Section 51. (a) No person shall practice massage therapy unless licensed in accordance with sections 227 to 236, inclusive, of chapter 112, except that a person registered as a barber or apprentice under section 87H or 87I of said chapter 112 or as a hairdresser, operator or student under sections 87T to 87JJ, inclusive, of said chapter 112 may practice facial and scalp massaging without a license. Local boards of health may regulate other fields not licensed as massage therapy under said sections 227 to 236, inclusive, of said chapter 112.

(b) No person shall establish businesses for vapor, pool, shower or bath houses unless authorized by the board of health in the municipality where the establishment is to be operated. The board of health may grant the authorization upon such terms and conditions, and may make such rules and regulations in regard to the carrying on of the occupation so licensed, as it considers proper and may revoke any authorization granted by it for such cause as it considers sufficient, without a hearing. A person authorized to establish the giving of vapor, pool, shower or other baths in a municipality may, at the request of a physician, attend patients in another municipality without additional authorization from the other municipality. No massage therapist, whose license to practice massage therapy is revoked or suspended for more than 1 year with regard to insurance claims, shall own, operate, practice in, or be employed by a massage therapy office, clinic, or other place designated for the practice of massage therapy, physical therapy or chiropractic.