Massage therapists in Louisiana must attend and complete a massage school program, pass a test and pass background checks. Each licensed massage therapist in Louisiana must carry an LMT-ID card at all times. You can ask them to show it to you at any time. Only a Licensed massage therapist can use the words: Massage, Bodywork or any derivative of the word massage on any form of advertising and all advertising must include the license number of the therapist or establishment. §3564. Regulation of advertising. Your massage therapist in Louisiana will inform you of the benefits of massage along with contraindications for massage and help you choose the best course of your massage session. Each massage therapist must comply with a code of Ethics created by the Board of Massage. Chapter 9. Code of Ethics §901. Code of Ethics (PDF). Each LMT is also screened with a criminal background check before they are eligible for their massage license. The Louisiana Board of massage has provided a free license search engine to verify massage licenses.
No person shall engage in the practice of massage therapy without a current license issued pursuant to this Chapter unless such person is exempt under the provisions of this Chapter. Businesses need to apply for an establishment license and can only hire licensed massage therapists. Sexually oriented businesses are NOT allowed to practice massage or operate as a massage establishment. Louisiana defines “sexually oriented business” means a sex parlor, massage parlor, nude studio, modeling studio, love parlor, adult bookstore, adult movie theater, adult video arcade, adult motel, or other commercial enterprise which has as its primary business the offering of a service or the sale, rent, or exhibit of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer.
Massage therapy is defined in the CHAPTER 57. MASSAGE THERAPISTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS (PDF)
§3551. Short title This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Louisiana Massage Therapists and Massage Establishments Act”. Acts 1992, No. 753, §2, eff. Sept. 1, 1992. as:
“Practice of massage therapy” means the manipulation of soft tissue for the purpose of maintaining good health and establishing and maintaining good physical condition. The practice of massage therapy shall include advertising or offering to engage in the practice ofmassage therapy and holding oneself out or designating oneself to the public as a massage therapist or massage establishment. The practice of massage therapy shall include effleurage (stroking), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (percussion), compression, vibration, friction (active/passive range of motion), stretching activities as they pertain to massage therapy, Shiatsu, acupressure, reflexology, trigger point massage, and Swedish massage either by hand, forearm, elbow, foot, or with mechanical appliances for the purpose of body massage. Massage therapy may include the use of lubricants such as salts, powders, liquids, creams with the exception of prescriptive or medicinal creams, heat lamps, hot and cold stones, whirlpool, hot and cold packs, salt glow, body wraps, steam cabinet baths, and, with appropriate training, the use of nonprescriptive, off-the-shelf commercially available electromechanical devices for which they are trained which mimic or enhance the actions possible by the hands. It shall not include ultrasound, laser therapy, microwave, colonic therapy, injection therapy, manipulation of the joints, the use of electrical muscle stimulation, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation except microcurrent. Equivalent terms for massage therapy are massage, therapeutic massage, massage technology, body work, or any derivation of those terms. As used in this Chapter, the terms “therapy” and “therapeutic” shall not include diagnosis, the treatment of illness or disease, or any service or procedure for which a license to practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, or podiatry is required by law.
Right on the homepage of the Louisiana Board of Massage they offer this information:
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Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy
2645 O’Neal Lane, Bldg. C, Ste. E,
Baton Rouge, LA 70816;
225.756.3488; admin@labmt.org
