Scope of Practice, Definitions, and Prohibited Conduct
This domain tests whether you can place any task on the correct side of the license line. ORS chapter 687 is the Massage Practice Act; the Board's implementing rules sit in OAR chapter 334. The statute draws the boundaries, the rules supply operational detail, and the exam likes questions where a plausible-sounding service is actually outside scope.
Core definitions
- Massage: the systematic manipulation of soft tissue - stroking, kneading, friction, percussion, vibration, compression, stretching - for therapeutic purposes.
- Practice of massage: not just table work. It includes intake and health history, assessment within scope, treatment planning, draping, documentation, and client education.
- Massage therapist / LMT: a person licensed under ORS 687. Only licensees may use those titles or imply licensure.
Scope boundaries
You may not diagnose disease, prescribe or dispense drugs, perform spinal manipulation or adjustments, practice physical therapy or chiropractic, or hold yourself out as a physician. Massage addresses soft tissue, circulation, relaxation, and function; it does not cure disease. When findings suggest pathology, you refer - scope limits create referral duties, not just prohibitions.
Prohibited conduct
Practicing without a license or on a lapsed license; helping an unlicensed person practice; false or misleading advertising; practicing while impaired; sexual conduct with clients; breaching confidentiality; falsifying records; failing to cooperate with a Board investigation.
Worked example
A client reports radiating arm pain and numbness in two fingers with no known cause. You do not tell them they have a pinched nerve or a disc problem. You explain that your work is limited to soft tissue, offer a conservative session that does not provoke symptoms, document the neurological report, and refer for medical evaluation.
Traps
- Believing spa or 'relaxation' massage falls outside the Act - massage for compensation is regulated regardless of label.
- Treating a private certification as equivalent to a license.
- Assuming the exemption for other licensed health professions lets you borrow their scope.