Integrative Approach to Fully Heal Shoulder and Knee Disorders
Learn the integrative FAST Protocol for resolving chronic shoulder and knee pain – the two most disorder-prone joints in the body – at the source, in 5-10 sessions. You will learn condition-specific protocols for acupuncturists to completely heal chronic pain to a level no one else can.
August 22, 2026
9:00 - 1:30 pm PST
Steve Liu, L.Ac.
From Managing the Pain to Healing It
There is a real difference between a patient’s pain that you helped… versus the pain you fully healed.
When pain is managed rather than resolved, the relief fades between visits, the pain returns, and patients quietly drift on.
They don’t want pain management. They want to be healed.
That patient that fully heals tells everyone. Their pain is gone. It doesn’t come back. They aren’t in constant fear of re-injury and re-inflaming the pain. Their relief is palpable.
That alone is so satisfying to see. But it also means referrals, even physician referrals. It means practice growth. And it’s what’s kept my cash-pay practice full for 25 years, even at premium pricing.
Why the Shoulder and Knee Resist Healing
These joints are difficult by design.
The shoulder trades stability for the greatest range of motion of any joint, and pays with soft tissue that fails under repetitive load. The supraspinatus tendon’s critical zone has the poorest blood supply of any tendon in the body – micro-tears there never self-repair, they accumulate for years.
The knee carries the body’s full weight on long levers, making its ligaments the most sprain-prone soft tissue anywhere; the MCL sprain is the single most common ligament injury in the body. Its cartilage is avascular, its healing slow.
Then the standard Western cascade makes it worse:
Rest, anti-inflammatories, ice, compression, cortisone – each cuts blood flow to tissue already starved for it. Immune cells cannot reach the injury, healing stalls, scar tissue forms.
That is the moment acute pain becomes chronic pain.
It is why these patients reach you already worn out, having tried NSAIDs, cortisone, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery, which re-tears at rates as high as 94 percent for massive rotator cuff tears.
They do not want one more way to manage the pain. They want someone who can finally resolve it.
Where the Needle Reaches Its Limit, and Light Begins
Classical acupuncture does profound work – modulating pain, moving qi, calming the system.
But there’s more we can do to fully break up the scar tissue, activate the mitochondria and regenerative processes, and fully heal the source of chronic pain that western medicine approaches helped create.
Photobiomodulation delivers near-infrared light three to five centimeters into tissue – into the places even needles can’t reach.
Photons activate the mitochondria in your patient’s own cells:
- ATP production accelerates
- Collagen synthesis switches on
- Inflammation quiets
- Circulation returns
Friction (cross-fiber) massage breaks up adhesions and scar tissue keep chronic pain active and prone to re-injury. Lifestyle, electo-acupuncture, and TDP far-infrared heat all contribute.
Together they solve more of the puzzle than either alone.
The FAST Protocol
The clinical system at the center of this course is the FAST Protocol – a 20-plus-year, clinically proven approach to fully healing chronic soft tissue injury in 5-10 sessions. Four elements, one integrated method:
Friction
(cross-fiber) massage that breaks up the adhesions and scar tissue and reawakens the healing response.
Acupuncture
and ashi-needling placed precisely at the lesion, using TCM and motor-point techniques to release the injured tissue.
Stimulation
with electro-acupuncture, TDP far-infrared heat, and photobiomodulation, restoring blood flow and driving repair.
Technique
the assessment, sequencing, and treatment plan that makes the result repeatable.
Applied together, they resolve the source of chronic pain, and have been a huge source of my clinical success for over 25 years, and drove cash-pay practice growth without active marketing.
Your Guide:
Steve Liu, L.Ac., BSEE
Steve Liu is a fellow acupuncturist, and something almost no one else in the profession is.
Before he held a needle, he spent a decade in Silicon Valley as the chief designer of the laser controller in an optical drive engineering team – he understands light the way an engineer does.
He then completed his TCM training, interned alongside his mother (one of the first acupuncturists licensed in the US), and trained directly under Dr. Margaret Naeser, the Mother of American Laser Acupuncture.
Steve and his wife opened their Tucson clinic in 2001 with zero patients, used FAST from day one, and grew it to an average gross income of roughly $300,000 a year – 100 percent cash pay, no insurance, about three quarters of patients arriving by referral.
The outcomes did the marketing. Patients who healed completely sent everyone they knew – the engine this course hands you. And physicians who saw the results started referring.
What You Will Learn
Section 1: The Shoulder
- The mobility-stability trade-off behind nearly every shoulder disorder.
- The anatomy and pathology map (rotator cuff, bursa, capsule, AC joint, labrum) and the major diagnoses.
- What NSAIDs, cortisone, PRP, physical therapy, and surgery can and cannot do.
- Why shoulder injuries do not heal – the avascular critical zone and the retear crisis.
- The FAST Protocol applied to the shoulder, plus supraspinatus tendonitis diagnosis and the hands-on friction-massage technique for both access positions.
Section 2: The Knee
- Why the knee is the most-treated joint in orthopedic and general practice.
- The clinical anatomy and full diagnosis spectrum (osteoarthritis, meniscus tears, ligament sprains, bursitis, tendinopathy, IT band).
- What conventional treatments deliver and where they stop, and why standard RICE can turn acute pain chronic.
- The FAST Protocol applied to the knee, including MCL and LCL sprains, plus the research on laser acupuncture in knee osteoarthritis.
Live demonstration:
A video walk-through of the integrative treatment of chronic shoulder tendonitis and knee ligament sprain, including photobiomodulation.
Schedule (PST):
9:00 - 10:00
Shoulder and knee disorders, chronic and acute pain pathologies, and Western medicine vs. TCM 3.0.
10:00 - 11:00
Intake and assessment of common soft tissue and sports injuries, the three phases of healing, and scar tissue's link to chronic pain.
11:00 - 11:30
The FAST Protocol: healing mechanism, and how to assess, diagnose, and build the treatment plan.
11:30 - 12:00
Break.
12:00 - 12:30
The integrative approach with Chinese herbs, functional medicine, and modified lifestyle.
12:30 - 1:30
Treating chronic shoulder tendonitis and knee ligament sprain, with a photobiomodulation video demonstration.
What You Will Walk Away With
A protocol you can use next week – the complete FAST Protocol for shoulder tendonitis and knee ligament sprain, from assessment to treatment plan.
The ability to reach tissue your needles cannot – how photobiomodulation penetrates the avascular critical zone and activates cellular repair where NSAIDs, cortisone, and needling alone fall short.
The mechanism language that earns trust from medical referrers – the evidence-grounded vocabulary that lands with sophisticated patients and referring MDs.
The hands-on friction-massage technique, including both supraspinatus access positions and the transverse technique for collateral ligament sprains.
The herbal, functional, and lifestyle layer for the disorders that need more than manual work.
A live treatment demonstration so you see the integration in motion.
The evidence base, including the head-to-head comparison of every major treatment against TCM 4.0.
4.0 CEUs, approved by CAB and NCBAHM.
Become the First Call,
Not the Last Resort
Most of these patients reach you after everyone else – the physical therapist, the pain physician, the surgeon – with low expectations and a long history of being managed.
Imagine being the one who finally resolves it.
When the shoulder or knee heals and stays healed, you stop being the last thing they try and become the first name they give a friend or the referral of choice by physicians.
That is a practice that fills on its own, on outcomes no one else in your area can match – the way Steve turned a clinic that started with zero patients into a referral-driven one.
Registration for just $197
Save 20% by being a member of ASLAT »
Get access to the live, online course: Integrative Approach for Treatment of Shoulder and Knee Disorders Presented by Steve Liu, L.Ac., BSEE
- When: Saturday, August 22, 2026, 9:00 am to 1:30 pm PST
- Format: Live, online course
- CEUs: 4.0, approved by CAB and NCBAHM
- Tuition: $197 (ASLAT members save 20%)
ASLAT members: Register in the members area »
*Course Participant Attestation:
I understand that the information in this course presented by the Provider and/or Instructor(s) is for educational purposes only and should only be applied with appropriate clinical judgment and used by a trained and licensed practitioner. Governmental laws and regulations vary from region to region and the contents of this course vary in permissible usage. The participant is required to check their local, state, and federal laws and regulations regarding the practice requirements and scope of practice issues and the use of the information of this course including, but not limited to, theory, herbal medicine, and acupuncture.
I acknowledge that NCCAOM does not endorse any specific treatment regimens of any kind. Furthermore, if I use any modalities or treatments taught in this course, I agree to waive, release, indemnify, discharge, and covenant not to sue NCCAOM from and against any liability, claims, demands, or causes of action whatsoever, arising out of any injury, loss, or damage that a person may sustain related to the use of the information in this course. I understand that this Release is governed by the laws of District of Columbia, U.S.A. and shall survive the termination or expiration of this course.
Your Questions, Answered
Who is this course for?
Licensed acupuncturists who treat shoulder and knee pain and want a more complete, more lasting approach to the two joints that generate the most disorders, while growing their practice with referral-driving outcomes. It suits experienced and newer practitioners alike, and asks you to set aside nothing you already practice – it goes one step further than what already works.
Do I need to own a laser to benefit?
No. You will leave understanding the full protocol, the mechanism behind it, and exactly how photobiomodulation integrates with the needle and hands you already use – whether you own a device yet or not.
What does the FAST Protocol involve?
Friction (cross-fiber) massage, precise acupuncture and ashi-needling, stimulation with electro-acupuncture, far-infrared heat and photobiomodulation, and the technique that ties them into a repeatable plan. You will see all four integrated live, including a video demonstration.
Are the CEUs board-approved?
Yes – 4.0 CEUs, approved by both CAB and NCBAHM.
Will there be a recording?
Register to attend live on August 22. Access and replays will be available afterward, and will be edited and added to the HanLin CIM programs portal for continued access.