§3552. Definitions

            As used in this Chapter:

            (1) "Advertise" or "advertising" means to publish, display, or disseminate promotional information and includes but is not limited to the issuance of any card, sign, or direct mail, or in any newspaper, magazine, publication, or any announcement or display via any televised, computerized, electronic, or telephone networks, magnetic signs, or media. "Advertise" shall not include the following:

            (a) Telephone directory information including white pages, yellow pages, and any internet publication made by the phone directory company in which one is listed.

            (b) Building signs identifying the location, unless the building sign contains promotional material.

            (2) "Applicant" means an individual who applies to the board to request the initial issuance or reinstatement of any form of licensure that the board is authorized to issue according to this Chapter.

            (3) "Asynchronous distance learning" means the instructor and the students in the course all engage with the course content at different times and from different locations.

            (4) "Board" means the Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy.

            (5) "Bureau" means the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information of the office of state police within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

            (6) "Criminal history record information" means all state records of arrest, prosecution, conviction, and national records that shall include fingerprints of the applicant, biometrics, and other identifying information, if so requested.

            (7) "Department" means the Louisiana Department of Health.

            (8) "FBI" means the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States Department of Justice.

            (9) "Inactive status" means the status in which a licensed massage therapist has, pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, notified the board of intent to voluntarily cease activity as a massage therapist for a period of time not to exceed five years.

            (10) "In-person, in-class, instructor-supervised" means students physically attend class or clinical session at the approved school location with their instructor and other classmates.

            (11) "Lapsed license" means a board-issued license which has not been renewed for a period of more than two years and the holder of the license has not taken inactive status.

            (12) "Licensee" means any person or business that has a professional or establishment license issued by the board.

            (13) "Licensure" means any form of licensure that the board is authorized to issue in accordance with this Chapter.

            (14) "Massage establishment" means any place of business that offers the practice of massage therapy and where the practice of massage therapy is conducted on the premises of the business. A place of business includes any office, clinic, facility, or other location where a person or persons engage in the practice of massage therapy. The residence of a therapist or an out call location which is not owned, rented, or leased by a massage therapist or massage establishment shall not be considered a massage establishment unless the location is advertised as the therapist's or establishment's place of business. The term "massage establishment" shall not include physician offices, physical therapy facilities, chiropractic offices, or athletic training facilities, whether or not they employ, contract with, or rent to massage therapists, or institutions of secondary or higher education when massage therapy is practiced in connection with employment related to athletic teams.

            (15) "Massage therapist" means a person who engages in the practice of massage therapy for compensation.

            (16) "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, or other legal entity.

            (17) "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 of massage 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, LED 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.

            (18) "Professional Massage Therapy Association" means a statewide organization or statewide chapter of an organization which meets all of the following criteria:

            (a) Either directly, or through the parent organization, qualifies as a tax exempt nonprofit organization under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(6).

            (b) Within Louisiana, offers a voting membership to licensed massage therapists who practice or reside in Louisiana and who maintain their voting membership in good standing.

            (c) Within Louisiana, is administered by a governing body composed of officers democratically elected by the organization's voting membership within Louisiana.

            (19) "Real-time synchronous distance learning" means students attend class session virtually at the same time as the instructor and other classmates.

            (20) "Writing" means a written communication transmitted either by United States mail or by electronic means such as email.

            Acts 1992, No. 753, §2, eff. Sept. 1, 1992; Acts 2012, No. 605, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; Acts 2016, No. 645, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2021, No. 324, §2, eff. June 14, 2021; Acts 2022, No. 420, §1; Acts 2024, No. 779, §1, eff. June 21, 2024.