What Massage Therapists Should Know When Working with a Client who has Hepatitis

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, the largest organ inside the body.  The liver helps the body to digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Hepatitis is not contagious through casual human contact such as massage, especially when proper professional sanitation practices are used, such as:

• do not work on broken skin and wash hands before/after client service
• wear gloves or use other protective measures when a practitioner has a skin cut
• do not touch one’s own mouth, nose, eyes or other mucous membranes after working with clients until the practitioner has washed their own hands

Viruses cause most cases of hepatitis. The hepatitis type is named for the virus that causes it (i.e., hepatitis A, hepatitis B or hepatitis C). Drug or alcohol use can also cause hepatitis. In other cases, the body mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the liver which causes the inflammation and disease.

Clients with hepatitis may vomit or have nausea. Discontinue service if a client begins to vomit (with hepatitis or for any condition).  Vomiting can be a sign of serious medical distress.  The client must ascertain why they vomited so it can be determined if medical care is required.

Normally clients infected with hepatitis would not be contraindicated for massage or bodywork, however, when a client has any type of acute infection, it’s important for them to seek proper medical care outside of massage.  Massage might help a client feel better, but that does not mean a client should avoid or discontinue conventional medical care for their disease.

To learn more, please register for training at https://ceinstitute.com/

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