04/07/2020
A Peer sent this request to the CDC.
As difficult as this may be for all of us, therapists and clients, we have to adhere to this.
Massage therapy IS considered a nonessential elective procedure by the CDC. CDC recommends social distancing and delaying all elective procedures. Their exact words are “when massages are allowed to resume”.
Official response email from CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Public Inquiries Team:
“Thank you for your inquiry. As a reminder, to prevent spread of COVID-19, CDC has recommended social distancing and delaying elective procedures (e.g., massage). We assume your question is about recommended infection prevention practices when massages are allowed to resume. CDC does not have specific guidance for massage therapy; however we do have guidance for healthcare delivery. Standard Precautions are recommended for the care of all patients, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection or colonization status. This includes indications for hand hygiene (e.g., before and after patient contact); adherence to respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette; appropriate selection and use of personal protective equipment; and proper cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces (e.g., changing sheets and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces between patients) and shared equipment. As part of Standard Precautions, gloves are recommended when it can be reasonably anticipated that contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, nonintact skin, or potentially contaminated intact skin (e.g., of a patient incontinent of stool or urine) could occur. Based on this, gloves would not be routinely required during a massage. However, hand hygiene should always be performed before and after contact. In addition to this guidance, we recommend consulting with your state licensing agency to see if there are additional requirements for massage therapists in your state.”
My thanks to the CDC for getting back to me. I had asked if they recommend gloves be worn for giving all massages once we are able to resume business. This info may change down the road but as of April 6, 2020 this is their response via email to an email I sent asking for guidance in early March.
Edit: I think the good we can take from this is they are giving us guidance for healthcare delivery and all that implies of massage therapy. It’s a win for the profession in my opinion. I also ask this post not turn into a battlefield in the comments. I’m simply posting their response to an email I sent in March asking for guidance for myself that I could also share with my colleagues in the profession. The above is their exact response.
In the email response the words “Standard Precautions” are linked to this website:
Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings (2007)
