Exceptions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Professions and Businesses
  4. Massage Therapy Practice
  5. General Provisions
  6. Exceptions

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  1. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect, restrict, or prevent the practice, services, or activities of:
    1. A person licensed, registered, or certified under any other chapter or article under Title 43 while engaged in the professional or trade practices properly conducted under authority of such other licensing laws, provided that such person shall not use the title of massage therapist;
    2. A person pursuing a course of study leading to a degree or certificate as a massage therapist in a board recognized massage therapy educational program if such person is designated by title indicating student status and is fulfilling uncompensated work experiences required for the attainment of the degree or certificate;
    3. A nonresident person rendering massage therapy up to 60 days during a 12 month period for treatment of a temporary sojourner only, provided that such nonresident massage therapist holds a license, registration, or certification from another state, jurisdiction, or country if the requirements as determined by the board for licensure, registration, or certification are substantially equal to the requirements contained in this chapter or provided that such nonresident massage therapist is currently nationally certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork;
    4. A person duly licensed, registered, or certified in another jurisdiction, state, territory, or a foreign country when incidentally in this state to provide service as part of an emergency response team working in conjunction with disaster relief officials or as part of a charity event with which he or she comes into the state;
    5. A person who restricts his or her practice to the manipulation of the soft tissue of the human body to hands, feet, or ears who does not have the client disrobe and does not hold himself or herself out as a massage therapist;
    6. A person who uses 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 within the scope of practice of a profession with established standards and ethics, provided that his or her services are not designated or implied to be massage or massage therapy;
    7. A person who uses touch and movement education to effect change in the structure of the body while engaged in the practice of structural integration, provided that he or she is a member of, or whose training would qualify for membership in, the International Association of Structural Integrators and provided that his or her services are not designated or implied to be massage or massage therapy;
    8. A person who uses touch to affect the energy systems, polarity, acupoints, or Qi meridians, also known as channels of energy, of the human body while engaged within the scope of practice of a profession with established standards and ethics, provided that his or her services are not designated or implied to be massage or massage therapy;
    9. A person who was engaged in massage therapy practice prior to July 1, 2005; provided, however, that the prohibition of subsection (c) of Code Section 43-24A-15 shall apply to such a person on and after July 1, 2007; or
    10. A person licensed under other chapters of this title providing cupping therapy or taping techniques that are authorized within the scope of practice of such person.
  2. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a licensed massage therapist from practicing any of the modalities described in paragraphs (5) through (8) of subsection (a) of this Code section.

(Code 1981, §43-24A-19, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 1251, § 1/SB 110; Ga. L. 2019, p. 591, § 1/HB 242.)

The 2019 amendment, effective May 6, 2019, designated the existing provisions of this Code section as subsection (a); substituted "a board recognized massage therapy educational program" for "an educational program recognized by the board," in the middle of paragraph (a)(2); inserted ", registration, or certification" in the middle of paragraph (a)(3); deleted "or" at the end of paragraph (a)(8); in paragraph (a)(9), inserted "that" in the proviso, and substituted "; or" for a period at the end; added paragraph (a)(10); and added subsection (b).


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