Local therapist disputes claim that training requirements are too extensive

The director of Baum Healing Arts Center in Carson City says the man touring the nation trying to reduce the education requirements for massage therapists is "in the dark ages."

Brandon Raynor, an Australian who operates schools for massage therapists in 11 countries, said earlier this week the requirement in Nevada law that therapists complete 500 hours of training is nothing more than a money generator for schools and that his 10-day course provides all the training necessary.

Vinnie Baum, who has run the school for 10 years, said the trend nationwide is to require even more hours of training because "massage is now more and more being looked at in a medical vein."

He said the extensive anatomy and physiology training is necessary especially because there are dangerous conditions that would be made worse by massage therapy. An example, he said, would be phlebitis, a circulatory condition that results in blood clots, particularly in the legs.

"Massage could dislodge a clot that could go to the brain and that person could die," he said.

Baum said massage could also cause problems for people on certain medications or who have a fever.

He also challenged Raynor's statements that the American Massage Therapy Association certified schools which discriminate against nonwestern techniques and spend little time actually teaching massage.

He said his students finish with as much as 250 hours of "hands on in a wide variety of different modalities." They also get about 200 hours of anatomy and physiology which he said is vital to understanding what they are doing with their clients.

"I don't see how you can call yourself a therapist with 100 hours of training," he said.

And he said he doubts the Legislature, which just enacted the statewide requirement therapists have national certification, which requires at least 500 hours training, will reverse course.

"If anything, I see them, like some other states have done, increasing the educational requirement," he said. Maine, New York and Florida, for example, require 1,000 hours.

He said the push for more training is coming from chiropractors, doctors and others dealing with people who need physical therapy.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.