Therapists call for stricter enforcement of Massage License - KSFY

[massage]

Sioux Falls, SD A Sioux Falls massage therapist addressed the city council last week about the issue of licensed therapists.

State law requires all massage therapists to pass a licensing exam and renew that license every year before practicing in South Dakota. But licensed massage therapist Rhanda Heller says the law is not always followed or enforced.

‘We have unlicensed massage storefront places and because Sioux Falls is the biggest urban area...we have the biggest problem right here in Sioux Falls,” Heller said.

Massage therapists like Heller say these unlicensed massage parlors are putting the public at risk.

“There's so much that goes into it that, if you haven’t gone through that proper education and done that licensing, you wouldn't even know that and you might be miss treating someone, you might be harming them or putting them at risk,” Globe University Campus Director Aimee Miritello said.

“You're getting a massage from someone who may not know what they're doing, and if anything should happen to you...do they have insurance? You may have no recourse whatsoever,” Heller said.

In the last year, Sioux Falls police have started working to hold these unlicensed businesses accountable.

“Four of them have been shut down...the street crimes department went into check for state licensure, that’s when they arrested Li Li at Happy Dragon,” Heller said.

“It's a class one misdemeanor to practice without a license, it's a criminal offense and it’s something that local law enforcement and states attorneys need to deal with,” Executive Secretary for the State Board of Massage Therapy Jennifer Stalley said.

Heller says she would like to see the state massage board do more to stop these unlicensed businesses.

“The board has limited options when people are practicing without a license…regulatory boards are not law enforcement boards,” Stalley said.

Heller and the state massage board say the biggest way consumers can protect themselves when they go to get a massage is to check the state massage board website. It has a list of every licensed massage therapist in the state if the person's name isn't on it, don't use the service.

The state law was passed in 2005, but came up in the legislature again in 2013. Heller says she’s working with other licensed therapists to pass additional legislation in 2016 that would help with enforcement.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.