Homeopathic remedies mostly made from natural substances like plants, animal and mineral extracts. The process of production involves dilution of these substances in varying degrees, which avoids any side effects and interestingly, the more dilute the remedies are the deeper their action can be.

If the substance that the remedy is made from is soluble, such as a plant. then the raw material is dissolved in a 90% alcohol solution, allowed to stand for some days and then filtered to produce what is called a 'mother tincture'. This tincture is the starting point for the homeopathic remedy production process.

For remedies made from insoluble substances, like gold or silver, the substance is repeatedly ground or 'triturated' with lactose (milk sugar) until a soluble substance is created. This is then dissolved in alcohol, like the mother tincture and forms the starting point for the remedy dilution process.

Homeopathic remedies come in many different strengths or 'potencies', each one represents a different level of dilution of the original substance. The production process for a remedy consists of taking 1 drop of the mother tincture or dissolved mineral and adding to it 99 drops of alcohol. This is then shaken vigourously, or 'succussed' and the result is the first potency (or strength) of that remedy, called 1C. To make a 2C potency, one drop of the 1C remedy is taken and another 99 drops of alcohol are added. The solution is succussed again to form 2C. This process continues to produce ever-decreasing concentrations of the original substance, but ever-increasing potencies of the remedy.

Commonly used potencies are 6C, 12C, 30C and 200C. So each of these has been through 6, 12, 30 and 200 stages of dilution respectively. To give some idea of the level of dilution, 30C is equivalent to 1 drop of the original substance in all the oceans of the world! Remedies go up to 1,000 and 50,000 dilutions and beyond, so clearly the effectiveness of homeoapthic remedies does not rely on the presence of the original substance. At present nobody really understands how it does work. Popular theories talk about an energetic imprint of the original substance being carried down the dilutions, and this 'energetic signature' is what promotes a response in the person taking the remedy.

As well as the 'C' or 'centesimal' scale, remedies also come in a decimal or 'X' scale. Instead of a 1:100 dilution between potencies these are diluted 1:10. The choice of potency for a patient is a complex process based on many factors, but for general home use the 6C, 12C and 30C potencies will cover most needs.