Almost everyone recognizes the Yin-Yang symbol, yet relatively few people understand the depth of what it represents.

The familiar circle contains two intertwined forms: one dark and one light. Within the dark Yin portion is a small circle of white Yang, and within the white Yang portion is a small circle of dark Yin.

This seemingly simple image contains one of the foundational ideas of Chinese philosophy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Yin and Yang are not enemies.

They are complementary forces that define one another, depend upon one another, and continually transform into one another.

One of the greatest gifts of practicing medicine for more than four decades is realizing that every patient has something new to teach us. No matter how many years of experience we accumulate, the human body continues to surprise us.

Recently, I was treating a patient suffering from chronic lower back pain and persistent muscle cramping. After completing my evaluation, I decided to incorporate therapeutic bloodletting as part of her treatment.

What happened next immediately caught my attention.