The LANA Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT-LANA) credential
CLT-LANA is a certification from the Lymphology Association of North America (LANA). It is not a state license. LANA requires a current license or registration in one of the professions it lists, which include occupational therapists, certified occupational therapy assistants, physical therapists, and physical therapist assistants, along with a 135-hour course in Complete Decongestive Therapy and a science requirement. Certification lasts six years. No fees are copied.
Quoted from official pages checked November 10, 2026. Confirm current requirements, fees, and dates on those sites. This page is not legal advice and does not guarantee eligibility, certification, or licensure.
Sources read on November 10, 2026: LANA’s Get Certified page, FAQ, and Recertification policy page (LANA’s site is a JavaScript app, so these were read with a page-rendering fetch); LANA’s Candidate Information Booklet (CIB) (PDF, approved by the Exam Committee 8/1/2022); and its Eligibility Requirements flyer (PDF, Rev 1-22). The application fee on the Get Certified page is not copied.
What the credential is
The CIB names the credential: “LANA Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT-LANA®) is a Certification Mark of the Lymphology Association of North America.” It states: “Candidates who achieve a passing score on the certification examination may use the credential CLT-LANA after their names.”
It also says: “Certification is a non-transferable, revocable, limited license to use the certification designation CLT-LANA, subject to compliance with LANA rules which may be revised from time to time.” That is a license to use LANA’s designation, not a license to practice; LANA requires a professional license or registration to apply.
Which professions LANA lists
LANA’s Get Certified page states: “Possess a current, unrestricted US state or international license or registration as a Registered Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, Physical Therapist, Physical Therapist Assistant, Medical Doctor, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Chiropractic, Massage Therapist, or Certified Athletic Trainer”.
The CIB’s list uses abbreviations and a different massage title: “Occupational Therapist (OT), Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), Physical Therapist (PT), Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)” and “Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), or Certified Athletic Trainer (CAT/ATC).” The flyer says “Massage Therapist (MT)”. LANA’s FAQ describes the license as “a current and unrestricted U.S. state professional license or registration or equivalent Canadian provincial or territorial license or registration”. These wordings are left side by side.
Speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants are not in the list on any of the LANA pages or PDFs read for this page: the Get Certified page, FAQ, recertification policy page, CIB, and eligibility flyer.
Training and science requirements
The Get Certified page states: “Successfully complete a 135-hour course in Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT)”. The CIB splits those hours: “45 hours (⅓ of 135 hours) delivered: in-person or asynchronous remote or synchronous remote or a combination of in-person, asynchronous remote, and/or synchronous remote” and “90 hours (⅔ of 135 hours) delivered: in-person or synchronous remote or a combination of in-person and synchronous remote”. It adds: “In-person assessment by the program director or program instructor of psychomotor skills MUST occur in the same physical space; remote assessment will NOT be accepted.” The flyer states the rules are “Effective for candidates trained after January 1, 2022”.
On science, the Get Certified page says: “Meet minimum 12 college-credit hour science requirements”. The CIB states: “The science requirement is automatically met by those who provide current unrestricted state licenses or registrations from the following disciplines: RN, OT, COTA, PT, PTA, MD, DO, DC, and MT trained in Canada in a 2200-hour program.”
LANA’s FAQ states: “LANA is not in a position to approve or accredit schools;”.
The exam
The CIB states: “The examination consists of 130 multiple choice questions with four options, only one of which is correct. Twenty of these questions are included for research purposes only.” The test ends “when two and half hours (150 minutes) have elapsed or when candidates ask the computer to end the test.” On scoring: “The passing grade required is a scaled score of 700 out of a possible 1000 scaled score points.”
LANA’s FAQ adds: “Candidates may take the exam at home with a remote proctor or at a testing location.” The 2022 CIB describes taking the exam at a test site. Both are left as written.
Recertification
The CIB states: “LANA Certification is valid for six years. Each certificate given to the candidate indicates the expiration date.” LANA’s booklet and recertification page both say certifications expire at the end of the calendar year, six years after the last certification date, and that the recertification or inactive-status application is due by the end of that year.
The recertification page states: “Any of the options listed above can be combined to reach the minimum total of 24 hours required for recertification.” The FAQ says: “24 contact hours TOTAL within the 6 years.” The options include continuing education related to lymphedema, teaching, publishing, and retaking the exam. Recertification also requires “Proof of a current and unrestricted U.S. professional state license, registration or equivalent Canadian provincial or territorial license, or registration as stated in initial certification process”.
How it relates to other credentials
CLT-LANA is awarded by LANA, not by a licensing board or by NBCOT, FSBPT, or ASHA. State practice acts decide what an OT, OTA, PT, or PTA may do. Other optional credentials on this site are the Certified Hand Therapist (CHT), the RESNA ATP, and the RESNA SMS.
What this page does not do
It does not copy application, exam, recertification, or inactive-status fees or exam statistics, does not list or rank training programs, and does not say that any job or payer requires CLT-LANA. It is not legal, billing, or compliance advice. Confirm current rules with the agency or organization that publishes them, your employer, and your state board.