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Dr. Jared Hanson ND, LAc is a homeopath in New York City as well as a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist specializing in the homeopathic treatment of chronic conditions. To make an appointment call 917-267-WELL or email drjaredhanson@gmail.com.

What are Homeopathic Remedies?

Alternative Medicine & Natural Health in NYC

Homeopathic remedies are special preparations of medicinal substances, usually an herb but often a mineral or animal, that are prescribed based on the law of similars, a basic principle of homeopathy. These remedies are prepared by a process called potentization.

It may be surprising that the term potentization refers to the dilution, rather than the concentration of the medicinal substance. In homeopathy, remedies are diluted, then agitated, sequentially in a set ratio. The original substance is initially ground together with milk sugar in the ratio of 1 part to 99 parts milk sugar. One part of this is taken and ground into another 99 parts milk sugar and this step is repeated one more time. From here, one part of this substance is diluted in liquid according to different scales. There is the decimal scale (1:10, denoted with a X), the centesimal scale (1:100, denoted with a C) and the fifty millesimal scale (1:50,000, denoted with LM). Between each dilution, the remedy is agitated by succussion, in other words the bottle is struck against a firm but elastic surface. When the desired potency is reached, the liquid is often used to coat small sugar pills which are used to deliver the remedy. It is these little sugar pills that people are most familiar with when they think of homeopathic remedies.

A remedy designated as 30C has been diluted 1:100 and succussed thirty times. As you might guess, this amount of dilution means that there is very little of the original substance left in each dose of the remedy given to a patient. This is a fundamental difference between homeopathy and conventional medicine, which generally equates the effectiveness of a dose of medicine with the physical amount being delivered. Homeopathy on the other hand ties the effectiveness of a dose of medicine to the similarity of symptoms produced by the remedy to the symptoms of the patient, the greater the similarity, the less actual substance, i.e. the higher potency, you will need to effectively treat a patient.

The term homeopathic remedy is used by convention. What are generally referred to as “homeopathic remedies” in commerce should actually be called potentized remedies. Strictly speaking, the term “homeopathic” describes a relationship between the symptoms produced by a medicinal substance and a patient’s symptoms. There are several possible relationships including antipathic, meaning the remedy produces symptoms opposite to the symptoms of the patient; isopathic, meaning the remedy produces symptoms exactly the same as those of the patient; and allopathic, meaning the remedy produces completely different symptoms than the patient’s. Conventional medicine typically employs only antipathic and allopathic medicines. Often you will hear conventional medicine referred to as allopathic medicine and this is why, though often the term is used in ignorance of it’s meaning and origin. An example of an antipathic medicine would be a medication that lowers blood pressure being used to treat high blood pressure. An example of an allopathic medicine would be Prilosec being used to treat acid reflux, as the Prilosec inhibits the formation of acid, essentially stopping the acid (a necessary part of digestion) but not the reflux (the actual problem).

Homeopathic remedies often have very unusual names. The reason for this is that the first potentized remedies were made from the common drugs of the day in the late eighteenth century. Homeopathy still uses them because they are just as effective today, when used according to homeopathic principles, as they were two hundred years ago, and they are completely safe in the diluted amounts used by homeopaths.