The Board of Massage regulates and oversees the licensing of massage therapists in Kentucky. Only licensed massage therapists may use the words massage in their business.
Massage Licenses can be verified on their website here.
A licensed massage therapist in KY will have attended an approved massage school, taken the state licensing exam, passed a criminal background fingerprint check, and have their massage therapy license with a photo along with it.
Your massage therapy session will be for the purposes of :
(a)Maintaining health;
(b)Providing relaxation;
(c)Preserving or increasing functional capacity;
(d)Diminishing soft-tissue pain arising from stress, anxiety, adhesions, and overuses; and
(e)Providing treatment that is professionally appropriate for the client.
309.353 License required to practice massage therapy or use titles, advertisements, or signs indicating massage therapy is provided. (1) No person shall practice massage therapy or hold himself or herself out to be a massage therapist unless the person meets the educational and licensing requirements of KRS 309.358 and 309.360 and holds a valid license that has not been suspended or revoked”
According to the Law 309.350 Definitions for KRS 309.350 to 309.364.:
“Practice of massage therapy” means the application, by a massage therapist licensed by the board, of a system of structured touch, pressure, movement, and holding to the soft tissues of the human body with the intent to enhance or restore the health and well-being of the client. The practice includes the external application of water, heat, cold, lubricants, salt scrubs, or other topical preparations; use of electromechanical devices that mimic or enhance the actions of the hands; and determination of whether massage therapy is appropriate or contraindicated, or whether referral to another health care practitioner is appropriate;
There are some types of therapies that are exempt from licensing in Kentucky:
“Persons who use procedures within the scope of practice of their profession, which has established standards and ethics, provided that their services use touch, words, and directed movement to deepen awareness of existing patterns of movement in the body as well as to suggest new possibilities of movement while engaged, but who are not designated or implied to administer massage or to be massage therapists. These practices include, but are not limited to, the Feldenkrais Method
and the Trager Approach.”
As with most states, Kentucky also has specific language in their laws that make it so a license is required to practice massage therapy. LMT or Licensed Massage Therapist is the approved designation. They may also use the words “massage,” “massage therapy,” “massage therapist,” “massage practitioner,” “masseur,” or “masseuse,” or the letters “L.M.T.,” or any other words, letters, abbreviations, or insignia indicating
or implying directly or indirectly that massage therapy is provided or supplied unless massage therapy is provided by a massage therapist licensed and practicing in accordance with KRS 309.350 to 309.364.
Any person who violates KRS 309.353 shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
Board Administrator
Jessica Brown
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1360
Frankfort, Kentucky 40602
Physical Address:
500 Mero St, 2 SC 32
Frankfort, KY 40601
Office: 502-782-8808
Fax: 502-564-4818
Email: MT@ky.gov
