Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Division 30 - Cosmetology Section › Rule 007.30.18-001 - Amendment to Rules & Regulations for Massage Therapy in Arkansas

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Article One
Authority
The following Rules and Regulations for Massage Therapy in
				Arkansas are duly adopted and promulgated by the Arkansas Board of Health
				pursuant to the authority expressly conferred by the laws of the State of
				Arkansas including, without limitation, the Massage Therapy Act, specifically
				Ark. Code Ann. §
									17-86-203(a).
Article Two
Principles, Methods and Definitions
Terms found in
Arkansas Code
§
									17-86-102
				are descriptive rather than limiting, and massage therapy includes those
				techniques which are utilized in all phases of massage and bodywork for the
				purposes of relaxation, stress reduction, pain relief, injury prevention,
				injury repair, postural improvement and/or health enhancement.
1.
Assist
is defined as acting
			 as an aide to a master massage therapist or massage therapy
			 instructor.
2.
Board
refers to the Arkansas State Board of Health.
3.
Continuing Education
is
			 defined as education that is acquired after an individual has graduated and
			 become licensed as a massage therapist.
4.
Cupping Therapy
for massage
			 is defined as a modality used to release rigid soft tissues, through the
			 application of a non-heated device that creates suction to lift the tissue away
			 from the body.
5.
Department
refers to the Arkansas Department of Health.
6.
Direct supervision
is
			 defined as being in the physical presence of a licensed master massage
			 therapist or massage therapy instructor.
7.
Guest Instructor
is defined
			 as a qualified speaker or presenter who does not teach more than sixteen (16)
			 clock hours in a school curriculum.
8.
Licensee
means an individual
			 licensed under the Massage Therapy Act and these Rules and
			 Regulations.
9.
(A)
"Massage therapist"
means a
			 person who has:1
(i) Earned a diploma from a Board-accepted
			 school of massage therapy;
(ii)
			 Passed an examination required or accepted by the Board; and
(iii) Become licensed and registered to
			 practice massage therapy,
(B) "Massage therapist" includes a person who
			 has previously obtained the massage therapist license under prior state
			 law.
(C) A massage therapist may:
(i) Instruct continuing education programs
			 approved by the Department of Health; and
(ii) Assist in the instruction of the
			 procedures listed in the definition of Massage Therapy under the direct
			 supervision of a massage therapy instructor or master massage
			 therapist.
10.
(A)
"Massage therapy"
means the treatment of soft tissues, which may
			 include skin, fascia, and muscles and their dysfunctions for therapeutic
			 purposes of establishing and maintaining good physical condition, comfort, and
			 relief of pain.
(B) "Massage
			 therapy" is a health care service that includes gliding, kneading, percussion,
			 compression, vibration, friction, nerve strokes, and stretching the
			 tissue.
(C) "Massage therapy" also
			 means to engage in the practice of any of the following procedures:
(i) Massage therapy techniques and
			 procedures, either hands-on or with mechanical devices;
(ii) Therapeutic application and use of oils,
			 herbal or chemical preparations, lubricants, nonprescription creams, lotions,
			 scrubs, powders, and other spa services;
(iii) Therapeutic application of hot or cold
			 packs;
(iv) Hydrotherapy
			 techniques, which means the use of water in any form for therapeutic purposes
			 and includes methods of full and partial immersion baths, whirlpools, sponging,
			 sprays, body shampoos, body scrubs, body wraps, fomentations, compresses,
			 poultices, packs, masks, steam treatments, and sauna treatments.
(v) Heliotherapy, which may include
			 mechanical devices, heat lamps, and other devices;
(a) Heliotherapy means the use of light for
			 therapeutic purposes and may consist of the use of infrared radiation lamps and
			 devices and the various uses of other light that might be approved by the
			 Department.
(vi)
			 Electrotherapy; which means the use of electrical devices for therapeutic
			 purposes and may consist of the use of mechanical vibrators, electric
			 stimulation, direct and alternating currents, interferential currents, micro
			 currents, and Russian stimulation. Therapists must demonstrate training in the
			 use of electrical devices other than simple mechanical vibrators and present
			 qualifications acceptable to the Department before using such
			 devices.
(vii) Any hands-on
			 bodywork techniques and procedures rising to the level of the techniques and
			 procedures intended to be regulated under this chapter and not covered under
			 specific licensing laws of other boards;
D. The following are not included in the
			 scope of massage therapy practice:
(i)
			 Colonic irrigation and other methods of internal hydrotherapy;
(ii) Depilation, waxing, extractions, and
			 electrolysis;
(iii) Practices
			 involving the use of ultrasound, unless the therapist can present educational
			 qualifications acceptable to the Department and a licensed physician prescribes
			 the treatment;
11.
"Massage therapy clinic"
means a clinic, place, premises, building, or part of a building in
			 which a branch or any combination of branches of massage therapy or the
			 occupation of a massage therapist is practiced;
12.
(A)
"Massage therapy instructor"
means a person who:
(i) Before July 1, 2010, has completed no
			 less than two hundred fifty (250) hours of practical experience as a master
			 massage therapist, which may be gained, in part or in whole, as an assistant to
			 an instructor in a massage school or may be gained, in part or in whole, as a
			 directed instructor in a massage school and has completed no less than two
			 hundred fifty (250) continuing education hours as approved by the
			 Department;
(ii) On or after July
			 1, 2010, has been an active and practicing licensee and registered as a master
			 massage therapist for a period of not less than three (3) years preceding the
			 application for an upgrade to massage therapy instructor;
(iii) On or after July 1, 2010, in addition
			 to the experience under subdivision (6)(A)(i) of this section, has completed no
			 less than two hundred fifty (250) continuing education hours as approved by the
			 Department as a licensed master massage therapist; and
(iv) ls determined by the Department to be
			 qualified to be licensed and registered to practice massage therapy.
(B) "Massage therapy instructor"
			 includes a person who has previously obtained the massage therapy instructor
			 license under prior state law.
(C)
			 Massage therapy instructors may:
(i) Instruct
			 continuing education programs approved by the Department;
(ii) Instruct any of the procedures in
			 subdivision (5) of this section; and
(iii) Instruct basic curricula in a massage
			 therapy school registered by the department as required by
§
												17-86-306(e)
;
13.
Massage Therapy School
means a registered and licensed facility that meets and follows the
			 required educational standards as established by §
									17-86-306
			 and all pertinent rules established by the State Board of Health.
14.
Massage Therapy Spa
means a
			 site or premises, or portion of a site or premises, in which a massage
			 therapist practices massage;
15.
(A)
Master massage therapist
means a person who:
(i) Before July 1,
			 2010, is a licensed and registered massage therapist who has completed no fewer
			 than two hundred fifty (250) hours of practical experience as a massage
			 therapist, which may be gained in part or in whole as an assistant to an
			 instructor in a massage school and has completed no less than one hundred
			 twenty-five (125) continuing education hours as approved by the Department of
			 Health;
(ii) On or after July 1,
			 2010, has been an active and practicing licensee and registered as a massage
			 therapist for a period of not less than two (2) years preceding the application
			 for an upgrade to master massage therapist;
(iii) On or after July 1, 2010, in addition
			 to the experience under subdivision (14)(A)(i) of this section, has completed
			 no less than one hundred twenty-five (125) continuing education hours as
			 approved by the Department of Health; and
(iv) Is determined by the Department of
			 Health to be qualified to be licensed and registered to practice massage
			 therapy.
(B) "Master
			 massage therapist" includes a person who has previously obtained the master
			 massage therapist license under a prior state law.
(C) Master massage therapists may:
(i) Instruct continuing education programs
			 approved by the Department of Health;
(ii) Instruct any of the procedures listed in
			 the definition of massage therapy in this section; and
(iii) Instruct, as directed by a massage
			 therapy instructor, basic curricula in a massage therapy school registered by
			 the Department of Health as required by
§ 17-86-3Q
			 6fe)
;
16.
Postsecondary Massage Therapy
			 School
means a massage therapy school that offers a postsecondary
			 curriculum approved by the State Board of Health and whose enrollment is made
			 up of only students with a high school diploma or its
			 equivalent.1
1 The Definition of Postsecondary
				Massage Therapy Schools complies with 34 C.F.R. 600 and is required to ensure
				continued Title VI funding for Postsecondary Massage Therapy Schools in
				Arkansas.
17.
Sexual
			 misconduct
includes:
(A) A range of
			 behavior used to obtain sexual gratification against another's will, at the
			 expense of another, without the client's knowledge, engaging in sexual activity
			 for profit, or a combination of any of these activities;
(B) Massage of the genitalia, anus, and,
			 except under specific circumstances, the breast; and
(C) Sexual activity with consent of a client
			 or at the request of a client