Mississippi Massage Licensing

Mississippi Massage Licensing is handled by the Mississippi State Board of Massage Therapy.

They define massage as:

"Massage" means touch, stroking, kneading, stretching, friction, percussion and vibration, and includes holding, positioning, causing movement of the soft tissues and applying manual touch and pressure to the body (excluding an osseous tissue manipulation or adjustment). "Therapy" means action aimed at achieving or increasing health and wellness. "Massage therapy" means the profession in which the practitioner applies massage techniques with the intent of positively affecting the health and well-being of the client, and may adjunctively (i) apply allied modalities, heat, cold, water and topical preparations not classified as prescription drugs, (ii) use hand held tools such as electric hand massagers used adjunctively to the application of hand massage or devices designed as t-bars or knobbies, and (iii) instruct self-care and stress management. "Manual" means by use of hand or body."

One of the most interesting things is this from their practice act - "Those having no formal training, but who have successfully passed the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork." But the NCETMB does have educational requirements.

Some other interesting requirements:"Keep accurate and up-to-date records regarding a client's condition before and after massage therapy session in cases of a client being treated for a specific condition. Public, sports and on-site seated massage sessions are exempt from documentation; sports massage sessions are exempt from post-event documentation;(f) Provide sensitive attention and response to client's comfort levels for pressure and touch, and shall not cause bruising with any regularity;"This seems to mean that it is required that everyone do chart notes. I also wonder how or why they put the fact that you can't cause bruising. Bruising has nothing to do with the amount of pressure but is more about the status of the clients health.

Also:"Any mobile massage shall have a previous recording of the client's name, address where the therapy is to occur, estimated time of return, and phone number (if available) in a conspicuous record." which seems to try to protect the client doing outcalls.

For more information on massage salaries, massage schools and what it is like to be a massage therapist see the Massage Career Guide -The Truth About Becoming a Massage Therapist.