30 questions weighted like the real Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination, built on the seven-area content outline in the current FSMTB candidate handbook. Instant answers, plain explanations, and a score by content area at the end.
30
Questions
7
Domains, real weights
100%
Answers sourced
0
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How this test is weighted
Anatomy & Physiology
11% of the MBLEx
3 questions here
Kinesiology
12% of the MBLEx
4 questions here
Pathology, Contraindications, Areas of Caution, Special Populations
Click an answer to check it. Each question shows why the answer is right and the public source it comes from (OpenStax anatomy, MedlinePlus, NCBTMB ethics standards).
Q1 · Anatomy & Physiology
Which layer of the skin contains blood and lymph vessels, nerves, hair follicles and sweat glands?
The answer is B. The dermis holds the skin's blood and lymph vessels, nerves, hair follicles and sweat glands. The epidermis, including its stratum corneum and stratum basale layers, has no blood vessels of its own.
A client on the table is startled by a loud crash in the hallway. Which change is part of the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) response?
The answer is D. The sympathetic system prepares the body to fight or run: heart rate and breathing rate go up, blood flow to skeletal muscle increases, blood flow to the digestive system decreases and sweating increases.
A client twisted her ankle yesterday. The area is red, swollen, warm and painful. Which part of the body's response to injury do these signs show?
The answer is D. Inflammation is the body's first, standard response to injury, and its classic signs are redness, swelling, pain and local heat. Remodeling and scar formation come later in repair.
What is the functional contractile unit of a skeletal muscle fiber?
The answer is A. The sarcomere is the functional unit of the muscle fiber; sarcomeres are bundled inside myofibrils. A fascicle is a bundle of muscle fibers, and the epimysium and perimysium are connective tissue wrappings.
A client slowly lowers a hand weight from shoulder height down to her side. Which type of contraction is the biceps brachii performing as the weight comes down?
The answer is D. Lowering a weight in a slow, controlled way is an eccentric contraction: muscle tension falls and the muscle lengthens while still controlling the load. Lifting it would be concentric; holding it still would be isometric.
Which muscle is part of the hamstring group and both flexes the knee and extends the thigh at the hip?
The answer is B. The hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus) flex the knee and extend the thigh. Rectus femoris is a quadriceps muscle that extends the knee, gluteus medius abducts the thigh, and adductor longus adducts it.
Which two joints are both ball-and-socket synovial joints?
The answer is C. The hip and shoulder are ball-and-socket joints, which are multiaxial. The elbow is a hinge, the atlantoaxial joint a pivot, the first carpometacarpal a saddle, the radiocarpal a condyloid and the intercarpal joints plane joints.
Q8 · Pathology, Contraindications, Areas of Caution, Special Populations
A client returned yesterday from a 14-hour flight. His left calf is swollen, red, warm to the touch and tender. What should the therapist do?
The answer is A. Swelling, redness, warmth and tenderness in one leg after long travel are signs of deep vein thrombosis. A clot can break free and lodge in the lungs (pulmonary embolism), which can be fatal, so the leg must not be massaged and the client needs medical care.
Q9 · Pathology, Contraindications, Areas of Caution, Special Populations
Deep, sustained pressure in the front of the neck just beside the trachea is avoided mainly because that area holds which structures?
The answer is B. The carotid sheath runs down the front of the neck beside the trachea and, below the hyoid, holds the common carotid artery, the internal jugular vein and the vagus nerve. The other choices describe structures of the arm, the back of the knee and the groin.
Q10 · Pathology, Contraindications, Areas of Caution, Special Populations
A client who is 32 weeks pregnant books a massage. Why does the therapist avoid having her lie flat on her back for long periods?
The answer is D. After about 20 weeks the growing uterus can compress the aorta and inferior vena cava when the client lies on her back, reducing blood returning to the heart and circulation to mother and baby. Side-lying, ideally on the left, relieves the pressure.
Q11 · Pathology, Contraindications, Areas of Caution, Special Populations
A client's health history shows she takes warfarin. How should this change the session?
The answer is B. Warfarin is an anticoagulant (blood thinner). Its label warns that it can cause serious bleeding, and easy bruising is a listed side effect, so deep pressure that could bruise the tissue should be avoided.
Q12 · Benefits and Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
A therapist uses rapid, rhythmic tapping and cupped-hand clapping over the client's upper back. Which stroke is this?
The answer is A. Tapotement is a percussive stroke of rapid, rhythmic tapping, patting, clapping or beating. Effleurage glides, petrissage kneads and lifts, and friction uses short circular movements with pressure.
Q13 · Benefits and Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
Which stroke uses long, gliding movements with gentle pressure and is used to spread lubricant and warm the tissue when work on an area begins?
The answer is D. Effleurage is long, gliding strokes with gentle pressure, done with open palms or thumbs to apply lubricant and warm the body. Tapotement is percussive, vibration is a rapid trembling, and friction is short, brisk circular work with little lubricant.
Q14 · Benefits and Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
A client sprained his wrist an hour ago. Which application best fits this fresh injury, and why?
The answer is C. For a fresh injury, cold is the better choice: it constricts blood vessels to numb pain, relieve inflammation and limit bruising. Heat increases blood flow and suits lingering stiffness, and may make a new injury feel worse.
Q15 · Benefits and Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
A client with arm lymphedema after breast cancer treatment is being treated with complete decongestive therapy. According to the National Cancer Institute, which hands-on technique is part of that therapy, along with compression, exercise and skin care?
The answer is B. The National Cancer Institute describes complete decongestive therapy as skin care, exercise, manual lymphatic drainage and compression bandages or garments.
Q16 · Benefits and Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
According to the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which is the most common form of massage therapy in Western countries and the core of most massage training programs?
The answer is A. NCCIH says Swedish or classical massage is the most common form in Western countries and the core of most training programs. Sports massage is another style, and Shiatsu and Tuina come from Eastern traditions.
A new client has finished the intake form and is ready to start. Under the NCBTMB Standards of Practice, what must the therapist obtain before the session begins?
The answer is D. NCBTMB Standard I(h) requires voluntary and informed consent before the session begins, and the client keeps the right to refuse, modify or stop treatment at any time, regardless of earlier consent.
In a SOAP note, where does the therapist record: "Client states her neck pain is 6 out of 10 and gets worse after computer work"?
The answer is C. The Subjective section records the client's complaints and symptoms in the client's own words. Objective holds what the therapist sees and palpates, Assessment the results of the session, and Plan the next steps.
While watching a client walk, the therapist sees the pelvis dip toward the leg that lifts off the floor with each step. Weakness in which muscles most likely causes this gait?
The answer is B. This is a Trendelenburg gait: when one leg lifts, the pelvis dips toward that side because the hip abductors of the standing leg, gluteus medius and minimus, are too weak to hold the pelvis level.
The therapist asks the client to relax completely, then moves the client's arm through shoulder flexion without any help from the client. Which assessment is this?
The answer is A. When someone else moves the body part while the client stays relaxed, it is passive range of motion. In active range of motion the client moves the joint by contracting their own muscles.
A client arrives with fever and chills. Her lower leg has a red, warm, painful area that appeared yesterday and is getting bigger. What is the best decision?
The answer is D. Fever with a spreading red, warm, painful skin area points to cellulitis, a skin infection that needs prompt medical care, usually antibiotics. Fever makes this a reason to postpone the whole session, not just to avoid the area.
A client's husband calls and asks what his wife talks about during her sessions and what health problems she has. Under the NCBTMB Code of Ethics, what should the therapist do?
The answer is B. NCBTMB requires therapists to keep the client's identity and information confidential unless the client requests disclosure in writing, it is medically necessary, or it is required by law. Being a spouse is not one of those exceptions.
Partway through a session, a client makes a sexual comment and touches the therapist's arm in a suggestive way. Under the NCBTMB Standards of Practice, what should the therapist do first?
The answer is C. NCBTMB Standard VI(b) says that if a client starts sexual behavior, the therapist interrupts the session to clarify its therapeutic purpose. If the behavior stops, the therapist may choose to continue or end the session; if it continues, the session must end.
A longtime client starts seeking the therapist's approval, bringing small gifts and asking for life advice, the way she relates to her own mother. What is this called?
The answer is A. Transference is a client displacing feelings and behaviors tied to a significant person, such as a parent, onto the therapist. Counter-transference is the therapist's unresolved feelings transferred to the client.
Which situation is a dual relationship as the NCBTMB defines it?
The answer is B. NCBTMB defines a dual relationship as an alliance in addition to the client/therapist relationship, such as a social, family or business relationship. A landlord-tenant arrangement is a business relationship outside the therapy, and NCBTMB asks therapists to avoid dual relationships that could impair judgment or lead to exploitation.
During a session a client asks, "Do you think I have a herniated disc?" What is the most appropriate response?
The answer is A. Massage therapists do not diagnose. The NCBTMB Code of Ethics requires therapists to tell clients the scope and limits of their discipline, provide only services they are qualified to perform, and refer clients to the right health professionals.
Source: NCBTMB Code of Ethics, Principles II, III and IV; Standards of Practice I(k), I(l)
Q27 · Guidelines for Professional Practice
According to the CDC, how long should hands be scrubbed with soap during handwashing?
The answer is C. The CDC's handwashing steps are wet, lather, scrub for at least 20 seconds, rinse and dry.
Which practice protects the client's privacy as the NCBTMB Standards of Practice require?
The answer is C. NCBTMB requires draping that protects the client's physical and emotional privacy, lists failure to ensure the client's privacy while disrobing or dressing as sexual activity, and forbids touching the genitalia.
Under the NCBTMB Standards of Practice, for at least how long must a certificant securely keep client files after the therapeutic relationship ends? (State law may set its own rule.)
The answer is C. NCBTMB Standard III(d) says to keep client files securely for at least four years after the therapeutic relationship ends. The three-year rule in Standard IV(o) is for financial and business records.
Using anatomical terms, how is the elbow described in relation to the wrist?
The answer is A. Proximal means nearer to the trunk or the limb's point of attachment. The elbow is closer to the trunk than the wrist, so it is proximal to the wrist; the wrist is distal to the elbow.
100 multiple-choice questions in 110 minutes, at a Pearson VUE test center. If you do not finish all 100, you fail.
Computer-adaptive and fixed-length. Questions get harder after a right answer and easier after a wrong one, and you must answer them in the order shown.
$265 to apply and sit the exam once; each retake needs a new application and fee. Offered in English and Spanish. The license itself comes from your state board, not FSMTB.
From FSMTB's official MBLEx content outline. CertOutlook is not affiliated with FSMTB. Practice questions are original and are not taken from the exam.