Surf's Up!-Surf's up this month of April with the announcement of our Spring Break photo contest. Please send your favorite Spring break photo by regular mail or e-mail to webmaster@airtanbeachstore.com. The one voted the most original and cheerful will receive a choice of one garment from the Swimwear or the Athletic wear collection. Deadline for photo submission will be June 15th, 05. The winner will appear in the 4th of July newsletter issue.
We are also evaluating this month the e-book "All Star Trainers Secrets to Maximum Fat Loss and Muscle Gain in 30 Days". 12 of the Top fitness Trainers each give their specific workout routines for fat loss and muscle gain, that produce visible results in 30 days. The Routines given are their favorites that gave their clients results and come from their personal experience in the field. After this time period, fitness routines could be followed to maintain results and nutritional recipies are given for support. A volunteer that wanted to get the e-book anyway and has had regular medical check-ups will choose one of the favorite routines from the reading and follow it for 30 days to the letter and let us know the results. Measurements will be taken before and after the time frame. It sounds like a fun project and maybe this will motivate most of us to take the plunge into working out a bit more. Once the e-book is completely read we will announce the 30 day starting date for the challenge.

Fashion-Sunglasse's are always of special interest during Spring & Summer season. A lot of money does not have to spent on eye-wear, however make sure that it has some degree of UV-Ray protection. Professional optical establishments and some specialty shops now offer better choices and may even assist with proper fitting. Smaller square frames are still very popular this season. Comfort, style and looks are important, however frames that are overly small will not offer sufficient bright sunlight protection. Do clean your sunglasses periodically to avoid facial skin irritation or breakouts, and store in a special eyeglass case. Most sunglasses made in the US will have sun protection UV factor labeled and included in the lenses.

Nature & Technology-What exactly is "Manual Lymphatic Drainage"? And, how did interest in the importance of the lymphatic system got started? In 1932-36, Dr. Emil Vodder a Danish massage therapist, and doctor in philosophy discovered that certain rhythmic (by hand) massage manipulations helped relieve fluid congestion in the body tissues. In particular, when the movements were done towards the lymph nodes located in the major folding areas of the body such as the groin (inguinal region), axilla (armpit), stomach and the neck. The lymph nodes act as a filtering system when the lymphatic vessels bring here lymph fluid that contains body excess fluids, bacteria, cellular debris, viruses, and other waste products from the interstitial spaces of the body. This process also stimulates the lymph nodes to produce lymphocytes and monocytes which help fight infection in the body and also helps to improve the immune system response. Here is a picture of an actual inguinal lymph node (groin area lymph node).

Nodes are covered by a dense connective tissue, the capsule. These densifications extend into the nodes and are called trabeculae. Lymph nodes usually have the shape of a bean(kidney-shape), but may have other shapes that are different such as being round, oval or oblong. We can count from 400 up to 1,000 nodes in the human body with more than half in the abdomen area. They act as filtration and purification stations during the movement of lymph. The production of lymphocytes is increased greatly as lymph passes through the nodes. T-lymphocytes according to research by Dr. Chickly, stays about 30 minutes in the blood circulation, about 5 to 6 hours in the spleen and 20 hours in the lymphatic system. Note that the lymphatic system does not have a pump for circulation as that by the role of the heart in the circulatory system. It depends on smooth skeletal muscle contraction and the by the diaphragm during respiration. The initial lymphatic vessels are open ended so as interstitial fluids around the cells enters then the fluid is called lymph. Gentle movements open lymphatic vessels while harder or deep movements closes them. This is the reason why assisted lymph movement on the surface of the skin is done gently with pressure close to that of a "weight of a nickel" and not any more. Movements are normally done by open hands in the medical profession and with soft exfoliating type gloves and body brushes by other health and skin care professionals. Our specially designed lymphatic body brush system includes both to include other special tools and laminated lymph pattern directions. The gloves are excellent for anyone with limited body movement, elderly parents or clients on weight programs that temporarily have extra weight around body folds. Body brushing is excellent for stimulating the lymphatic system, exfoliating the skin and balancing the energy meridians of the body. This contributes to an over-all feeling of well-being and preventive personal health maintainance.