CurrentLMT, Massage therapist
Massage therapist
What it is
Commonly works on
- Soft-tissue pain
- Recovery
- Stress and relaxation
Typical settings
- Private practice
- Spas
- Clinics alongside other providers
- Sport
Massage is among the oldest ways people have tried to relieve pain, practiced across Eastern and Western cultures. Massage therapy manipulates the body's soft tissues to help manage a health condition or support wellness. Swedish or classical massage is the core of most training programs in Western countries, alongside sports massage, clinical massage for specific goals, and traditions such as shiatsu and tuina.
Use has grown: federal survey data show that 10.9 percent of US adults used massage therapy in 2022, more than double the 4.8 percent of 2002. The research on massage for pain is mixed; evaluations for low back, neck and shoulder pain generally find short-term benefit on low-quality evidence.
Massage laws generally define the work by what it excludes. Pennsylvania's rule, for example, says massage therapy does not include diagnosing or treating disease or medical procedures.
Regulation varies more than for any other profession on this site. By our state-by-state check, 46 jurisdictions license massage therapists, Vermont requires registration, California offers voluntary statewide certification through a private council, and Kansas, Minnesota and Wyoming have no statewide license, leaving any rules to cities and counties. Most regulated states use the MBLEx, the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards' entry-level examination.
Sources
A general description of the profession. It does not say what you may do under your license; for that, see the scope statuses below and your state board.
How it is regulated
State license
A license from a state board is what authorizes practice. Each state sets its own requirements, and a national exam, where there is one, is a step toward the license rather than a substitute for it. There is no national license.
- LMT
- State license
- Around 6–12 months of training, depending on the state's hour requirement
Licensure
State-licensed, in most but not all jurisdictions. Massage is the credential here where 'where do you intend to practice' most changes the answer to every other question.
Scope at a glance
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws generally exclude spinal adjustment and thrust manipulation.
- Varies by stateMassage laws center on soft tissue: some, such as Maryland's and Nevada's, exclude any joint mobilization, while others exclude only thrust techniques and allow range-of-motion or stretching work. Range of motion is not the same as graded joint mobilization, so whether that is allowed depends on your state board.
- Within scopeMassage laws generally allow hand-held tools that mimic or enhance the hands, and some states, such as Maryland, require added training before using scraping tools.
- Within scopeCupping is generally within massage therapy where laws or boards address it, though some forms are excluded; New York's board, for example, places fire and wet cupping outside massage.
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws generally limit practice to external soft-tissue work, so dry needling is not part of massage therapy.
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws generally bar diagnosis, and none we read allow massage therapists to order imaging.
- Not typicalMassage laws generally do not include prescribing therapeutic exercise, and Idaho, Montana and Pennsylvania expressly exclude it; some states allow stretching or self-care advice as part of massage.
- Not typicalPrescribing or supervising exercise, including blood flow restriction training, is generally not part of massage therapy.
- Not typicalAssessing a concussion or clearing an athlete to return is not part of massage therapy, though anyone may report warning signs and seek medical help.
- Varies by stateMassage therapy laws rarely mention elastic taping; Mississippi's board treats it as an add-on method, so whether you may use it depends on your state board.
- Varies by stateMassage laws differ: Arkansas counts electric stimulation as massage therapy, Ohio allows it only on a written referral, and Oklahoma and Pennsylvania exclude it. Laws that only mention electrical devices used to give a massage do not clearly cover therapeutic stimulation, so check with your state board.
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws generally exclude therapeutic ultrasound (Oklahoma bars it, and Pennsylvania excludes it as a prescription device); the exceptions we found, in Ohio and Arkansas, allow it only on a written referral or a physician's prescription.
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws define massage as soft-tissue work and do not include vestibular rehabilitation or repositioning maneuvers.
- Varies by stateMany massage laws include hydrotherapy and bodywork, which may cover hands-on work in water such as Watsu, but they generally do not extend to therapeutic exercise programs and some exclude therapeutic exercise outright, so whether any aquatic work fits depends on the state.
- Within scopeManual work on muscle, fascia and other soft tissue is the core of massage therapy as state laws define it, and those laws often exempt other licensed professionals working within their own scope.
- Not typicalMassage laws that mention traction exclude it, as Idaho and Montana do, and none we read include it; gentle stretching within normal range is treated separately.
- Not typicalMassage therapy laws we read leave laser and light therapy outside massage practice; Alabama's rules exclude laser therapy by name.
- Not typicalMassage laws limit devices to those that mimic the hands or exclude medically classified devices and sound-based modalities, so shockwave therapy is not typically within massage practice.
- Not typicalDiagnostic ultrasound is outside massage therapy: massage laws exclude diagnosis, and some expressly exclude ultrasound devices.
- Not typicalSigning return-to-play clearance is not part of massage therapy; no youth concussion law we read names massage therapists, and massage laws exclude diagnosis.
- Within scopeClients see massage therapists without a referral; massage laws ask the therapist to judge whether massage is advisable and to refer elsewhere when it is not, though a few states require a referral for specific modalities.
- Varies by stateMassage itself is hands-on and cannot be delivered remotely; where a state's telehealth law covers massage therapists, as Arizona's does, remote work is limited to consultation or self-care instruction.
- Not typicalMassage laws exclude dispensing, applying or prescribing pharmaceutical agents.
- Not typicalMassage laws exclude diagnosis and medical procedures, which leaves ordering laboratory tests outside massage practice.
Bodies and guidance
Bodies
- FSMTBFederation of state boardsFederation of State Massage Therapy BoardsThe federation of state massage boards; runs the MBLEx.
- AMTAProfessional associationAmerican Massage Therapy AssociationA national professional association for massage therapists.
- NCBTMBCertifying bodyNational Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & BodyworkOffers Board Certification for massage therapists, a voluntary credential beyond state licensure, and approves continuing education providers.
- COMTAProgram accreditorCommission on Massage Therapy AccreditationA specialized accreditor of massage therapy, bodywork and esthetics education programs and institutions.
- IMpactInterstate licensure compactInterstate Massage CompactA cooperative agreement among states that lets licensed massage therapists practice in all member states with one multistate license.
- ABMPProfessional associationAssociated Bodywork & Massage ProfessionalsA membership association for massage and bodywork professionals, students and educators, offering liability insurance and continuing education.
Guidance
Overlap with other professions
How to become a massage therapist
- Step 1
Complete a state-approved training program
- Step 2
Pass the licensing examination
- Step 3
Apply for the state license
Where to get licensed
Each step in full, with the board for every state and the compacts that apply.
Get licensed as a massage therapistCareer path
Education routes, settings and how the profession is changing.