasonable video. It is not truly quiet, but it could be said to be quite calm and methodical, not as good as Dr James Gill however.

Part way through, though, Dr Koller starts whacking a tambour which cannot be said to be properly restful.

The outro indicates the “patient” was Thad, assuming that is how you spell that.

A review of the “part” videos indicates that, as expected, they replicate the content of the complete video.

Pulmonary; Dr Michael Koller

Having established with reasonable assurance what the expected behaviour is i.e., the “part” videos are just bits of the complete video, I’m going to limit myself to reviewing the complete video in each case.

In this case there is a text file as before, as expected it is a checklist – this time three pages long. I think we’ve probably satisfied our curiosity about the checklists now and we can cease to review them. The complete video is here http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F6FD6842-E2D0-46EF-8A56-1CF6D17BE36F

The two “part” videos are http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=DEA8DD0B-6C75-4FF9-B53C-8784425AA7FF and http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=75C0B723-E226-43DC-BEB4-B04050DD47D5

We are back to the classical guitar music approach to video introductions although it seems to be a bit louder than before, the inter-video volume problem reasserting itself

Dr Koller and Thad appear again. (Apologies to Thad if I am misspelling your name, happy to correct this if you let me know).

The sound is strange like there is a slight metallic tone to the voice (as if the microphone was inside a metal box). Thankfully we lack that awful background noise in this video though.

There is a set of breathing sounds on the track but (to me) these were not excessively loud and did not distract from the track in anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Again, we see the definition of egophony which we have seen before.

Heart; Dr Michael Koller

The obligatory text file (which I think we can assume now is a checklist) and the complete video supplemented with 2 “part” videos.

Complete: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=A04A60F2-B7F4-46B1-9512-3075A42A99E2

Part 1: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=04E8B771-92D5-405F-97CA-796A9295DAEF

Part 2: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=128F2A83-7ECB-43E2-8F33-32DA6F6C3F36

The complete video starts with the classical guitar music again (a bit loud this time). This video still features Dr Koller and Thad. Again, we have a slightly metallic edge to the sound.

This is very much of the quality of the previous video.

Atrial fibrillation – an irregular heartbeat.

Mediastinum an area between the lungs

Epigastrium upper central region of the abdomen

Towards the end there are various heart beat sounds but I did not find then distracting. You may have a different reaction.

Abdomen; Dr Michael Koller

This video begins with far-too-loud start music, no restful guitar music this time. It has the metallic sounding vocal track, Dr Koller and Thad as we have heard in previous videos. This really needs a better microphone, I think. If it wasn’t for this aggravating metallic echo I think this would have been quite a good video.

Complete: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=36FFE14E-6DDE-4186-93F5-17E239D611DB

Part 1: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=9A6B1293-A7AC-4BE1-B5F0-882773806144

Part 2: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=32693A4A-A3E7-4EA1-B2E7-53B8AD91DA63

Part 3: http://stritch.luc.edu/templates/videojump.cfm?hd=1&ID=F1A2F47E-302F-4A18-AC24-45C935050300

This is the last Dr Michael Koller video on the site. However, there are a lot more videos with other participants.

I’ll return here in a future blog post to review the others assuming the page stays up.

Sadly, I have not created a playlist this time (I may get permission to create one in the future from Stritch perhaps).

The overall playlist of videos covered so far in this blog is here:

The archive playlist (videos which were in the overall playlist but after repeated playings it turns out that was a mistake) is here:

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 them restful

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

Until next time.

Photo by FOYN on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

If you’ve been following the blog for a while, I am hopeful that you have quite a lot of material to make your night hours more restful.

I’m still continuing with the medical examination theme because it appears to have been an effective one. However, I realise that having a playlist of ASMR videos that stays focused on the same subject might be dull, so I am open to new ideas. Indeed, I may explore a few side avenues independently.

If you’re new to the blog well, welcome. The idea is that I keep finding new videos that may have some ASMR effects. So far, predominantly videos which were not created for their ASMR effects but were devised for another purpose. This has mostly been videos covering some variety of medical examination.

These unintentional ASMR videos may produce ASMR effects (assuming you are a person who is lucky enough to feel such effects) or they may just be restful enough to gentle you off to sleep. Either way I hope that they are of use to you and I am open to suggestions if there is other material which you have found effective.

Today we are exploring more material in terms of eye examination. We have covered this area before with Moran Core where we encountered Megan, who had a very good ASMR voice (but got somewhat limited air time).

Today’s video is this one:

HEINE Direct Ophthalmoscopy — How to perform Ophthalmoscopy

This is very different in that it is an out-and-out instruction video. It is distinguished for our purposes in that the narrator has an excellent voice. It is a very calming voice and unlike material we have recently seen it is not afflicted by horrendous background noise.

This strikes me as a great one to keep in the playlist for this blog (if you want to see that playlist scroll to the end of this article).

As is usual for articles in this blog, when I find one video which has potential ASMR effects I take a chance to explore the channel in which it is found.

Here we have the channel HEINE Optotechnik. This channel has one hundred and twelve videos as at the date I’m looking at it. Even with superman fingers I do not think I will be doing a blog post on that many videos.

The standard approach I have adopted in these circumstances is to look for a playlist. I have assumed up to ten videos is enough without you losing the will to live.

There are twenty playlists in this channel with contents ranging from four to seventeen videos.

Our video (above) appears in a playlist entitled How-To: Opthalmology (indeed, it is the last video in that playlist).

The other two are:

HEINE Indirect Ophthalmoscopy — The Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope (Part 1)

This has exactly the same narrator as our first video. Looking at the comments it appears that there are none at all from the ASMR community (well they have not made themselves known in any case). It is possibly not a popular category with them.

I think however that this is a relaxing video – not a Dr James Gill standard but good enough for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The notes inform us that the narrator is a Mr Brian Little, sadly that is not a rare enough name for me to determine whether he has narrated any other material which might be of interest to us.

The next (and last from this playlist) video is this:

HEINE Indirect Ophthalmoscopy — The Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope (Part 2)

There are over four thousand subscribers, so this is no passing fancy of a channel. It is very likely a channel to which I will return in future blog items.

This is unusual for an item on this blog, in that all of the videos reviewed deserve membership in the Procrastination Pen playlist of ASMR videos.

The playlist for HEINE is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far in this blog is here:

The archive playlist (videos which were in the overall playlist but after repeated playings it turns out that was a mistake) is here:

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 them restful

If you liked this article 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