- Hi, welcome back everyone.
Today we're gonna be talking about scope of practice.
So the definition of scope of practice
is the activities and procedures that can be done legally
by a health practitioner.
So this has a big range
and it's everything that you can and can't do.
So it is the dos and the don'ts,
and is not just what you do but also what you say.
So I'm gonna break it down for you a little bit more.
So state requirements vary from state to state.
So it is up to you to look up your local information
for your state,
and figure out what it is that the scope of practice
is for your state.
One of the things that we can do
is client history and assessment,
which is really actually very important
'cause it's also gonna lead you
to what's indicated or contraindicated.
The things that you can do with your client.
So the history will tell you whether they've had accidents,
whether they take medication,
whether they've had a massage before.
So make sure you do a very good medical history
and a very good assessment
so that you can determine the individual treatment
that you're gonna plan for your client.
And remember, you can only make suggestions.
Another one is massage techniques.
Well, all of us learned the basics which is the Swedish.
You can do effleurage and petrissage
and tapotement and friction and gliding and vibration.
So all of those are within your scope of practice.
Remember we do soft tissue manipulation.
And what that means
is the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, the fascia,
and adipose tissue.
What it does not include is hard tissue
which hard tissue will be the bones.
That is left for the chiropractor to do.
Hydrotherapy is another thing
that's within our scope of practice.
We can do ice or heat, salt or sugar scrubs,
stones, wraps and also lotions and potions.
You can do salves, you can medicated lotions.
But also make sure that you ask your client.
I use CBD cream and I always ask my client
'cause believe it or not,
there's people that are still very skeptical.
So you always wanna respect that.
But make sure you ask them
if you're gonna put any kind of ointment or a salve
or even essential oils.
Some people have allergies and they may be allergic
to some of those.
So that is within our scope of practice.
However, make sure you run it and ask them first.
Stretching is allowed.
We can do stretching, we can do passive stretching,
active stretching.
Suggestions or recommendations are also allowed.
Remember we just recommend
and we can suggest to our clients.
Another one that's very important for me
is neuromuscular reeducation.
And what that means is where the nerve meets the muscle
and let me give you an example.
If you have somebody that comes in with adhesive capsulitis
and they can't move their arm too much.
So let's say that your client tells you,
oh, I can't really shampoo my hair anymore.
I can only raise my arm to here.
So you make that assessment
and you assess that it's only 20% that they can move it.
So then you go in and you work on it.
You do the passive range of motion,
active range of motion.
You do your effleurage, petrissage,
and you really work it out.
So now, she has a little bit more range of motion, or he.
However, the brain doesn't know that.
It remembers that it only had 20%.
So you need to retrain the brain.
That's what that means.
Neuromuscular, between the brain, the nerve and the muscle.
To train the brain that oh, you can go 30% now.
Or maybe it's only 40%.
You need to retrain the brain to be able to accept the fact
that they have a greater range of motion.
And that's very specific work
and actually, that's what I like to do.
So now I'm gonna talk about the don'ts.
The one thing that we cannot do
is go beyond our scope of practice
with modalities that we're not qualified to do.
Like chiropractor work, like physical therapy.
There's a lot of clients,
we've all had that client
that comes in and says oh, can you crack my neck.
Can you pop my neck or my back.
And the thing that I tell them is that's beyond
my scope of practice.
However, I can refer you to a chiropractor.
So make sure that you have a good list of contacts.
If you need to refer to a chiropractor
or a physical therapist or an osteopath.
Stay within your scope of practice
because it's very important for you to be able to refer out
to people that you trust,
and make the suggestion.
I even have a dermatologist that I refer to
because I've had people that come in
and have funny looking moles.
They're not asymmetrical anymore, they're changing in color,
they're growing too fast.
And a lot of times, people don't see their moles.
So if you see something like that changing,
it's important for you to let your client know like,
I suggest you go see a dermatologist.
So that's another thing that you can do.
Make suggestions, refer out.
And some of the things that you cannot do for sure
is ultrasounds, electrolysis, electrotherapy,
laser injections,
no homeopathy,
no diets,
no nutrition counseling,
no diagnosis,
no counseling,
no prescriptions, no genital contact.
So make sure that you know what's allowed in your state
but all of this are not allowed in massage therapy,
regular practice.
So hopefully these tips will help you
to understand scope of practice for a massage therapist.
The things that you can do and the things that you can't do.
Until the next time, create a good day.
(gentle music)